Courts have struggled with the interpretation of the 2019 amendment to Section 547, specifically whether the due diligence requirement is an element of a preference claim that must be adequately pleaded in the plaintiff's complaint. While the law is still developing, there are three important takeaways for trustees to consider.
In today's volatile economic climate, companies need to be more creative to find ways to mitigate risk. Litigation finance is one of those out-of-the-box solutions that can provide benefits.
Pundits are raving about the current increase in business bankruptcy cases. But they rarely, if ever, mention the spike in bankruptcy appeals. A brief survey of recent decisions shows that appellate courts are, among other things, finding ways to (a) avoid making decisions or to (b) avoid litigation delay and uncertainty by expediting appellate review. Practitioners can avoid surprises by grasping what these courts are actually doing.
On Oct. 20, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in Momentive Performance Materials, Inc. v. BOKF, NA (In re MPM Silicones, L.L.C. "MPM")…
Many bankruptcy practitioners are at least somewhat familiar with the highly publicized proceedings involving Life Partners Holdings Inc. (LPHI), a company that sold fractional ownership interests in life insurance policies — referred to as life settlements. This case was as complex as any could imagine and, as the Trustee appointed to manage this bankruptcy, the author had a front-row seat.
In In re AE Liquidation, the Third Circuit held that a WARN Act notice only must be given when mass layoffs are probable, not when merely foreseeable. As a result, a debtor that was attempting to effectuate a going concern sale under Bankruptcy Code Section 363 was not liable for failing to give a WARN Act notice until the day it determined it could no longer wait for approvals from the buyer to close.
Considerations for Bankruptcy Counsel
Substantive non-consolidation opinion letters have long been a regular “check-the-box” item in large commercial real estate transactions. While substantive consolidation jurisprudence has not changed materially over the past decade, these opinion letters should not be treated lightly by borrowers or their counsel.
For the remainder of 2017, due in part to the current uncertainty in the healthcare industry and its legislative oversight, more financially distressed providers are considering Chapter 11 bankruptcy to effectuate closures, consolidation, restructurings and related transactions.
