Upcoming Committee Formation Meeting: Thursday, March 16, 2017, 1:00 p.m.

Case Name: 17-10500 (KJC)

Location: J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building 844 N. King Street 3rd Floor – Room 3209 Wilmington, DE 19801

Sometimes the smallest bankruptcy cases give rise to the most interesting legal questions. One such case was that of ScripsAmerica, Inc., which gave rise to the question of whether the Office of the United States Trustee (the “UST”) has the statutory authority to disband a committee of unsecured creditors once a committee is appointed, or whether that authority resides with the Bankruptcy Court.

With one exception, the Top 10 List of "public company" (defined as a company with publicly traded stock or debt) bankruptcies of 2016 consisted entirely of energy companies—solar, coal, and oil and gas producers—reflecting, as in 2015, the dire straits of those sectors caused by weakened worldwide demand and, until their December turnaround, plummeting oil prices. The exception came from the airline industry. Each company gracing the Top 10 List for 2016 entered bankruptcy with assets valued at more than $3 billion.

Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act

The watchword for 2016 in much of the world was "upheaval." Two unanticipated events dominated the political, business, and financial headlines of 2016, at least in Europe and the Americas: the Brexit referendum result and the election of Donald J .Trump as the 45th President of the United States. The refugee crisis, the commodities meltdown, Brazil’s economic collapse, China’s growing pains, Russian belligerency and alleged cyber-meddling in the U.S. election, the war on terrorism, and the beginning of the end of the bloody Syrian civil war seemed to pale by comparison.

On November 15, 2016, Texas-based Xtera Communications, Inc. and seven of its affiliates filed voluntary petitions for chapter 11 bankruptcy relief in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Case No: 16-12577). XTERA is a leading provider of high-capacity, cost-efficient optical transport solutions that it sells to telecommunications service providers.

NJOY, Inc., an e-cigarette and vaping company headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Case No. 16-12076).

Noble Environmental Power, LLC, and several of its affiliates filed for Chapter 11 protection in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Lead Case No. 16-12055). Noble, a renewable energy company that owns and operates wind generation assets in New York and Texas, has its principal place of business in Centerbrook, Connecticut. According to the Debtor’s first day affidavit, downward trends in energy prices have made its debt obligations untenable, leading to the commencement of this case.

On March 2, 2016, Sports Authority Holdings, Inc. and six of its affiliates filed chapter 11 petitions before the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (lead case 16-10527).  The cases have been assigned to the Honorable Mary F.

The world’s second-largest economy (China) stumbled; Japan receded; the U.K. showed signs of life; the war-torn Middle East reeled; oil revenue-dependent Russia, Brazil, and Venezuela took body blows; and the European Union exhaled after narrowly avoiding Grexit (and possibly Brexit), only to confront a refugee crisis of alarming (and expensive) proportions, as well as a demonstrated terrorist threat from the self-proclaimed Islamic State.

A Good Year for the U.S.