The High Court has found two former directors of a car dealership in Dublin, Appleyard Motors Limited (In Liquidation) (Appleyard), personally liable to a former customer who paid for but did not receive three vehicles in the weeks leading up to the company’s liquidation. This case is particularly noteworthy as it is only the second time a director has been held personally liable for a company’s debts for reckless trading.

Upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition, an automatic stay goes into effect which provides a debtor with immediate protection from collection efforts by creditors. But the automatic stay is not without limitations.

In litigation, obtaining a judgment is step one. Step two – often as, if not more, difficult than winning a lawsuit – is collection. In a short, interesting Memorandum of Decision and Order (the “Decision”), Judge Dales of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Michigan (the “Bankruptcy Court”), writes about some of the practical and legal considerations involved with pursuing collection of a bankruptcy court judgment.

There has been much discussion in the media in the past year about the massive amount of professional fees that have been wracked up during the City of Detroit's Chapter 9 bankruptcy. There is always great interest - and debate - about such fees due to the nature of the process: insolvent individuals or companies with no place left to turn file for bankruptcy, creditors take a "haircut" on their claims, and the lawyers get paid. Or so the story goes. As with any complex process, though, there is plenty of nuance that gets lost in the wash, and often is more to the story.

On June 25, 2014, the United States Supreme Court ruled that cloud-based television-streaming service, Aereo, violated U.S. copyright law and its subsequent Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing has come to a dramatic conclusion. We have followed this case throughout its lifecycle, and updated this blog with posts like this one to keep you up-to-date on its implications for copyright and telecommunications regulations.

NEW GOVERNMENT LEGISLATION PROGRAMME: INDUSTRY & SECTOR SPECIFIC BREAKDOWN 19 JANUARY 2015 The Irish Government has published its legislation programme for the Spring/Summer 2015 parliamentary session. There are 32 Bills which are currently before the Oireachtas. In addition, there are 137 proposed Bills set out in the Programme, 41 of which the Government intends publishing during the Spring/Summer Session.

In Re Citywest Hire Ltd (In Liquidation)

Myles Kirby was appointed as Official Liquidator of Citywest Hire Limited (In Liquidation) (“Citywest”). Citywest had operated Il Segreto Restaurant on Merrion Row, Dublin 2 until late June 2013.

In January 2014, the Malta Financial Services Authority (“MFSA”) announced that Setanta Insurance Company Limited (“Setanta Insurance”) had ceased carrying on insurance business. As a result, no new business or renewals would be issued by the company, although existing policies would remain in force. 

Flanagan & Anor -v- Crosby & Ors [2014] IEHC59

In Re Home Payments Limited (In Liquidation) [2013] IEHC 507, an application for directions was made by the Joint Liquidators of Home Payments Limited for the liquidators’ remuneration, costs and expenses to be discharged from customer accounts.  Prior to its liquidation the company had operated as a nationwide household budgeting and bill paying company.