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Overview

If you walk along the seafront in the Lancashire town of Morecambe, you will come across a statue of the late Eric Morecambe. Many of us will remember Eric as half of one of the most famous comic double acts in the United Kingdom. Morecambe and Wise made us laugh, not so much through innuendo but more through the perfect timing of their various on screen exchanges. So important was timing to Eric Morecambe that one of the quotes at the foot of his statue is the phrase "In life, everything is timing".

Overview

Insolvency practitioners will be familiar with section 283A of the Insolvency Act 1986 (the "Act") and what is commonly termed the 'use it or lose it' provisions. But what exactly is meant by a trustee in bankruptcy being informed or becoming aware of a bankrupt's interest in a property for the purposes of section 283A(5) of the Act?

At first instance, a bankrupt's claim that she had informed her trustee or that her trustee had become aware of such an interest was dismissed. The bankrupt appealed.

Overview

It has been just over 6 years since the Bill for the Prescription (Scotland) Act 2018 ("the 2018 Act") received royal assent. Sections 5 and 13 of the 2018 Act came into force, perhaps earlier than most anticipated, on 1 June 2022. Since then, depending on who you speak to, you are likely to hear differing opinions on whether enough has been done to re-balance the 'defender friendly' discoverability test developed though cases such as Morrison and Gordon's Trustees.

Overview

In a very litigious and long-running saga concerning some land near Bicester, a recent judgment involved parties applying to remove the Administrators.

In summary:

Overview

We asked our team for their predictions of what they think 2025 might bring in the Property Disputes sector.

Insolvencies and Restructuring

The U.S. Supreme Court held last week in Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser Gypsum Co. that an insurance company with financial responsibility for bankruptcy claims is a “party in interest” with the right to object to a Chapter 11 reorganization plan.

Section 1109(b) of the Bankruptcy Code provides:

The New York State Legislature recently proposed a bill, entitled the Sovereign Debt Stability Act, [1] intended to facilitate sovereign debt restructuring.

As you know from our prior alerts, creditors of borrowers formed as Delaware LLCs (as opposed to corporations) lack standing under Delaware law to sue directors for breaching fiduciary duties even when, to the surprise of many, the LLC is insolvent. See our prior Alert. The disparity of substantive creditor rights depending entirely on corporate form results from two aspects of Delaware law.

There is a growing trend of bankruptcy courts approving structured dismissals of chapter 11 cases following a successful sale of a debtor’s assets under section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code. A structured dismissal is a cost‑effective way for a debtor to exit chapter 11 and is an alternative to (a) confirming a post‑sale liquidating plan, which is expensive and not always viable, or (b) converting the case to chapter 7, which introduces significant uncertainty and unpredictability with the appointment of a chapter 7 trustee to replace management.