June 28 2024 On June 27, 2024, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma L.P., 603 U.S. ____ (2024) holding that the Bankruptcy Code does not allow for the inclusion of non-consensual third-party releases in chapter 11 plans. This decision settles a long-standing circuit split on the propriety of such releases […]
May 30 2024 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. Specifically, it provides that the reversal or modification of an order approving the sale of assets in bankruptcy does not […]
May 30 2024 A debtor’s non-exempt assets (and even the debtor’s entire business) are commonly sold during the course of a bankruptcy case by the trustee or a chapter 11 debtor-in-possession (“DIP”) as a means of augmenting the bankruptcy estate for the benefit of stakeholders or to fund distributions under, or implement, a chapter 11, […]
May 30 2024 Sales pursuant to Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code have become commonplace in bankruptcy cases as a mechanism to liquidate a debtor’s assets and maximize value for creditors. Selling the debtor’s assets to a third party provides a new go-forward business partner for the debtor’s vendors and customers, and likely provides continuity […]
November 9 2023 Troutman Pepper – David M. Fournier, Evelyn J. Meltzer, Kenneth A. Listwak and Tori Lynn Remington Successor liability is a catchall term for a group of legal theories that, in certain circumstances, allow a creditor to recover amounts owed by its obligor from a person or entity who succeeds to the assets or business of that obligor. Typically, […]
October 26 2023 In Breanne Martin v. Leslie Gladstone, the Second District Court of Appeal recently decided a case that could reverberate throughout the receivership and bankruptcy industries. This case comes at a propitious moment as bankruptcy proceedings and receiverships – particularly for distressed commercial real estate entities – trend upward in California. Receivers and […]
USA June 28 2023 Hidden amidst the more high profile end of term decisions from the Supreme Court is a seemingly boring procedural decision that could have significant impact on businesses and expose them to litigation in a multiplicity of states where they never expected to be sued. Nine years ago, in Daimler AG v. […]
USA June 6 2023 On May 30, 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (the “Second Circuit” or the “Court”) rendered a much anticipated opinion (the “Opinion”),1 reversing the order of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (the “District Court”) that the Bankruptcy Code does […]
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2023 While we often recite that bankruptcy is for the honest but unfortunate debtor, a new case from the Supreme Court shows that getting into bed or business with the wrong person can lead to a non-dischargeable debt for an innocent spouse. The case is No. 21-908, Bartenwerfer v. Buckley, which you […]
December 26 2022 The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently affirmed a bankruptcy court’s judgment in favor of a debtor who sought to avoid a judgment lien under California’s homestead exemption law. In so ruling, the Ninth Circuit held that, when a judgment lien impairs a debtor’s state-law homestead exemption, the Bankruptcy […]