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In 2018, the liquidating trustee for Venoco, LLC and its affiliated debtors (collectively, the “Debtors”) commenced an action in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware seeking monetary damages from the State of California and its Lands Commission (collectively, the “State”) as compensation for the alleged taking of a refinery (the “Onshore Facility”) that belonged to the Debtors (the “Adversary Proceeding”). The State moved to dismiss, claiming, among other things, sovereign immunity.

United States Bankruptcy Judge Harlin Hale recently dismissed the National Rifle Association’s Chapter 11 petition as not filed in good faith. The decision leaves the 150-year-old gun-rights organization susceptible to the New York Attorney General’s suit seeking to dissolve it.

In recognition of the 15th anniversary of the passage of chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code, the New York City Bar Association’s Bankruptcy & Corporate Reorganization Committee hosted a webinar on May 12, 2021 to discuss the current state of chapter 15 cases and potential, corresponding and significant future developments.[1]Several dozen participants joined a panel of distinguished leaders in the field: the Honorable Allan Gropper, former United

Virgin Active Case - The Verdict

The High Court in London yesterday ruled in favour of Virgin Active's controversial restructuring plan. This is the second example of the court exercising its discretion to sanction a contested plan which sought to rely on the so called cross-class cram down; and the first to affect landlords.

The case, heard by Mr Justice Snowden (who has received praise for his balanced approach throughout the court process) sets the precedent for plans being used to bind landlords that vote against them.

We are hopefully now beginning to move out of the various lockdowns and restrictions that have been put in place to deal with the pandemic.

As things begin to return to some form of "normality", businesses might begin to feel some sort of relief. However, the inevitable consequence of normality returning is that some of the temporary rules that have been put in place to assist businesses through these difficulties will fall away.

Debtors who ignore instructions from the Bankruptcy Court do so at their own peril, as a recent case from the First Circuit Court of Appeals illustrates.

R3, trade body for insolvency and restructuring accountants, said the first quarter of 2021 had seen a sharp fall in companies and individuals becoming bankrupt.

Corporate insolvencies in January to March fell by 31 per cent on the preceding quarter.

The figure was 63 per cent lower than the first quarter of 2020.

A recent case shows how even late payments can be used to satisfy the ordinary course of business defense in a preference avoidance action. Baumgart v. Savani Props Ltd. (In re Murphy), Case No. 20-11873, Adv. Pro. No. 20-1070, 2021 Bankr. LEXIS 1035 (Bankr. N.D. Ohio Apr. 19, 2021).

The impact of Covid-19 has been felt across the commercial property sector; nowhere more acutely, perhaps, than in "bricks and mortar" retail and hospitality.

Even pre-pandemic, the high street was being forced to adapt to the growth of eCommerce. But consecutive lockdowns have expedited the shift; for some, that change will be irreversible.