Keathley v. Buddy Ayers Construction, Inc. | Case No. 25-6 | Docket Link: Here | Argued: 3/24/2026 | Decided: 6/11/2026

Oral Advocates:

1. Petitioner (Keathley): Gregory G. Garre of Latham and Watkins
2. United States (as Amicus Curiae Supporting Vacatur): Frederick Liu, Assistant to the Solicitor General, Department of Justice
3. Respondent (Buddy Ayers Construction): William M. Jay of Goodwin Proctor

Overview: A bankruptcy debtor's failure to disclose a personal-injury lawsuit triggered the Fifth Circuit's rigid two-factor estoppel test, splitting federal circuits over whether courts must examine all circumstances or presume bad faith from knowledge and motive alone.

Question Presented: Whether courts must examine the totality of circumstances — not just two factors — to determine if a bankruptcy debtor's omission of a lawsuit qualifies as inadvertent.

Posture: District court and Fifth Circuit dismissed Keathley's personal-injury lawsuit under rigid two-factor judicial estoppel rule.

Main Arguments:

• Petitioner Keathley: (1) Courts must examine all circumstances before concluding a bankruptcy omission reflects intentional concealment; (2) The Fifth Circuit's test conflates theoretical motive with actual bad faith, eliminating any real inadvertence exception; (3) Blocking honest debtors' lawsuits rewards tortfeasors and destroys assets creditors could recover.
• Respondent Buddy Ayers Construction: (1) Objective inconsistency — not subjective bad intent — supplies the basis for judicial estoppel; (2) The inadvertence exception covers only objectively verifiable errors, not every non-malicious explanation a debtor offers; (3) A multi-factor holistic test eliminates deterrence, invites abuse, and guts the bankruptcy disclosure system.

Holding: Courts must examine the totality of circumstances surrounding a debtor's bankruptcy omission to determine whether that omission qualifies as inadvertent or mistaken for purposes of judicial estoppel; the Fifth Circuit erred by artificially restricting its inquiry to only two factors.

Voting Breakdown: 9-0. Justice Jackson delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court. Justice Thomas filed a concurring opinion, in which Justice Gorsuch joined. Justice Sotomayor filed a concurring opinion. Vacated and remanded.

Opinion: Here

Majority Reasoning:

• (1) Judicial estoppel functions as an equitable doctrine, and equity demands case-by-case flexibility — not a mechanical two-factor checklist that blocks courts from considering all available evidence;
• (2) The Fifth Circuit's test fails both as too rigid — barring courts from looking beyond two factors — and too broad — those two factors apply to virtually every bankruptcy omission, making the exception meaningless;
• (3) Courts must weigh all circumstances — including prompt correction, absence of actual benefit, counsel's knowledge, and local bankruptcy practice — to determine whether an omission truly resulted from inadvertence.

Separate Opinions:

• Justice Thomas (concurring, joined by Gorsuch): Joins majority in full but questions whether federal courts hold any authority to apply judicial estoppel at all; the doctrine lacks statutory, procedural, or founding-era support and merits reexamination in a future case.
• Justice Sotomayor (concurring): Agrees with majority but argues judicial estoppel may never appropriately apply during open bankruptcy proceedings — bankruptcy courts already hold targeted remedies that serve the doctrine's goals without destroying debtors' claims.

Implications:

• (1) Debtors who forget to disclose post-petition claims now receive a full-facts review before courts bar their lawsuits;
• (2) Personal-injury defendants lose the automatic kill switch that a bankruptcy filing once supplied in Fifth and Tenth Circuit courts;
• (3) Thomas and Gorsuch's concurrence opens the door to a future challenge to judicial estoppel's existence in federal courts entirely.

The Fine Print:

• 11 U.S.C. § 541(a)(1): "all legal or equitable interests of the debtor in property as of the commencement" of the bankruptcy case, including pending and unliquidated claims against third parties.
• Official Form 106A/B, Schedule A/B: Property, Pt. 4, Question 33: Debtors must disclose "[c]laims against third parties, whether or not [the debtor] ha[s] filed a lawsuit or made a demand for payment."

Primary Cases:

• New Hampshire v. Maine (2001): Established the modern federal framework for judicial estoppel and left open whether inadvertence or mistake may block the doctrine's application.
• Holmberg v. Armbrecht (1946): Confirmed that equitable doctrines "eschew mechanical rules" and depend on flexibility, requiring case-by-case analysis rather than rigid checklists.

Timestamps:

[00:00:00] Argument Preview

[00:01:18] Argument Begins

[00:01:26] Keathley Opening Statement

[00:03:33] Keathley Free for All Questions

[00:18:46] Keathley Round Robin Questions

[00:33:09] United States Opening Statement

[00:34:28] United States Free for All Questions

[00:42:11] United States Round Robin Questions

[00:47:24] Buddy Ayers Opening Statement

[00:49:27] Buddy Ayers Free for All Questions

[01:09:04] Buddy Ayers Round Robin Questions

[01:09:13] Keathley Rebuttal