On March 16, 2016, Judge Shannon of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware rejected a proposed fee structure for Baker Botts L.L.P., which was proposed counsel to the debtors in In re New Gulf Resources, LLC. His ruling is the latest development from that court on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Baker Botts L.L.P. v.

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.

Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code trusts a debtor in possession to operate its business.  In general, a debtor in possession “is free to use, sell[,] or lease property of the . . . estate in the operation of the debtor’s business.”1  This discretion is “at the heart” of the powers of a debtor in possession, 2  and courts are reluctant “to interfere, or to permit other parties in interest to interfere, in the making of routine, day-to-day business decisions.” 3  Therefore, a court will not disturb

Affirming the bankruptcy court below in a case of first impression, in In re Caviata Attached Homes, LLC, 481 B.R. 34 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. 2012), a Ninth Circuit bankruptcy appellate panel held that a relapse into economic recession following a chapter 11 debtor’s emergence from bankruptcy was not an “extraordinary circumstance” that would justify the filing of a new chapter 11 case for the purpose of modifying the debtor’s previously confirmed plan of reorganization.

Modification of a Confirmed Chapter 11 Plan

In the first circuit-level opinion on the issue, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Matson v. Alarcon, 651 F.3d 404 (4th Cir. 2011), held that, for purposes of establishing priority under section 507(a)(4) of the Bankruptcy Code, an employee's severance pay was "earned" entirely upon termination of employment, even though the severance amount was determined by the employee's length of service with the employer.

Section 507(a)(4)

The Bankruptcy Code treats insiders with increased scrutiny, from longer preference periods to rigorous equitable subordination principles, denial of chapter 7 trustee voting rights, disqualification in some cases of votes on a cram-down chapter 11 plan, and restrictions on postpetition key-employee compensation packages. The treatment of claims by insiders for prebankruptcy services is no exception to this general policy: section 502(b)(4) disallows insider claims for services to the extent the claim exceeds the "reasonable value" of such services.