Here’s a due process question that’s percolating before the U.S. Supreme Court and a related mediation issue:
A helpful analysis of statute of limitations issues for fraudulent transfer claims brought by a bankruptcy trustee under § 544(a)&(b) is provided in a recent Circuit opinion.
- The opinion is Lewis v. Takacs (In re Stone Pine Investment Banking, LLC), Case No. 21-1423, U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals (decided 12/19/2023).
Overview
What Happened
You can’t make this stuff up. The legal issues are pedestrian. But the facts behind those issues are incredible!
Litigation History
Here’s the boring stuff first.
On January 8, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court denies certiorari in Mann v. LSQ Funding Group, L.C. (Case No. 23-425). Here’s the procedural background:
Oral arguments happened on January 9, 2024, at the U.S. Supreme Court in U.S.Trustee v. Hammons.Here is a link to the transcript of those arguments.
The Hammons question is this:
2023 is the year that the need for a uniform state law on assignments for benefit of creditors became obvious.
And a Drafting Committee at the Uniform Law Commission began working in 2023 to create such a law.
Here are some of the reasons why the need became obvious.
Background and Purpose
2023 has been a good year for developing the law of Subchapter V through court rulings and opinions. Here are some of the highs and lows of that development.
Working as Intended
If 2023 shows us anything, it’s this: Subchapter V is working as intended.
Subchapter V has developed into the efficient and effective tool for business reorganization it was intended to be. That’s true, whether the reorganization is in the form of continued operations or liquidation. Such a tool did not exist before Subchapter V.
In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issues its unanimous Siegel v. Fitzgerald opinion. The question in that opinion is:
As 2024 gets underway, 2023 will be remembered as the year that King Charles III’s coronation captured our attention with its many (and occasionally bizarre) storied traditions and customs and, of course, for the passing of the Irish singer and poet Shane MacGowan.1 Turmoil in the European banking sector early in the year set the tone for a challenging year, while across the Atlantic, a number of regional US banks had their
Here’s my biggest bankruptcy shocker from 2023:
- the Third Circuit’s rationale for dismissing Johnson & Johnson’s bankruptcy.
I’ll try to explain.
Appalled
I’m still appalled by the lack of concern, from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in its dismissal opinion, over these disparities it describes in results for similarly situated claimants: