Wellness International Oral Argument: Supreme Court Justices Grapple With...
There were nearly a million bankruptcy cases filed by individuals and businesses in 2014. It is safe to say that only the tiniest fraction of such debtors have any familiarity with the Supreme Court’s...
View ArticleJudge Protects GM Against Most, But Not All, Ignition Switch Claims
Judge Robert Gerber ruled last week that General Motors LLC (“New GM”), the entity formed in 2009 to acquire the assets of General Motors Corporation (“Old GM”), is shielded from a substantial portion...
View ArticleSupreme Court Decides to Maintain the Viability of the U.S. Bankruptcy...
Four years ago, in Stern v. Marshall, the Supreme Court stunned many observers by re-visiting separation of powers issues regarding the jurisdiction of the United States bankruptcy courts that most...
View ArticleBaker Botts v. Asarco: The Supreme Court Shows Again That It Really Doesn’t...
The Supreme Court has not handled its recent major bankruptcy decisions well. The jurisdictional confusion engendered by its 2011 decision in Stern v. Marshall was only partially clarified by this...
View ArticleEnergy Future Holdings – More Bad News for Bondholders on Make-Whole Premiums
Make-whole premiums are often used in connection with the issuance of debt in order to protect noteholders with long term investment horizons from being repaid early. At the time of the bankruptcy...
View ArticleEnergy Future Holdings – Another Major Success for Chapter 11 Mediation?
Mediation has become an invaluable tool in large chapter 11 cases. Traditionally viewed as a means for resolving discrete disputes between a debtor’s estate and an adversary party, in recent years...
View ArticleEnergy Future Holdings – Kicking a Very Large Can Down the Road
Energy Future Holdings (“EFH” or “Debtors”) has cleared all of the preliminary hurdles in its path as it moves towards the confirmation of its plan of reorganization (the “Plan”). Last week Judge...
View ArticleGM Judge Nuances His Earlier Rulings and Sets Out Permissible Ignition Switch...
At a hearing in late August, Judge Robert Gerber expressed his annoyance with both sides in the ongoing battle to determine whether General Motors LLC (“New GM”), the entity formed in 2009 to acquire...
View ArticleWere the Energy Future Holdings and Caesars Chapter 11 Cases Just Saved by K...
Bankruptcy and restructuring professionals usually do not need to be political junkies. Amendments to the Bankruptcy Code, and the accompanying machinations of the Congressional legislative process,...
View ArticleDelaware Bankruptcy Judge Rejects Effort to Circumvent Supreme Court’s Asarco...
The Supreme Court’s decision last term in Baker Botts v. Asarco, in which the Court ruled that professionals that are paid from a debtor’s bankruptcy estate cannot be compensated for time spent...
View ArticleRuling on Pipeline Agreements in Sabine Chapter 11 Case Indicates Battles...
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Shelley Chapman ruled last week in the chapter 11 case of Sabine Oil & Gas that Sabine could utilize the U.S. Bankruptcy Code to “reject” certain agreements with pipeline...
View ArticleLandlords Beware: Seventh Circuit Rules That Lease Terminations May Be...
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently handed down a decision with significant implications for landlords contemplating lease termination agreements with distressed tenants. Ruling on a direct...
View ArticleEnergy Future Holdings Chapter 11 Case – The Largest Game Ever of Texas Hold’em?
The chapter 11 case of Energy Future Holdings (“EFH” or “Debtors”) roared back to life this month. Certain key conditions for the plan of reorganization approved last December (the “First Plan”) to...
View ArticleSecured Creditors Can Chill a Bit Following Aeropostale Ruling
The ability of a secured creditor to credit bid its debt in connection with a sale of a debtor’s assets received a strong boost in a decision last month in the Chapter 11 case of Aeropostale from U.S....
View ArticleJevic Could Be the Most Consequential Chapter 11 Decision in Many Years
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear the case of Czyzewski v. Jevic Holding Corp. during the new term that began last week. The questions it presents are relatively simple. First, can a bankruptcy court,...
View ArticlePunt, Pass or Kick? Supreme Court Struggles With Jevic at Oral Argument
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments this week in the case of Czyzewski v. Jevic Holding Corp. Although veteran Court watchers caution about seeking to predict ultimate rulings based on...
View ArticleDelaware Bankruptcy Judge: A Carve-Out for Fees Is Not a Cap
Judge Christopher Sontchi recently issued an important opinion in the Molycorp chapter 11 case. He held that a standard carve-out in a financing order for the fees of counsel and other professionals...
View ArticleNortel Judge Rejects Noteholders’ Challenge to Indenture Trustee’s Fees
Judge Kevin Gross of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware handed down an important ruling last week that turned aside most of an unusual challenge to the fees and expenses of an...
View ArticleMillenium Lab Holdings – Ruling on Third Party Releases Highlights Continuing...
In Millenium Lab Holdings, Delaware District Court Judge Leonard Stark, on an appeal from a bankruptcy court order confirming a plan of reorganization, recently upheld a challenge to the bankruptcy...
View ArticleCould Supreme Court Case on Debt Recharacterization Provide a Pathway Out of...
The Supreme Court recently granted certiorari in PEM Entities LLC v. Levin, in which it will decide whether federal or a state law should apply when a debt claim held by a debtor’s insider is sought to...
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