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.

The Bankruptcy Deadline Checklist is a quick reference guide for those who handle bankruptcy cases including judges, lawyers, paralegals, credit managers, collection agents, professors, law students, and others.

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.

On May 4, 2015, in the case Bullard v. Blue Hills Bank, the United States Supreme Court held that debtors in chapter 13 (and presumably chapter 9 and 11 as well) are not entitled as of right to immediately appeal bankruptcy court orders denying confirmation of a proposed plan of reorganization. This ruling, although consistent with a majority of circuit courts of appeal that have considered the issue, reversed governing precedent in several circuit courts—including the Third Circuit, which reviews Delaware bankruptcy court decisions.

Foreign sovereigns have long assumed that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) provides them with substantial protection against litigants in United States courts. Although the immunity afforded by the FSIA has never been absolute, two recent developments in the Supreme Court of the United States – both involving the Republic of Argentina – have expanded plaintiffs’ ability to locate sovereign assets and force satisfaction of a judgment, notwithstanding the seemingly broad protections of the FSIA.

The rulings are important for sovereign investors for a number of reasons:

On June 9, 2014, the Supreme Court issued a decision in Executive Benefits Insurance Agency v. Arkison, a case that tested the extent of the jurisdiction of bankruptcy court judges to decide fraudulent transfer and certain other claims against non-debtors. Ropes & Gray LLP represented the petitioner in obtaining certiorari and in the Supreme Court proceedings.