Bankruptcy › Finance & Banking › Business Torts

Rogers Towers: Debts Non-Dischargeable When Use of Proceeds Intentionally Misrepresented

When an individual obtains a loan with no intention of repaying the lender, it is well established that such a debt is not dischargeable in bankruptcy. If, however, a debtor does not misrepresent its intent to repay the...more

How Graphics Helped a Trial Team Show Complex Data and Win

I love hearing the news that one of our clients had a great result using the work we did for them. The most recent big win I’m happy to report is Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, won a major lender liability/wrongful...more

Narrow Interpretation of "Customer" Under SIPA Is Affirmed by the Second Circuit

On February 22, 2013, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in In re Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC held that certain individuals who had invested indirectly in Bernard L. Madoff Investment...more

A PowerPoint Sample for Business Trial Lawyers

The Association of Business Trial Lawyers recently asked Cogent Legal to prepare the graphics for a presentation on mock trials. The panel consisted of some of the best jury consultants in the country exploring the factors...more

Commercial Restructuring & Bankruptcy Alert - February 2013

In this Issue: - Lenders Beware - International Insolvency Laws: Will One Size Fit All? The Debate Continues - ‘Fair and Equitable’ Means More Than Amortization Schedule - Pre-Petition Security License...more

Obligations To Pensioners In An Insolvency: Supreme Court Clarifies The Law

The Supreme Court of Canada overturned the Ontario Court of Appeal today in what is one of the most highly-anticipated cases for the pension and insolvency bars pending before the courts. In Indalex (Re) 2013 SCC 6, the court...more

North Carolina Court of Appeals Allows Borrower to Take Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claims Against Lender to a Jury

In what may be a first for a North Carolina appellate court, the North Carolina Court of Appeals has reversed the entry of summary judgment for a lender on a borrower’s breach of fiduciary claim. In Dallaire v. Bank of...more

FHFA Can Pursue Claims Against Non-Debtor Affiliates of Residential Capital

On July 17, Judge Denise Cote of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that the Federal Housing Finance Agency (“FHFA”) can pursue certain RMBS-related claims against affiliates of...more

Second Circuit Affirms Arbitration Panel’s Finding That A Securities Clearing Firm May Be Liable As The “Initial Transferee” Of A...

On July 3, 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit refused to vacate an arbitration award against Goldman Sachs Execution & Clearing, P.C. The Court left intact the arbitration panel’s finding that the...more

United States of America vs. Russell Wasendorf Sr.

Criminal Complaint

Russell Wasendorf Sr., the chief executive of the futures brokerage firm Peregrine Financial Group, violated section 1001(a)(1) & (3) of Title 18 by “making and using false statements in a matter within the jurisdiction of...more

Credit Crunch Digest -- June 2012

This digest collects and summarizes recent media reports regarding potential liability, government initiatives, litigation and regulatory actions arising from the subprime mortgage crisis and credit crunch, including cases of...more

Corporate and Financial Weekly Digest - June 1, 2012

In this issue: - NASDAQ Proposes Liberalization of Independence Exception Provisions - FINRA Provides Additional Guidance on New Suitability Rule - CFTC Roundtable to Discuss Proposed Regulations Implementing...more

In re TOUSA, Inc.— Eleventh Circuit Reinstates Widely Criticized Fraudulent Transfer Decision

On May 15, 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued an opinion in the TOUSA, Inc. (“TOUSA”) chapter 11 bankruptcy cases reinstating a $480 million fraudulent transfer judgment previously...more

Just When I Thought I Was Out . . . Eleventh Circuit Rules in TOUSA that Refinanced Lenders Can Be “Pulled Back In” and Held...

On May 15, 2012, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ruling by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida, which required certain lenders to return $403 million in prepetition payments they had...more

SDNY Bankruptcy Court Interprets Section 546(e)’s Safe Harbors in Lehman-JPMorgan Dispute

On April 19, 2012, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York granted in part and denied in part JPMorgan Chase, N.A.’s motion to dismiss an adversary complaint filed by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc....more

Litigation Alert -- April 2012

In This Issue: The Face That Launched A Thousand Lawsuits - Madoff's Legacy; The Bark of the Claw Back is Worse than its Bite; and The Latest Battle: to Withdraw or not to Withdraw the Reference. Excerpt from The...more

What’s In a Name? Fifth Circuit Rejects Formulaic “Legal Title” Standard of Ownership In Favor of “Control” Test

Asserting a fraudulent transfer claim is one of the most powerful tools a debtor in possession or trustee has under the Bankruptcy Code. Of course, a debtor can only seek to avoid a transfer of property in which it had an...more

Attorneys General Complaint on Mortgage Practices

On March 12, a complaint was filed in the U.S. district court for the District of Columbia by the DOJ and the attorneys general of 49 states and the District of Columbia against Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo,...more

Timminco Limited: CCAA Court Considers Fiduciary Obligations Post-Indalex

Timminco Limited is among the first reported cases to be released following the Ontario Court of Appeal’s April 7, 2011 decision in Re Indalex. There are two Timminco decisions – Timminco 1 and Timminco...more

A Practical Approach To Enhance The Protection Of Quebec Mutual Fund Investors

The Quebec government has mandated the Autorité des marchés financiers (‘’AMF’’) to hold a public consultation on compensation for victims of financial fraud. In response, the AMF...more

Federal District Court Remands Morgan Stanley MBS Suit to Ohio State Court

On December 20, 2011, Judge S. Arthur Spiegel of the Southern District of Ohio granted the plaintiffs’ motion to remand and denied Morgan Stanley’s motion to transfer to the Southern District of New York an RMBS suit based on...more

CR&B Alert: Commercial Restructuring & Bankruptcy News – December 2011, Issue 4

In This Issue: - CRAB Bites-High Court to Resolve Credit Bidding Dispute - MF GLOBAL - U.S. AND UK - In a Case of First Impression, Court Grants Administrative Priority Status to Post-Petition Withdrawal...more

District Court Ruling Could Significantly Limit Madoff Trustee's Claims Against Mets' Owners

On September 27, 2011, U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff issued an important ruling in the action commenced by Irving Picard ("Trustee"), trustee for Bernard L. Madoff Securities LLC ("Madoff"), against a group of individuals...more

WaMu Court Allows Equity Committee to Pursue “Equitable Disallowance” of Noteholder Claims Based on Allegations of Insider Trading

On September 13, 2011, Judge Mary F. Walrath of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware granted standing for an equity committee in In re Washington Mutual, Inc. (“WaMu”) to seek “equitable...more

Ad Hoc Committees Owe Fiduciary Duties? WaMu Threatens to Turn a Molehill Into a Mountain

Much has already been written about the "insider trading" aspects of Judge Walrath's September 13 Opinion denying confirmation of WaMu's Chapter 11 plan of reorganization (the Opinion can be found here). In a nutshell, Judge...more