The ability of a bankruptcy trustee or chapter 11 debtor-in-possession ("DIP") to assume, assume and assign, or reject executory contracts and unexpired leases is an important tool designed to promote a "fresh start" for...more
One year ago, we wrote that, unlike in 2019, when the large business bankruptcy landscape was generally shaped by economic, market, and leverage factors, the COVID-19 pandemic dominated the narrative in 2020. The pandemic may...more
One year ago, we wrote that, unlike in 2019, when the large business bankruptcy landscape was generally shaped by economic, market, and leverage factors, the COVID-19 pandemic dominated the narrative in 2020....more
1/27/2022
/ Automatic Stay ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Chapter 11 ,
Chapter 15 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Creditors ,
Debtors ,
Executory Contracts ,
Foreign Bankruptcies ,
Insolvency ,
Popular
Despite the absence of any explicit directive in the Bankruptcy Code, it is well understood that a debtor must file a chapter 11 petition in good faith. The bankruptcy court can dismiss a bad faith filing "for cause,"...more
New York Bankruptcy Court Rules That Good Faith Is Not The Gatekeeper To Chapter 15 -
Despite the absence of any explicit directive in the Bankruptcy Code, it is well understood that a debtor must file a chapter 11...more
11/10/2021
/ Bankruptcy Code ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Chapter 11 ,
Chapter 15 ,
Chapter 7 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Corporate Restructuring ,
Creditors ,
Debtors ,
Good Faith ,
Insolvency ,
Leveraged Buyout
Whether the pre-Bankruptcy Code "solvent debtor exception" requiring the payment of postpetition interest to dissenting unsecured creditors under a chapter 11 plan survived the enactment of the Bankruptcy Code in 1978 has...more
In In re Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, 12 F.4th 171 (2d Cir. 2021), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit revived litigation filed by the trustee administering the assets of defunct investment firm...more
11/10/2021
/ Bankruptcy Code ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Bernie Madoff ,
Chapter 11 ,
Fraud ,
Fraudulent Transfers ,
Good Faith ,
Investment Funds ,
Investors ,
Ponzi Scheme ,
SIPA
It is well recognized that, in keeping with the "fresh start" or "rehabilitative" policy, the Bankruptcy Code invalidates after-acquired property clauses in prepetition security agreements, but also includes an exception to...more
In yet another chapter in the tortured saga of the fallout from the failed 2007 leveraged buyout ("LBO") of media giant The Tribune Co. ("Tribune") in a transaction orchestrated by real-estate mogul Sam Zell, the U.S. Court...more
11/10/2021
/ Bankrtupcy Code Section 550 ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Breach of Duty ,
Chapter 11 ,
Citigroup ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Common Stock ,
ESOP ,
Fraudulent Transfers ,
Leveraged Buyout ,
Merrill Lynch ,
Section 548 ,
The Tribune Company ,
Unregistered Securities
Despite the absence of any explicit directive in the Bankruptcy Code, it is well understood that a debtor must file a chapter 11 petition in good faith. The bankruptcy court can dismiss a bad faith filing "for cause," which...more
11/10/2021
/ Bankruptcy Code ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Chapter 11 ,
Chapter 15 ,
COMI ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Creditors ,
Cross-Border ,
Debtors ,
Foreign Bankruptcies ,
Good Faith ,
Liquidation ,
Reorganizations ,
UNCITRAL
At a conference to be held at the end of the summer recess on September 27, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether to grant petitions seeking review during the new Term that begins on October 4 of three notable...more
Whether a contract is "executory" such that it can be assumed, rejected, or assigned in bankruptcy is a question infrequently addressed by the circuit courts of appeals. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit...more
9/21/2021
/ 363 Sales ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Chapter 11 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Contract Terms ,
Creditors ,
Debtors ,
Debtors-in-Possession ,
Executory Contracts ,
Film Industry ,
Materiality ,
Profits ,
Section 365 ,
Work Made For Hire Doctrine
In Czyzewski v. Jevic Holding Corp., 137 S. Ct. 973 (2017), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Bankruptcy Code does not allow bankruptcy courts to approve distributions to creditors in a "structured dismissal" of a chapter...more
Chapter 15 Update: U.S. Bankruptcy Court Refuses To Enforce Order Approving Indonesian Debt Restructuring Plan Due To Third-party Releases -
Cross-border bankruptcy cases filed in the U.S. under chapter 15 of the...more
7/23/2021
/ Article III ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Chapter 11 ,
Chapter 15 ,
Comity ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Foreign Bankruptcies ,
Restructuring ,
Safe Harbors ,
Setoff Rights ,
Sharia Law ,
Standing ,
Subordination Agreement ,
Third-Party ,
Tolling
In In re Fencepost Productions Inc., 2021 WL 1259691 (Bankr. D. Kan. Mar. 31, 2021), the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Kansas recently addressed the enforceability of a provision in a pre-bankruptcy subordination...more
Cross-border bankruptcy cases filed in the U.S. under chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code on behalf of foreign businesses doubled during 2020 and are on pace to set another record-breaking year in 2021 (with more than 123...more
Madoff -
In what may be the beginning of the final chapter of more than a decade of litigation involving efforts to recover $41 million of the fictitious profits paid to certain investors in Bernard Madoff's defunct...more
7/22/2021
/ Bankruptcy Code ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Bernie Madoff ,
Chapter 11 ,
Denial of Certiorari ,
Fraud ,
Investment Funds ,
Investors ,
Ponzi Scheme ,
SCOTUS ,
SIPA
In This Issue:
First Impressions: Third Circuit Scuttles Triangular Setoff in Bankruptcy -
In In re Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc., 990 F.3d 748 (3d Cir. 2021), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled as a...more
5/27/2021
/ Bankruptcy Code ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Chapter 11 ,
Chapter 7 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Corporate Restructuring ,
Debt Restructuring ,
Leveraged Buyout ,
Mootness ,
Mutuality ,
Safe Harbors
To encourage creditors, equity interest holders, indenture trustees, and unofficial committees to take actions that benefit a chapter 9 or chapter 11 estate, the Bankruptcy Code confers administrative expense status on claims...more
It is generally recognized that a bankruptcy court has the power—either equitable or statutory—to recharacterize a purported debt as equity if the substance of the transaction belies the labels the parties have given it. A...more
The court-fashioned doctrine of "equitable mootness" has traditionally been invoked to bar appeals of orders confirming "substantially consummated" chapter 11 plans. Some appellate courts, however, have applied it to bar...more
The ability of a creditor to exercise its contractual, common law or statutory rights under non-bankruptcy law to set off amounts owed to a debtor in bankruptcy against the debtor's obligations to the creditor gives...more
In This Issue:
Tenant's Election to Retain Possession of Rejected Lease Premises Preserves Obligations Under Related Agreements -
Section 365(h) of the Bankruptcy Code provides special protection for tenants if a...more
In In re Nuverra Environmental Solutions, Inc., 834 Fed. App'x 729 (3d Cir. 2021), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit handed down a long-awaited ruling that could have addressed, but ultimately did not address,...more
There is longstanding controversy concerning the validity of release and exculpation provisions in non-asbestos trust chapter 11 plans that limit the potential exposure of various parties involved in the process of...more