In hindsight, it seems inevitable that constitutional and other jurisdictional problems would arise when Congress, in enacting the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978, created impressive new powers and responsibilities for the bankruptcy courts (along with a considerable degree of independence) but denied them the status of Article III courts under the Constitution (by denying its judges lifetime tenure, as Article III requires). And it didn’t take long for the problems to arise.

The Bottom Line

Mattress Firm, Inc., along with forty (40) affiliates and subsidiaries, has filed a petition for relief under chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Lead Case No. 18-12241). Mattress Firm’s petition estimates its assets and liabilities to both be between $1–$10 billion.

View original on Law360: https://www.law360.com/articles/1088680/ucc-incorporation-by-reference-an-imperfect-way-to-perfect

Although the Federal Priority Act[1] has been deemed to be “almost as old as the Constitution”

When the Minnesota legislature opened a three-year window for victims of sexual abuse to commence lawsuits, hundreds of lawsuits were filed against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and other Catholic dioceses and organizations. The thee-year window closed on May 25, 2016. Some of the cases filed during the three-year window were tried or settled, but a large number remained. The total potential exposure exceeds the ability of the different Catholic entities to pay.

In In re Houston Regional Sports Network, L.P., 886 F.3d 523 (5th Cir. 2018), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that bankruptcy courts have flexibility in selecting the date on which to value collateral, "so long as the bankruptcy court takes into account the purpose of the valuation and the proposed use or disposition of the collateral at issue." In so holding, the Fifth Circuit rejected the proposition that a bankruptcy court must value collateral as of either the bankruptcy petition date or the effective date of a cramdown chapter 11 plan.

ONE Aviation Corporation, along with eleven subsidiaries and affiliates, has filed a petition for relief under chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Lead Case No. 18-12309).

For decades, the Southern District of New York (SDNY) and the District of Delaware have reigned as the busiest commercial bankruptcy venues in the United States. Clients and attorneys alike have chosen to file commercial cases in these two venues for multiple reasons, including New York City’s standing as the country’s financial capital, the number of Fortune 500 and smaller companies incorporated or headquartered in Delaware or New York, and these venues’ experience handling complex bankruptcy filings.

A recent decision in theIn re RMH Franchise Holdings bankruptcy case pending in the District of Delaware, highlights the importance of complying with a contract’s termination provision before the contract counterparty files for bankruptcy.