Hooper, Kearney and Macklin on Cutting Edge Topics in the False Claims Act
Filing a reaffirmation agreement in a chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding is a commonplace occurrence for many attorneys. However, the reaffirmation process is fraught with nuances and traps for the unwary attorney. Absent...more
Much of the bankruptcy chatter arising from the pandemic world in which we find ourselves is now focusing on the cascade of new bankruptcy cases that are predicted to arrive soon. We have already seen the effects of closed...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
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
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
In a recent appeal directly to the Fifth Circuit from a Southern District of Texas Bankruptcy Court, the court affirmed the bankruptcy court’s denial of a motion to compel arbitration. In Henry v. Educational Financial...more
Many states, including Maryland and Pennsylvania, recognize the common law form of ownership of property as “tenants by the entireties” for both real and personal property, including bank accounts. Under that form of...more
Those seeking to purchase assets or a business out of a Chapter 11 case employing a “loan to own” strategy may well have received a boost from a recent decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit....more
After Energy Future Holdings (EFH), maybe not so much. The size of the break-up fee approved by the bankruptcy court in EFH was undoubtedly large by any account – US$275 million. But it was approved following all necessary...more
Debtors generally file a bankruptcy petition seeking a fresh start, free from their personal debts. Debtors have the option to agree to pay certain debts to retain a car or other property through reaffirmation agreements and...more
In U.S. Bank Nat'l Ass'n v. Village at Lakeridge, LLC, No. 15-1509, 2018 U.S. LEXIS 1520 (Mar. 5, 2018), the Supreme Court analyzed the appropriate standard of review for appellate courts reviewing a bankruptcy court’s...more
In U.S. Capital Bank N.A. v. Village at Lakeridge, LLC, No. 15-1509 (U.S. Mar. 5, 2018), the U.S. Supreme Court held that an appellate court should apply a deferential standard of review to a bankruptcy court's decision as to...more
In another decision affecting Chapter 11 cases, U.S. Bank National Association v. Village at Lakeridge, --- S. Ct. ---, 2018 WL 1143822 (2018), on March 5, 2018, the United States Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision,...more
On March 5, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States decided U.S. Bank, N.A. v. Village at Lakeridge, LLC, No 15-1509, holding that a bankruptcy court’s determination of whether a set of facts demonstrated an arms-length...more
In the March/April 2013 edition of the Business Restructuring Review, we reported on an opinion by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York concluding that a chapter 15 debtor’s sale of claims against...more