In civil litigation, defendants often invoke a defense based on non-disclosure in the plaintiff’s prior bankruptcy. Simply put, this estoppel defense asserts that: (1) the plaintiff concealed or withheld information about the civil claim from the bankruptcy court despite a legal duty to disclose; and (2) the plaintiff withheld this information in order to receive a benefit (discharge of debt), while keeping the value of the legal claim separate and apart from assets that would be distributed to creditors – a windfall.

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