If a business engages in bad behavior like intentional interference with contract and tortious interference with business relations, then it may not use Subchapter V of Chapter 11 to discharge debts based on that bad...more
MODIFICATION OF SECURED LOAN UNDER CRAMDOWN CHAPTER 11 PLAN WARRANTED DUE TO PLAN FEASIBILITY THREAT - Many recent court rulings concerning the treatment of secured creditors under a chapter 11 plan have focused on...more
When existing interest holders attempt to retain ownership of a chapter 11 debtor after confirmation of a nonconsensual plan of reorganization, the Bankruptcy Code's plan confirmation requirements, including well-established...more
Small businesses often struggle to reorganize in bankruptcy. To address this issue, Congress passed the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019. The act took effect in February 2020 and makes small business bankruptcies...more
For many years, people associated with the bankruptcy system in the United States recognized the process didn’t work well for small business owners. Corporate reorganizations through the Chapter 11 process were cumbersome and...more
Recently, we discussed In re CHL, a case involving a real estate developer in Chapter 11. We focused on the importance of the Disclosure Statement as a prerequisite to a debtor's ability to move forward with a plan of...more
To the extent authorized by a State, Chapter 9 of the Bankruptcy Code allows municipalities (defined as a “political subdivision or public agency or instrumentality”) of that State – including public hospitals – to reorganize...more
For the past several years, creditors in the Ninth Circuit were confounded by an interpretation of the bankruptcy code that permitted individual chapter 11 debtors to retain a significant portion of their assets without...more
In re Ramz Real Estate Co., LLC, 510 B.R. 712 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 2013) – An undersecured mortgagee objected to a debtor’s proposed plan of reorganization on several grounds, including that (1) the plan was not approved by...more
In re NNN Parkway 400 26, LLC, 505 B.R. 277 (Bankr. C.D. Cal. 2014) – The primary creditor (an undersecured lender) objected to the debtors’ proposed plan of reorganization on various grounds, including that the plan...more
Unless creditors accept a debtor's plan of reorganization, bankruptcy law requires the plan to provide for the payment in full of creditors before owners of the debtor receive anything on account of their equity interest....more
In a recent decision, In re Castleton Plaza, LP, 2013 WL 537269 *1 (Feb. 14, 2013), the Seventh Circuit held that the absolute priority rule – which requires that creditors be paid in full before equity holders receive...more
Can an equity investor who directs an insider to contribute "new value" to a debtor under a plan of reorganization, so as to retain his interest in the company, avoid an express market test for that new equity? The answer to...more
In a decision issued yesterday, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals held that insiders can't be given a special opportunity to invest in a bankrupt debtor under the guise of contributing "new value" unless the debtor makes the...more