To prevent "trafficking in corporate shells," the Bankruptcy Code prohibits any discharge of corporate or partnership debts if the debtor is not an "individual" and, in a chapter 11 case, if the debtor proposes a liquidating...more
Supreme Court Unanimously Strikes Down 2017 U.S. Trustee Fee Hike as Unconstitutional -
On June 6, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a much-awaited decision, Siegel v. Fitzgerald, No. 21-441, __. U.S. __, 2022 WL...more
Section 365(h) of the Bankruptcy Code provides special protection for tenants if a trustee or chapter 11 debtor-in-possession ("DIP") rejects an unexpired lease under which the debtor was the lessor by giving the tenant the...more
The ability of a bankruptcy trustee to avoid certain transfers of a debtor's property and to recover the property or its value from the transferees is an essential tool in maximizing the value of a bankruptcy estate for the...more
In McKillen v. Wallace (In re Irish Bank Resolution Corp. Ltd.), 2019 WL 4740249 (D. Del. Sept. 27, 2019), the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware had an opportunity to consider, as an apparent matter of first...more
2/27/2020
/ Adversary Proceedings ,
Appeals ,
Automatic Stay ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Barton Doctrine ,
Breach of Duty ,
Chapter 15 ,
Court-Appointed Receivers ,
Debtors-in-Possession ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Personal Liability ,
Trustees
In Mission Product Holdings, Inc. v. Tempnology, LLC, 139 S. Ct. 652, 2019 WL 2166392 (U.S. May 20, 2019), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the rejection in bankruptcy of a trademark license agreement, which constitutes a...more
8/20/2019
/ Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (BAP) ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Breach of Contract ,
Chapter 11 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Debtors ,
Debtors-in-Possession ,
Exclusions ,
Executory Contracts ,
IP License ,
Mission Product Holdings Inc v Tempnology LLC ,
Rescission ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 365 ,
Split of Authority ,
Trademark Licenses ,
Trademarks ,
Trustees
In In re Tribune Co. Fraudulent Conveyance Litig., 2019 WL 1771786 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 23, 2019), the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denied a litigation trustee’s motion to amend a complaint seeking to...more
6/19/2019
/ Avoidance ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Chapter 11 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Creditors ,
Debtors ,
Financial Institutions ,
Fraudulent Transfers ,
Intermediaries ,
Leveraged Buyout ,
Merit Management Group v FTI Consulting ,
Safe Harbors ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 546(e) ,
Split of Authority ,
Trustees
In Momentive Performance Materials Inc. v. BOKF, NA (In re MPM Silicones, L.L.C.), 874 F.3d 787 (2d Cir. 2017), cert. denied, 138 S. Ct. 2653 (2018), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a number of lower...more
6/19/2019
/ Appeals ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Chapter 11 ,
Chapter 13 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Cramdown ,
Debt Restructuring ,
Debtors ,
Debtors-in-Possession ,
First-Lien ,
Interest Rates ,
Make-Whole Premium ,
Noteholders ,
Remand ,
Secured Notes ,
Subordination ,
Trustees
On April 3, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order that, in light of its recent ruling in Merit Management Group LP v. FTI Consulting Inc., 138 S. Ct. 883, No. 16-784 (Feb. 27, 2018), the Court would defer consideration...more
6/8/2018
/ Avoidance ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Chapter 11 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Debtors ,
Financial Institutions ,
Fraudulent Transfers ,
Intermediaries ,
Merit Management Group v FTI Consulting ,
Safe Harbors ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 546(e) ,
Split of Authority ,
Trustees
Courts disagree as to whether the amount that a bankruptcy trustee or chapter 11 debtor-in-possession ("DIP") can recover in fraudulent transfer avoidance litigation should be capped at the total amount of unsecured claims...more
2/5/2018
/ Acquisitions ,
Bankrtupcy Code Section 550 ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Chapter 11 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Commercial Real Estate Contracts ,
Debtor-Creditor ,
Debtors-in-Possession ,
Fraudulent Transfers ,
Mergers ,
Trustees ,
UFTA
In Clark’s Crystal Springs Ranch, LLC v. Gugino (In re Clark), 692 Fed. Appx. 946, 2017 BL 240043 (9th Cir. July 12, 2017), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that: (i) the remedy of "substantive...more
The ability of a trustee or chapter 11 debtor-in-possession ("DIP") to sell bankruptcy estate assets "free and clear" of competing interests in the property has long been recognized as one of the most important advantages of...more
10/4/2017
/ 363 Sales ,
Appeals ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Chapter 11 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Commercial Leases ,
Commercial Tenants ,
Debt Restructuring ,
Debtors-in-Possession ,
Free and Clear Transactions ,
Landlords ,
Mortgages ,
Resorts & Restaurants ,
Sale of Assets ,
Section 365 ,
Split of Authority ,
Tenants ,
Trustees
The next few years are expected to see a significant increase in the volume of bankruptcy cases filed by health care providers. Thus far in 2017, the number of bankruptcies in health care-related sectors, including hospitals,...more
10/3/2017
/ Absolute Priority Rule ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Automatic Stay ,
Bundled Services ,
Chapter 11 ,
Chapter 7 ,
Chapter 9 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Debtors ,
Fee-for-Service ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Costs ,
Lenders ,
Medicaid ,
Medical Records ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Provider Agreements ,
Shareholders ,
Trustees
The ability to avoid fraudulent or preferential transfers is a fundamental part of U.S. bankruptcy law. However, when a transfer by a U.S. entity takes place outside the U.S. to a non-U.S. transferee—as is increasingly common...more
10/2/2017
/ Avoidance ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Chapter 11 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Debtors ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Fraudulent Transfers ,
Fraudulent Wire Transfers ,
Jurisdiction ,
Preferential Transfers ,
Trustees ,
Wire Transfers
The ability of a trustee or chapter 11 debtor in possession ("DIP") to sell bankruptcy estate assets "free and clear" of liens on the property under section 363(f) of the Bankruptcy Code has long been recognized as one of the...more
8/15/2017
/ Appeals ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Chapter 11 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Debt Restructuring ,
Debtors ,
Debtors-in-Possession ,
Free and Clear Transactions ,
Liens ,
Liquidation ,
Mortgages ,
Sale of Assets ,
Section 363 ,
Section 506 ,
Trustees
In Weisfelner v. Blavatnik (In re Lyondell Chemical Company), 2017 BL 131876 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. Apr. 21, 2017), the bankruptcy court presiding over the chapter 11 case of Lyondell Chemical Company ("Lyondell") handed down a...more
6/3/2017
/ Aiding and Abetting ,
Appeals ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Breach of Duty ,
Burden of Proof ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fraudulent Conveyance ,
Loans ,
Merger Agreements ,
Mergers ,
Preferential Transfers ,
Restitution ,
Reversal ,
Trustees
Among the required elements of a claim to avoid a preferential transfer under section 547(b) of the Bankruptcy Code is that, if the creditor-transferee were permitted to retain a pre-bankruptcy payment, it would end up being...more
5/31/2017
/ Bankruptcy Code ,
Chapter 11 ,
Chapter 7 ,
Creditors ,
Debtors ,
Executory Contracts ,
Managed Custody Accounts (MCAs) ,
Preferences ,
Preferential Transfers ,
Section 365 ,
Trustees