In the seemingly never-ending post-Stern quest to elucidate what constitutes a “core” versus “non-core” matter – and exactly what impact that distinction has on the bankruptcy court’s authority to enter a final judgment – the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York recently set out to answer the question of whether a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress properly is cons
Lien stripping is a topic that has frequently been in the bankruptcy news this summer in light of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Bank of America v.
In melodramatic movie weddings, guests are urged, before the couple is joined in matrimony, to “speak now or forever hold their peace” (although this phrase never seems to work its way into actual wedding ceremonies – presumably because there are no longer legitimate objections to a marriage that guests should be voicing at the wedding).
Executive Summary
In January 2020, we analyzed a split among the Circuit Courts regarding whether a non-debtor holding a debtor’s property on the petition date has an affirmative obligation under section 362(a)(3) of the Bankruptcy Code to return that property to the debtor immediately following the filing of the bankruptcy petition.
The United States Supreme Court has granted certiorari on an issue that has greatly divided Circuit Courts of Appeal – the question of whether an entity that retains possession of a debtor’s property has an affirmative obligation to return that property to the debtor or trustee immediately upon the filing of the bankruptcy petition or risk being in violation of the automatic stay.
Introduction
In re Katy Indus., Inc., 590 B.R. 628 (Bankr. D. Del. 2018) presented an interesting question: If a stalking horse bidder’s successful bid to purchase a company in chapter 11 was partially predicated upon a credit bid, and a portion of that credit bid was challenged after the sale closed, what would be the result for the bidder’s overall successful bid if that portion of the credit bid was eliminated?
Background
In the recent decision William R. Lee Irrevocable Trust v. Lee (In re Lee), the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a bankruptcy court’s decision (also affirmed by the district court) piercing a non-debtor’s corporate veil and allowing a creditor of the non-debtor to participate in the bankruptcy of the corporation’s individual shareholder.
Overview
In Asarco, LLC v. Noranda Mining, Inc., the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals held that representations made to the bankruptcy court that the Debtor’s settlement of environmental claims reflected only the Debtor’s share of the cleanup costs did not judicially estop the Debtor from brining a contribution claim against another potentially responsible party for those same costs.