Recent Tenth Circuit Decision in John Q Hammons Fall Following SCOTUS’ Decision in Siegel v. Fitzgerald Could Result in Significant Refunds for Certain Chapter 11 Debtors
The Constitutionality of Increased Trustee Fees In Bankruptcy
When bankruptcy courts and state courts vie for authority in complex financial disputes, the outcome can reshape recoveries for creditors, investors, and businesses. This tension was front and center in Silverman v....more
The United States Supreme Court has held that the sovereign immunity waiver in Section 106(a) of the Bankruptcy Code does not extend to state law claims “nested” within a Section 544(b) claim for relief, depriving bankruptcy...more
Bankruptcy trustees and chapter 11 debtors-in-possession (“DIPs”) frequently seek to avoid fraudulent transfers and obligations under section 544(b) of the Bankruptcy Code and state fraudulent transfer or other applicable...more
Bankruptcy trustees and chapter 11 debtors-in-possession ("DIPs") frequently seek to avoid fraudulent transfers and obligations under section 544(b) of the Bankruptcy Code and state fraudulent transfer or other applicable...more
The Supreme Court recently issued an opinion, resolving a circuit split, narrowing the sovereign immunity exception by limiting a trustee’s ability to pursue avoidance actions against the government when such action invokes...more
Section 106(a) Doesn’t Waive Sovereign Immunity for State-Law-Based Section 544(b) Claims - The U.S. Supreme Court has significantly curtailed bankruptcy trustees’ powers in United States v. Miller, 145 S. Ct. 839 (2025). In...more
The Bankruptcy Code provides chapter 7 trustees with significant powers to liquidate and collect estate assets and pursue litigation claims, such as fraudulent transfer claims against third parties, all to increase the...more
On March 26, 2025, the United States Supreme Court decided United States v. Miller, No. 23-824, resolving a circuit split and holding that in an action brought under § 544(b) of the bankruptcy code, § 106(a)’s sovereign...more
The ability to assume, assume and assign, or reject executory contracts and unexpired leases is a power central to ability of a bankruptcy trustee or chapter 11 debtor-in-possession ("DIP") to maximize the value of the estate...more
Q: I am a state court receiver in a case that has been disrupted by a bankruptcy filing. The bankruptcy trustee has been threatening to sue me, in the bankruptcy court, for what she claims were negligent actions and to...more
Chapter 11 plans contain various releases – some in favor of the debtor and some in favor of certain nondebtor third parties. While creditors are bound by a Chapter 11 discharge, they have options for dealing with a plan's...more
The Barton doctrine provides that a court-appointed receiver cannot be sued absent “leave of court by which he was appointed.” Barton v. Barbour, 104 U.S. 126, 127 (1881). “An action against a receiver without court...more
This author previously wrote an article published in Bloomberg Law regarding the Supreme Court’s decision to take up an appeal of a decision on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in United States v. Miller. In Miller, the...more
On November 6, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denied in part and granted in part Citibank’s motions to dismiss claims for allegedly aiding and abetting an accountholder’s multi-million...more
Bradley scored a significant victory in the Tennessee Supreme Court on November 14, 2024. In a long-awaited decision, the Tennessee Supreme Court clarified a long-standing inconsistency in Tennessee law with its opinion in...more
Bankruptcy debtors have special rights in contracts or leases where both parties have outstanding obligations, known in legal terms as “executory contracts” or “unexpired leases”. If you are doing business with a company that...more
On September 12, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit nixed a $563 million jury verdict against BMO Harris Bank involving claims that the bank aided and abetted a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme, ruling...more
The Federal Trade Commission’s new rules banning phony online reviews are now in effect. These rules aim to curb false consumer testimonials, the buying of fake reviews from brokers, review suppression, falsifying social...more
In one of the most publicized terms for the U.S. Supreme Court, one June decision has not received the attention it deserves: Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser Gypsum Company Inc. Truck upends decades of Chapter 11...more
Energy development contracts commonly permit landlords (on whose land the energy project is constructed) a buyout right with respect to the project, often for a nominal payment… but that right isn’t guaranteed in the event of...more
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (the Proposal) on September 17, 2024, that seeks to strengthen recordkeeping for bank deposits held by nonbank companies on behalf of...more
So starts the opinion of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in United States v. MacKenzie: “As Benjamin Franklin said, ‘nothing is certain except death and taxes.’ But how certain are taxes in a Chapter...more
It has been approximately two months since the highly anticipated Supreme Court decision in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma L.P., and it is already making a significant impact in bankruptcies around the country. In September...more
On February 21, 2024, the U.S. Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Tenth Circuit held that a debtor who receives several direct benefits from a loan to an operating company has received “reasonably equivalent value” in exchange...more
The U.S. Supreme Court handed down three bankruptcy rulings to finish the current Term. The decisions address the validity of nonconsensual third-party releases in chapter 11 plans, the standing of insurance companies to...more