Polsinelli Podcasts: Out-of-Court Alternatives to Bankruptcy
This episode of “Terra Firma: Conversations on Commercial Real Estate” features hosts Stacey C. Tyler and Stephen Tanico talking with Eric Chafetz, partner in Lowenstein’s Bankruptcy and Restructuring Group, about office...more
Section 363(m) of the Bankruptcy Code offers powerful protection for good-faith purchasers in bankruptcy sales because it limits appellate review of an approved sale, irrespective of the legal merits of the appeal....more
In an opinion on January 22nd, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, in Matter of S. Coast Supply Co., 91 F.4th 376 (5th Cir. 2024), held that preference claims arising under 11 U.S.C. § 547 may be sold, reversing the dismissal...more
On February 20, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an Opinion, which held that challenges to “integral” aspects of a bankruptcy sale are statutorily moot under Bankruptcy Code § 363(m). In...more
Exculpation clauses limiting the liability of certain entities for actions taken in connection with a bankruptcy case are a common feature of chapter 11 plans. However, courts disagree over the permitted scope of such...more
Section 363(m) of the Bankruptcy Code provides that the reversal or modification of an order approving a sale or lease of assets in bankruptcy does not affect the validity of the sale or lease to a good-faith purchaser or...more
When a company is not likely to survive a restructuring, its assets may have value to a third-party buyer. Absent legal protection, a buyer of a financially distressed business will usually be concerned that the company’s...more
On April 19, 2023, Justice Ketangi Brown Jackson, writing for a unanimous Court in MOAC Mall Holdings LLC v. Transform Holdco LLC et.al., 598 U.S. ___ 143 S. Ct. 927 (2023), held that Bankruptcy Code section 363(m) is not...more
The Supreme Court’s April 19, 2023, decision in MOAC Mall Holdings, LLC v. Transform Holdco, LLC, 598 U.S.___, ___S. Ct.___, 2023 WL 2992693 (April 19, 2023) resolved an existing circuit split by holding that section...more
On April 19, 2023, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in MOAC Mall Holdings, LLC v. Transform Holdco, LLC. The decision has implications for sales of property in bankruptcy cases. Section 363(m) of the Bankruptcy Code...more
In Short - The Situation: The U.S. Supreme Court considered whether § 363(m) of the Bankruptcy Code, which limits a party's ability to undo an asset transfer made to a good-faith purchaser in a bankruptcy case, is...more
In a ruling issued just yesterday, MOAC Mall Holdings LLC v. Transform Holdco LLC et al., 598 U.S. ----, 2023 WL 2992693 (2023) (“MOAC”), the United States Supreme Court (the “Supreme Court”) held that Bankruptcy Code section...more
On April 19, 2023, the United States Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in MOAC Mall Holdings LLC v. Transform Holdco LLC et al., No. 21–1270, holding 11 U.S.C. § 363(m) of the Bankruptcy Code is not a jurisdictional...more
To promote the finality of bankruptcy asset sales, section 363(m) of the Bankruptcy Code "moots" an appeal of an order approving a sale to a good-faith purchaser unless the party challenging the sale obtains a stay pending...more
The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard arguments in MOAC Mall Holdings LLC v. Transform Holdco LLC. The case involves the authority of a court of appeals to review a bankruptcy order authorizing a bankrupt tenant to sell its...more
The ability of a bankruptcy trustee or chapter 11 debtor-in-possession to sell assets of the bankruptcy estate "free and clear" of "any interest in property" asserted by a non-debtor is an important tool designed to maximize...more
Bankruptcy and appellate courts disagree over the standard that should apply to a request for payment of a break-up fee or expense reimbursement to the losing bidder in a sale of the debtor's assets outside the ordinary...more
This entry is part of Nelson Mullins’s ongoing “Bankruptcy Basics” blog series that is intended to address foundational aspects of bankruptcy for non-bankruptcy practitioners and professionals. This entry will discuss sales...more
The finality of asset sales in bankruptcy is an indispensable feature of U.S. bankruptcy law designed to maximize the value of a bankruptcy estate as expeditiously as possible for the benefit of all stakeholders. To promote...more
The Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari on June 27, 2022, to determine whether section 363(m) of the Bankruptcy Code—concerning appellate review of bankruptcy court sale orders—is jurisdictional or only...more
Despite the Supreme Court’s rejection of a structured dismissal in 2017, there is a growing trend of bankruptcy courts approving structured dismissals of chapter 11 cases following a successful sale of a debtor’s assets under...more
As we enter year two of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of new Chapter 11 cases being commenced has slowed to a trickle. But the cycle will turn again. There are always companies that lose a major customer, fail to adapt to...more
Everyone is likely familiar with the chapter 11 bankruptcy of The Weinstein Company (“TWC“), an former film and production studio that previously produced and distributed featured films and premium television content...more
Expedited Chapter 11 bankruptcies are on the rise because they save money and because key constituents such as bank lenders and bondholders recognize that the more time that a debtor spends in Chapter 11, the more likely the...more
The Third Circuit’s decision in Spyglass Media Company v. Cohen has added to what is already a tangled web of cases dealing with the rights of licensees and licensors when one of them becomes a debtor in bankruptcy. In...more