On August 4, 2015, the Second Circuit weighed in for the first time on the circumstances in which the confirmation of a Chapter 11 plan could strip a secured creditor of its lien. In City of Concord, N.H. v.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.  It is not surprising then that a less than scrupulous debtor might be less than candid when disclosing assets and liabilities to a bankruptcy court.  But what happens if an individual debtor is discovered to have concealed assets – possibly fraudulently or in bad faith – and then seeks to exercise his or her statutory right under the Bankruptcy Code to exempt all or a portion of the discovered assets from being available to satisfy creditors?  Can a bankruptcy court in that circumstance look to the bad acts of the debtor as a basi

It is already relatively settled that an insider who has personally guaranteed the debt of his or her company may face preference exposure to the extent the guaranteed debt is paid down during the one-year preference period applicable to insiders. Without doubt, such payments directly benefit the guarantor, whose obligation to the primary creditor is reduced dollar for dollar.

On December 19, 2014, the Governor of the State of Ohio signed into law legislation that clarifies and expands the scope of powers given to a receiver under Ohio’s receivership statutes (chapter 2735 of the Ohio Revised Code (“ORC”)).  Most significantly, effective March 23, 2015 (the effective date for all of the amendments), an Ohio receiver will have express statutory power to sell real and personal property free and clear of liens and will

In 2007, the Delaware Supreme Court issued an important ruling for creditors of insolvent corporations. It held that such creditors had standing to assert derivative claims for breaches of fiduciary duties against directors of an insolvent corporation.1 But, as the Delaware Court of Chancery recently made clear, there is a big difference between Delaware limited liability companies (LLCs) and their corporate cousins.

On December 1, 2009, numerous changes to the time periods applicable in bankruptcy cases took effect. These changes, which will impact creditors and debtors alike, are relatively straightforward but must be carefully reviewed and thoroughly understood. Time plays a critical role in the administration of bankruptcy cases, affecting the degree of notice a party is required to give before certain actions can be taken or approved by the bankruptcy court as well as deadlines for filing various documents, asserting various rights and satisfying certain statutory obligations.

In a June 20, 2018 opinion, Judge Carey of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware sustained an objection to a proof of claim that had been traded during the bankruptcy case and filed by the claim purchaser. The opinion highlights the importance of being vigilant in conducting diligence before acquiring a claim against a bankruptcy debtor, especially regarding the ability of the original creditor to assign the claim without the debtor’s consent.

When creditors are left holding the bag after providing valuable goods or services to a company that files for bankruptcy relief, they often feel misused and that an injustice has occurred. After all, they are legitimately owed money for their work or their product, and the debtor has in effect been unjustly enriched because it received something for nothing. Unsecured creditors do not have recourse to collateral, and typically have to wait in line to receive cents on the dollar.

On August 4, 2017, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals issued its ruling in Varela v. AE Liquidation, Inc. (In re AE Liquidation, Inc.), 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 14359 (3d Cir.

In Metropolitan Government of Nashville & Davidson County v. Hildebrand, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals explains how to read the phrase “applicable nonbankruptcy law” as it is used in the United States Bankruptcy Code. The case – a chapter 13 individual bankruptcy case – discussed the phrase in the context of section 511(a) of the Bankruptcy Code, which deals with the appropriate rate of interest applicable to tax claims.