In In re Rogers Morris, 2020 WL 1321894 (Bankr. N.D. Miss. Mar. 16, 2020), the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Mississippi contributed to an existing split among the courts by joining the majority view in...more
On December 19, 2019, the Second Circuit held that appellants’ state law constructive fraudulent transfer claims were preempted by virtue of the Bankruptcy Code’s safe harbors that exempt transfers made in connection with a...more
The Bottom Line - The United States Supreme Court recently issued a unanimous decision in Ritzen Group, Inc. v. Jackson Masonry, LLC, No. 19-938 589 U.S. __ (2020), which held that a bankruptcy court’s unreserved denial...more
On January 14, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a decision resolving the question of whether a motion for relief from the automatic stay constitutes a discrete dispute within the bankruptcy that creates a...more
Secured creditors must be ever mindful of their rights in consumer bankruptcy cases. Details that might seem technical or insignificant can mean the difference between a creditor's obligation being secured and being...more
The Situation. In Ritzen Group, Inc. v. Jackson Masonry, LLC, the U.S. Supreme Court considered whether bankruptcy court orders conclusively denying relief from the Bankruptcy Code's automatic stay are immediately appealable....more
The consequences of an order or judgement being final or interlocutory are enormous. An order from an interlocutory order requires leave since these orders are not appealable as of right. In addition, a failure to obtain...more
When a debtor files for bankruptcy, the Bankruptcy Code provides for an automatic stay of almost all proceedings to recover property from the debtor. See 11 U.S.C. § 362(a). A party in interest can seek an order exempting...more
In a unanimous opinion released last week, the Supreme Court provided guidance as to how to determine the finality of an order in a bankruptcy case for purposes of an appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 158(a). The Court held that the...more
On January 14, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States issued an opinion clarifying what constitutes a final order for purposes of bankruptcy appeal. The Ritzen decision comes a few years after the Supreme Court in...more
Under the Bankruptcy Code, filing a bankruptcy petition automatically halts efforts to collect pre-petition debts from the debtor outside of bankruptcy. This is the "automatic stay," and it is a command, not a suggestion....more
Earlier this week, the United States Supreme Court issued an opinion regarding appeals of orders denying relief from the automatic stay. Generally, the automatic stay (section 362 of the Bankruptcy Code) prevents creditors...more
Today, the Supreme Court of the United States issued two opinions: Ritzen Group, Inc. v. Jackson Masonry, LLC, No. 18-938: After petitioner Ritzen Group brought a breach of contract claim against respondent Jackson Masonry...more
On January 14, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States decided Ritzen Group, Inc. v. Jackson Masonry, LLC, No. 18-938, holding that an order unreservedly ruling on a creditor’s motion for relief from bankruptcy’s...more
Today, the United States Supreme Court issued an opinion of interest to every debtor and creditor in a bankruptcy case as the decision involves the automatic stay. The appeal involved a bankruptcy court’s order that enforced...more
On June 14, 2019, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (“HSTPA”), which amounts to extensive reform of prior regulations governing rent stabilization and rent control...more
U.S. maritime law offers a maritime plaintiff two principal means of obtaining security for its claims: Rule B attachment in respect of maritime claims, and Rule C arrest in respect of maritime liens. These rules are...more
Bankruptcy Judge Christopher S. Sontchi recently ruled in the Energy Future Holdings case that the debtor will not be required to pay the $431 million “make whole” demanded by bondholders upon the debtor’s early payment of...more