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New York Bankruptcy Court: Lockup Provision in Proposed Settlement Agreement Violated Bankruptcy Code's Disclosure and Solicitation Requirements

A bedrock principle underlying chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code is that creditors, shareholders, and other stakeholders should be provided with adequate information to make an informed decision to either accept or reject a chapter 11 plan. For this reason, the Bankruptcy Code provides that any "solicitation" of votes for or against a plan must be preceded or accompanied by stakeholders' receipt of a "disclosure statement" approved by the bankruptcy court explaining the background of the case as well as the key provisions of the chapter 11 plan.

USA, New York, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Jones Day, Bankruptcy
Flames, Not Smoke: LTL Management LLC’s Second Chapter 11 Filing Dismissed by the Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey for Lack of Imminent and Immediate Financial Distress

On July 28, 2023, Judge Michael Kaplan of the Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey issued an opinion granting motions to dismiss LTL Management LLC’s second chapter 11 case, finding that it was filed in bad faith due to a lack of imminent and immediate financial distress. See In re LTL Mgmt., LLC, No. 23-12825 (MBK), 2023 WL 4851759 (Bankr. D.N.J. July 28, 2023). Judge Kaplan’s decision follows the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit’s dismissal of LTL’s first chapter 11 bankruptcy case in January 2023.

USA, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP, Chapter 11, US Bankruptcy Code
Bankruptcy Claims Sellers Should Consider All Risk Elements

Over the past year, digital asset investors have become acutely aware of asset custody and counterparty credit risks due to the high-profile bankruptcies of Voyager, Celsius, BlockFi, and FTX. These investors have found that, at times, their assets may be stuck in a bankruptcy proceeding for years. However, these investors—now bankruptcy claim holders—have options for more immediate liquidity.

USA, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP
Financial Titans Engage in Winner-Takes-All Battle: The Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas Upholds Serta’s 2020 Uptiering Transaction

“Sophisticated financial titans engaged in a winner-take-all battle. There was a winner and a loser. Such an outcome was not only foreseeable, it is the only correct result. The risk of loss is a check on unrestrained behavior.”

USA, Texas, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP
U.S. Supreme Court Rules Appellate Protection of Bankruptcy Property Sale Is Subject to Waiver and Estoppel

In Short

The Situation: The U.S. Supreme Court considered whether § 363(m) of the Bankruptcy Code, which limits a party's ability to undo an asset transfer made to a good-faith purchaser in a bankruptcy case, is jurisdictional.

USA, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Jones Day, US Congress, Supreme Court of the United States
Third Circuit Dismisses J&J Bankruptcy Case for Lack of Good Faith

“The theme is clear: absent financial distress, there is no reason for Chapter 11 and no valid bankruptcy purpose.”

USA, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP, Bankruptcy, Good faith, Johnson & Johnson, Third Circuit
Default Under Assumed Lease Need Not Be Material or Ongoing to Trigger Landlord's Entitlement to Adequate Assurance of Future Performance

The ability of a bankruptcy trustee or chapter 11 debtor-in-possession ("DIP") to assume, assume and assign, or reject executory contracts and unexpired leases is an important tool designed to promote a "fresh start" for debtors and to maximize the value of the bankruptcy estate for the benefit of all stakeholders. However, the Bankruptcy Code establishes strict requirements for the assumption or assignment of contracts and leases.

USA, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Real Estate, Jones Day
In Brief: U.S. Supreme Court Declines Review of High-Profile Bankruptcy Rulings

Madoff

USA, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Jones Day, Supreme Court of the United States, Second Circuit
U.S. Supreme Court Declines Review of Landmark Tribune Safe Harbor Ruling

On April 19, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal of a landmark 2019 decision issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit regarding the applicability of the Bankruptcy Code's safe harbor for certain securities, commodity, or forward contract payments to prevent the avoidance in bankruptcy of $8.3 billion in payments made to the shareholders of Tribune Co. as part of its 2007 leveraged buyout ("LBO").

USA, Derivatives, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Jones Day, Safe harbor (law), Supreme Court of the United States, Second Circuit
Texas Bankruptcy Court Allows Make-Whole Premium as Liquidated Damages and Requires Solvent Chapter 11 Debtor to Pay Postpetition Interest

On October 26, 2020, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas issued a long-awaited ruling on whether natural gas exploration and production company Ultra Petroleum Corp. ("UPC") must pay a make-whole premium to noteholders under its confirmed chapter 11 plan and whether the noteholders are entitled to postpetition interest on their claims pursuant to the "solvent-debtor exception." On remand from the U.S.

USA, Texas, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Jones Day, Fifth Circuit, US District Court for Southern District of Texas