In a recent decision, Twiford Enters. v. Rolling Hills Bank & Trust (In re Twiford Enters.), 2020 Bankr. LEXIS 2964, 2020 WL 6075691 (10th Cir. BAP 2020), the Tenth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel affirmed the lower court’s decision awarding postpetition interest pursuant to section 506(b). The disputed issue was whether a reference in the variable rate promissory notes to an internal rate index maintained by the bank was sufficiently clear and specific to support a claim for postpetition interest. The court held that it was.

In In re Nine West LBO Securities Litigation (Case No. 20-2941) (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 4, 2020), a federal district court denied in part a motion to dismiss claims brought by the Nine West liquidating trustee against former directors (the "Defendants") of The Jones Group, Inc. (the "Company"), Nine West's predecessor, for, among other things, (i) breaches of their fiduciary duties of care and loyalty, and (ii) aiding and abetting breaches of fiduciary duties. The litigation arises from the 2014 LBO of the Company by a private equity sponsor ("Buyer").

For a limited time only, the “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021” (CCA) signed into law on December 27, 2020 amends Bankruptcy Code Section 547 to shield certain deferred supplier and rent payments from avoidance as preferential transfers.

In sophisticated real estate financing transactions, most prudent lenders attempt to deter borrowers from filing for bankruptcy before loans are paid in full by providing in loan documents that such a filing constitutes an event of default. Many lenders will insist that their borrowers remain “bankruptcy remote” in the form of a so-called “single asset real estate” entity during the term of the loan.

In June of 2020, Miller Canfield reportedthat the Fifth Circuit held that a Texas bankruptcy court had exceeded its authority when it ordered the SBA Administrator to make a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan available to a debtor in bankruptcy.

The year 2020 in bankruptcy law started with an eye on increasing the ability of small businesses to utilize the Chapter 11 process in a more efficient and less expensive way, which lead to a record number of commercial filings, a reduction in consumer filings, and a test of the bankruptcy system.

SBRA aka Subchapter V

In a small victory for landlords of bankrupt tenants, the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas has ruled that the Chuck E. Cheese parent company may not use its bankruptcy filing to avoid paying its rent.

The United States Congress revived the age-old tradition of passing a lame-duck Christmas Tree appropriations bill to fund the government and provide a second wave of much-needed COVID-19 relief legislation.[1] The nearly 5,600-page bill includes temporary alterations to the Bankruptcy Code to help thos

Congress passed the long-awaited Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (“CAA”) December 22, 2020, which now is awaiting the President’s signature to become law. The CAA contains several COVID-19-related amendments to the United States Bankruptcy Code, 11 U.S.C. §§ 101, et seq. (“Bankruptcy Code”), which may affect creditors. The CAA’s “Bankruptcy Relief” amendments are set forth in Title X of the Act. Those amendments of greatest interest to creditors are:

Business headlines have warned of a potential “chilling effect on buyouts” as a result of the decision recently issued by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in In re: Nine West LBO Securities Litigation (Dec. 4, 2020). Contrary to the views of some other commentators on the decision, we do not believe that the decision is likely to chill leveraged buyout activity, to upend how LBOs have been conducted, or to significantly increase the potential of liability for target company directors selling the company in an LBO.