On September 1, 2021, Judge Robert Drain issued a much-anticipated oral ruling approving Purdue Pharma L.P.’s plan of reorganization. The plan, which has garnered significant attention from the media, legislators, academics, and practitioners, releases current and future members of the Sackler family and many of their associates and affiliated companies – none of whom filed for bankruptcy themselves – from liability in connection with any possible harm caused by OxyContin and other opioids that Purdue Pharma manufactured and distributed.
Whether a contract is "executory" such that it can be assumed, rejected, or assigned in bankruptcy is a question infrequently addressed by the circuit courts of appeals. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit provided some rare appellate court-level guidance on the question in Spyglass Media Group, LLC v. Bruce Cohen Productions (In re Weinstein Company Holdings LLC), 997 F.3d 497 (3d Cir. 2021).
One valuable tool in formulating a successful exit from chapter 11 via a confirmed plan is the use of third-party releases. Such releases can take many forms, but the basic idea is that a non-debtor third party contributes property, usually cash, to the debtor or a trust created under the plan, with the cash to be distributed to unsecured claim holders, in exchange for a release of asserted or potential claims those claim holders may assert against the third party (often where there is co-liability with debtor).
The United States District Court for the District of Minnesota recently rejected a creditor’s argument that when a Chapter 11 case is converted to one under Chapter 7 and the estate is administratively insolvent 11 U.S.C. § 726(b) requires disgorgement of amounts approved and paid to Chapter 11 administrative claimants.
A recent case out of the Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York—Mendelsohn v. Roslyn, Dkt. No. 22, Adv. Proc. No. 8-20-08012-reg (Bankr. E.D.N.Y. June 21, 2021) (Grossman, J.)—imparts important lessons for pleading and proving fraudulent transfer claims.
It is said that the word bankruptcy originated in the middle ages from the term “breaking the bench.” At that time, rupturing a craftsman’s bench was the punishment for defaulting. Later, debtors were punished for their failure to pay their debts through imprisonment. Neither approach helped the creditor. Rather, it punished those dependent upon the debtor for support. In the late 19th Century, the American system of bankruptcy was created to break from these policies and provide debtors a fresh start.
The hits keep coming for famed former plaintiff's attorney Thomas V. Girardi. Several weeks ago, Chief U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez has ensured that famed former plaintiff’s attorney Girardi will no longer be appearing on the record in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, officially disbarring him.
U.S. courts have a long-standing tradition of recognizing or enforcing the laws and court rulings of other nations as an exercise of international "comity." It has been generally understood that recognition of a foreign bankruptcy proceeding under chapter 15 is a prerequisite to a U.S. court enforcing, under the doctrine of comity, an order or judgment entered in a foreign bankruptcy proceeding or a provision in foreign bankruptcy law applicable to a debtor in such a proceeding.
At a conference to be held at the end of the summer recess on September 27, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether to grant petitions seeking review during the new Term that begins on October 4 of three notable appeals involving issues of bankruptcy law. Two of those appeals address the doctrine of "equitable mootness." The third concerns federal preemption of a non-debtor third party's tortious interference claims against other non-debtor third parties.
A secured creditor's right to "credit bid" the amount of its allowed claim in a bankruptcy sale of its collateral is an important creditor protection codified in section 363(k) of the Bankruptcy Code. Even so, a ruling recently issued by the U.S.