Features

Delaware District Court Could Guide Supreme Court Purdue Pharma Decision
A bankruptcy court properly held that derivative claims based on "piercing the corporate veil theory of liability [were] released under" a confirmed reorganization plan, but that direct "claims for negligent undertaking" were not released and "could be asserted" in state court against the debtors' equity sponsors.
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Seventh Circuit Applies Safe Harbor to Private Securities Transaction
"… [T]he term 'securities contract' as used in [Bankruptcy Code] §546(e) unambiguously includes contracts involving privately held securities," The Seventh Circuit held in Petr v. BMO Harris Bank, N.A.
Features

Landmines In Bankruptcy Appellate Practice, Part III
When courts have made important exceptions in the past year, they have either added a gloss on the Judicial Code, corrected lawyers' errors, filled in statutory gaps, or clarified the relevant statutory language.
Features

Landmines In Bankruptcy Practice, Part II
By enforcing deadlines strictly, refusing to hear appeals from interlocutory orders, and rarely bypassing the district court for direct appeals, appellate courts have generally avoided what they view as unnecessary work and delay. But a few courts have made important exceptions in the past year.
Features

Three Things Trustees Should Know About Due Diligence in Preference Litigation
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.
Features

Litigation Finance Offers Significant Benefits for Restructuring Matters
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.
Features

Landmines In Bankruptcy Appellate Practice
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.
Features

Second Circuit Directs Consideration of an 'Efficient Market' Interest Rate for <b><i>Momentive</i></b> Cramdown Plan
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")…
Features

Reflections on the Life Partners Holding Inc. Bankruptcy
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.
Features

<b><I>AE Liquidation</I></b>: WARN Act Comfort for Debtors Attempting a 363 Sale, or Just the 'Putin Exception'?
In <I>In re AE Liquidation</I>, 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.
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