Law v. Siegel

Decided March 4, 2014. Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 12-5196 · 571 U.S. 415 (2014) · Cited 802 times

Holding

The Bankruptcy Court exceeded the limits of its authority when it ordered that the $75,000 protected by Law's homestead exemption be made available to pay Siegel's attorney's fees.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 9–0.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Marrama v. Citizens Bank of Mass. · 549 U.S. 365 (2007)
• Chambers v. Nasco, Inc. · 501 U.S. 32 (1991)
• Morton v. Mancari · 417 U.S. 535 (1974)
• TRW Inc. v. Andrews · 534 U.S. 19 (2001)
• Norwest Bank Worthington v. Ahlers · 485 U.S. 197 (1988)
• Taylor v. Freeland & Kronz · 503 U.S. 638 (1992)
• Owen v. Owen · 500 U.S. 305 (1991)
• Raleigh v. Illinois Department of Revenue · 530 U.S. 15 (2000)
• Securities & Exchange Commission v. United States Realty & Improvement Co. · 310 U.S. 434 (1940)
• Degen v. United States · 517 U.S. 820 (1996)
• Guidry v. Sheet Metal Workers National Pension Fund · 493 U.S. 365 (1990)
• D. Ginsberg & Sons, Inc. v. Popkin · 285 U.S. 204 (1932)
• Sorenson v. Secretary of the Treasury · 475 U.S. 851 (1986)
• Department of Revenue of Ore. v. ACF Industries, Inc. · 510 U.S. 332 (1994)
• Schwab v. Reilly · 560 U.S. 770 (2010)
• United States v. Noland · 517 U.S. 535 (1996)
• Hillman v. Maretta · 569 U.S. 483 (2013)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Azar v. Allina Health Services · 587 U.S. 566 (2019)
• Chiafalo v. Washington · 591 U.S. 578 (2020)
• Perez v. Mortgage Bankers Assn. · 575 U.S. 92 (2015)
• Czyzewski v. Jevic Holding Corp. · 580 U.S. 451 (2017)
• Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians v. Coughlin · 599 U.S. 382 (2023)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Antonin Scalia’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2014). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).