Companies work with experts to secure litigation favorable judgments only to face obstacles to enforcement. By learning how to “think like a bad debtor,” creditors can work with specialists to pursue multimillion judgments and uncollected awards.
Both the Johnson & Johnson and InfoWars bankruptcies are filed to address tort lawsuits.
Johnson & Johnson’s bankruptcy survives a motions to dismiss.[Fn. 1] InfoWars’ bankruptcy doesn’t.[Fn. 2]
What follows is an effort to compare and contrast the two cases, revealing why one survives and the other doesn’t.
The Businesses
–Johnson & Johnson
On June 30, 2022, Plano, Texas-based mortgage lender First Guaranty Mortgage Corp. (“FGMC”), filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Case No. 22-10584). FGMC reports $500 million to $1 billion in both assets and liabilities.
Uncertain times have a knock-on effect on all aspects of life including business. The pandemic, Brexit, ever-rising inflation and now an energy crisis against the backdrop of war in Europe have made many businesses face financial difficulty.
Suppliers and customers alike are facing extraordinary pressures, and this can affect key supply contracts. This has meant the importance of insolvency law and practice in this area has risen considerably.
What happens if a customer becomes insolvent?
On 30 June 2022, the English court handed down judgment and made a winding-up order in respect of Galapagos S.A., marking an important milestone in an almost three-year cross-border insolvency battle involving the English, German and European courts.
The decision also provides helpful guidance on the application of the Recast European Insolvency Regulation post-Brexit, as well as the extent to which pre-Brexit jurisprudence should still be considered retained in, or relevant to, English law.
Galapagos: The Facts
On June 30, 2022, Palo Alto, California-based mobile technology retailer pairing company Enjoy Technology, Inc., along with two affiliates, who provide a revolutionary commerce-at-home experience for consumers through the companies’ network of mobile retail stores, filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Case No.
Is the § 363(m) limit on appeal of a sale order “subject to waiver”?
That’s the essential question before the U.S. Supreme Court in MOAC Mall Holdings LLC v. Transform Holdco LLC, Case No. 21-1270 (certiorari granted June 27, 2022).
A deep circuit split exists on whether the § 363(m) limitation is, (i) on an appellate court’s jurisdiction, or (ii) on remedies an appellate court can provide.[Fn. 1]
This panel discussion at INSOL London 2022, moderated by Debra Dandeneau, Chair of the Global Restructuring & Insolvency Group at Baker McKenzie, explored how rescue financing works in different parts of the globe and provided insights on some issues that alternative capital providers typically face. The panellists also brought a wide variety of experience and views to creating an ideal system that promotes restructuring and rescue financing.
Some of the key takeaways and insights were:
On June 29, 2022, New York City-based Madison Square Boys & Girls Club, Inc. (the “Club”), a non-profit aimed to save and enhance the lives of underserved boys and girls through after school programming and youth development services, filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (Case No. 22-10910).
Overview
Recently, in Shady Bird Lending, LLC v. The Source Hotel, LLC (In re The Source Hotel, LLC), Case No. 8:21-cv-00824-FLA (C.D. Ca. June 8, 2022), the Central District of California District Court adopted the majority view that a non-income producing property could be a “single asset real estate,” or SARE, debtor. The district court held that a hotel, which was not yet producing income, met the definition of a SARE.
Background