We lawyers and judges may be Dylan’s “writers and critics who prophesize with your pen.” Then, as now, the times for us are a-changin’, as U.S. District Court Judge Kathryn C. Ferguson recognized in her opinion in In re...more
This practice note discusses the use of setoff by creditors as a mechanism to limit loss when a debtor has filed bankruptcy. In bankruptcy, setoff is governed by and subject to the limitations imposed by Section 553 of the...more
In In re Arcapita Bank B.S.C., 2021 WL 1603608 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. Apr. 23, 2021), the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York addressed the interaction between purported setoff rights arising under...more
The ability of a creditor to exercise its contractual, common law or statutory rights under non-bankruptcy law to set off amounts owed to a debtor in bankruptcy against the debtor's obligations to the creditor gives...more
On March 19, in a matter of first impression, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals (Court) held that triangular setoff is not permissible in bankruptcy due to Bankruptcy Code Section 553(a)’s mutuality requirement, and that...more
The Third Circuit’s recent decision in In re Orexigen Therapeutics Inc., 990 F.3d 748 (3d Cir. 2021) holds that section 553 of the Bankruptcy Code, which governs creditor setoffs, requires “strict bilateral mutuality.” As a...more
In a March 19, 2021, decision in In re Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc., the Third Circuit joined the Second, Fifth and Seventh Circuits, prohibiting triangular setoff in a bankruptcy proceeding. A triangular setoff occurs when...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently became the first circuit court to address the question of whether a corporate parent can set off an obligation that it owes to a bankrupt company against a claim owed...more
In a recent decision, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit closed the door on triangular setoffs, ruling that the mutuality requirement under Section 553 of the Bankruptcy Code must be strictly construed and requires...more
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
Few issues in bankruptcy create as much contention as disputes regarding the right of setoff. This was recently highlighted by a decision in the chapter 11 case of Orexigen Therapeutics in the District of Delaware. Judge...more