Sometimes an expected result is still newsworthy. On March 27, 2025, in Kircher v Boyne USA, Inc., the Michigan Supreme Court held that there is no independent cause of action for breach of the implied covenant of good faith...more
Every three years on April 1, the dollar amounts in the Bankruptcy Code are adjusted to account for inflation. The April 1, 2025, increase will be approximately 13.2%, even larger than the nearly 11% increase three years ago....more
2/12/2025
/ Bankruptcy Appeals ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Chapter 11 ,
Chapter 13 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Debt Restructuring ,
Debtors ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Involuntary Bankruptcy ,
Reorganizations
On June 27, 2024, the United States Supreme Court issued its long-awaited opinion in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma L.P., holding that the Bankruptcy Code does not permit nonconsensual releases of nondebtors.
As a...more
In March, Miller Canfield noted that the previously expanded debt limits for bankruptcy cases under the Small Business Reorganization Act ("SBRA," a.k.a. "Subchapter V") and under chapter 13 were set to revert on June 21,...more
In 2022, Congress passed the Bankruptcy Threshold Adjustment and Technical Corrections Act (the “Act”), raising the debt limits for bankruptcy cases under the Small Business Reorganization Act (“SBRA,” a.k.a. “Subchapter V”)...more
On April 26, 2023, Miller Canfield alerted readers to the Supreme Court opinion in MOAC Mall Holdings, LLC v. Transform Holdco, LLC. The MOAC decision may affect property sales in bankruptcy cases because it could weaken the...more
3/1/2024
/ 363 Sales ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Jurisdiction ,
Leases ,
MOAC Mall Holdings LLC v Transform Holdco LLC ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Real Estate Transfers ,
Sale of Assets ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 363 ,
Stays
On April 19, 2023, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in MOAC Mall Holdings, LLC v. Transform Holdco, LLC. The decision has implications for sales of property in bankruptcy cases.
Section 363(m) of the Bankruptcy Code...more
4/27/2023
/ 363 Sales ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Chapter 11 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Debtors ,
Jurisdiction ,
Leases ,
MOAC Mall Holdings LLC v Transform Holdco LLC ,
Mootness ,
Sale of Assets ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 363
A debt “for money, property, services, or an extension [. . .] of credit, to the extent obtained by [. . .] actual fraud,” is not dischargeable in a chapter 7 bankruptcy case. Courts have questioned whether this applied if...more
As we reported last year, every three years on April 1, the dollar amounts in the Bankruptcy Code are adjusted to account for inflation. The federal dollar amounts last were increased on April 1, 2022, and are not slated for...more
On January 4, 2023, the judge in the Celsius Network bankruptcy case[1] ruled that Celsius users who had deposited cryptocurrency in Celsius’s “Earn Accounts” had transferred ownership of their cryptocurrency to Celsius....more
As we previously reported, the Bankruptcy Code saw many changes in 2020 and 2021. Some of the changes that were enacted under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 ("CAA") will soon end....more
Preference defense received an important boost this week when the Eleventh Circuit decided that invoices paid under 11 U.S.C. § 503(b)(9) can count as "new value" in defending against preference claims. It is the first...more
Congress has made some small but important changes to the Bankruptcy Code through its enactment of the Bankruptcy Threshold Adjustment and Technical Corrections Act (the "Act") on June 21, 2022. The most important of these...more
Every three years on April 1, the dollar amounts in the Bankruptcy Code are adjusted to account for inflation. The April 1, 2022, increase will be nearly 11%, far greater than the approximately 6.2% increase three years ago....more
On July 15, 2021, in the Homaidan opinion, the Second Circuit joined the Fifth and Tenth Circuits in deciding that certain student loans are dischargeable in bankruptcy. These three opinions are very important for the student...more
Bankruptcy law has seen many changes in 2020 and 2021. Some of these were enacted in response to COVID, but many other changes were included in the Bankruptcy Code before the pandemic. This article highlights some of these...more
4/5/2021
/ Bankruptcy Code ,
CARES Act ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Landlords ,
Lenders ,
Relief Measures ,
Small Business ,
Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (SBRA) ,
Suppliers
In June of 2020, Miller Canfield reported that the Fifth Circuit held that a Texas bankruptcy court had exceeded its authority when it ordered the SBA Administrator to make a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan available...more
With many bankruptcy cases looming on the horizon as a result of the pandemic and the measures taken to contain it, prudent creditors are reacquainting themselves with their rights, including the right of reclamation....more
The recently enacted Small Business Reorganization Act ("SBRA") is available to help "small business debtors" with debts of no more than $2,725,625 (temporarily increased to $7,500,000 for one year by the CARES Act). Although...more
The Fifth Circuit has waded into the debate on whether the SBA must make Paycheck Protection Program ("PPP") loans available to debtors in bankruptcy, clearly answering "No."
The PPP, a central component of the...more
The “Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act” (CARES Act) includes bankruptcy-specific provisions that provide enhanced relief for individuals and businesses that have been negatively impacted by the coronavirus...more
The coronavirus pandemic and the resulting abrupt halt to everyday life is causing severe economic damage to small businesses. Small business owners will need to consider all options to survive this downturn, including loan...more
The Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 ("SBRA"), the Honoring American Veterans in Extreme Need ("HAVEN") Act, and the Family Farmer Relief Act were enacted into law on August 23, 2019. This alert summarizes these...more
1/17/2020
/ Amended Legislation ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Bankruptcy Preferences ,
Chapter 11 ,
Chapter 12 ,
Chapter 13 ,
Chapter 7 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Creditors ,
Farms ,
Means Test ,
Small Business ,
Veterans
In an 8-1 decision on May 20, 2019, the Supreme Court of the United States held in Mission Product Holdings Inc. v. Tempnology, LLC that a debtor's rejection of a trademark license under Section 365 of the Bankruptcy Code...more
5/28/2019
/ Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (BAP) ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Breach of Contract ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Debtors ,
Executory Contracts ,
IP License ,
Mission Product Holdings Inc v Tempnology LLC ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 365 ,
Trademark Licenses
The influential Delaware bankruptcy court issued a recent decision that all secured lenders need to be aware of. In this decision, the bankruptcy court held that the fees of the official creditors’ committee were not limited...more