Appealing Bankruptcy Judge Decisions

All debtors maintain a legal right to appeal decisions made by a bankruptcy judge in the course of administration an estate, or made during an adversary proceeding. The right to appeal however is limited to narrowly defined grounds that either misinterpreted existing laws, or constituted an abuse of discretion in the fact determination process. A poor result is not enough, even a factual finding contrary to ordinary common sense is not enough. To become a legal appeal, a judge's mistake must rise to the level of harmful error, and must be clearly outside of any justifiable legal authority. The level of proof required is strict (similar to possible plausible deniability), and the appeal process complicated.