A bankruptcy court gave “unnecessary and unlikely incorrect” reasoning to support its “excessively broad proposition that sales free and clear under [Bankruptcy Code (“Code”)] Section 363 override, and essentially render nugatory, the critical lessee protections against a debtor-lessor under [Code] 365(h),” said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Feb. 16, 2022. In re Royal Bistro, LLC, 2022 WL 499938, *1-*2 (5th Cir. Feb. 16, 2022).

On February 19, 2020, Congress enacted the Small Business Reorganization Act (“SBRA”) to, among other things, streamline the chapter 11 bankruptcy process for a small business. Under the SBRA, a “small business” was one with less than $2,725,625.00 in debt. Few businesses, however, were eligible to take advantage of these new provisions because their debts exceeded the cap.

Over the past decade, there have been several court decisions on whether particular make-whole premiums should be allowed as part of a creditor's claim in bankruptcy, such as Momentive,¹ EFH,² American Airlines,³ and Ultra Petroleum.⁴ Although these decisions and others set forth the legal standards to be applied and resolved the specific claims at issue, the decisions provide little guidance or clarity on the allowability of make-whole claims in future cases.

Lots of things are wrong with the student loan program in these United States. For example:

• It’s a corporate-welfare program for high-price colleges; but
• Their students pay the price.

Unfortunately, the safety valve protection for students (i.e., a bankruptcy discharge) has failed them—and made the problem worse!

Here’s how

In recent weeks, a move dubbed the “Texas Two-Step” has leaped from coverage first in publications geared only for the professional restructuring community, then to the mainstream press, then to hearings before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee, and now to a full-blown trial ongoing in a New Jersey bankruptcy court.

“I did not want you to hear this on the news for the first time, but we are filing for bankruptcy next week.” “This is a difficult call to make. We are going out of business and will probably be filing a chapter 7 in the next couple of days.” Needless to say, bankruptcy is problematic for a licensor: the licensee may cease performing, the royalty stream may run dry, and the licensee or a trustee could attempt to sell or assign the license in bankruptcy to an undesirable licensee, or even a competitor.

© 2022 Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. In some jurisdictions, this publication may be considered attorney advertising. Past representations are no guarantee of future outcomes. 1 | Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP paulweiss.com FEBRUARY 2022 | ISSUE NUMBER 1 Restructuring Department Bulletin Ken Ziman has joined Paul, Weiss as a Partner in the Restructuring Department Resident in Paul, Weiss’s New York office, Mr.

Not your Ordinary Bankruptcy Case

Columbia, South Carolina is hot during the summer, such that the City adopted the motto “Famously Hot” a few years ago. Temperatures frequently exceed 100 degrees in the summer. On June 12, 1987, the PTL Club filed chapter 11 cases in Columbia, adding heat to the already hot City.

Here’s a first of its kind: a report about federal judges mediating other judges’ cases.

• It’s a January 22, 2022, report titled, Other Judges’ Cases, authored by Melissa B. Jacoby, Professor of Law, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill—scheduled to publish in 72 NYU Annual Survey of American Law (2022).

What follows is an attempt to summarize portions of the report, including its description of a can-this-actually-happen case.

Foreign companies seeking to protect their overseas assets from their creditors have often turned to the United States for immediate relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. Establishing jurisdiction in the US for purposes of a bankruptcy filing has proved easy – the establishment of a nominal professional fees retainer with a local law firm on the eve of a bankruptcy filing will suffice.