For a company with robust data protection and recovery practices, a ransomware attack may cause a few extra headaches, but it won’t wipe the company out. Companies without those protections in place, however, risk allowing ransomware to bankrupt their entire enterprise.

A recent order from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (the “Court”) allowed a debtor to reopen a completed auction based on a significantly more attractive, but untimely, bid. The late bid was approximately three times the cash consideration of the previously declared winning bid, and also provided for the additional containment of potential environmental risks. The decision is being appealed to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas (the “District Court”).

Judge Craig Whitley’s recent transfer of the LTL Management case will bring a high-profile "Texas Two-Step" chapter 11 bankruptcy to New Jersey, and it may open a new chapter in how courts approach the novel transaction designed to isolate and address certain mass-tort liabilities.

Carna Group Pty Ltd v The Griffin Coal Mining Company (No 6) [2021] FCA 1214

In Carna Group Pty Ltd v The Griffin Coal Mining Company (No 6) [2021] FCA 1214, McKerracher J considered the meaning of “insolvent” within the context of a commercial contract and relevantly found that:

The Australian Sawmilling Company Pty Ltd (in liq) v Environment Protection Authority [2021] VSCA 294

Background

In a decision that will likely impact bankruptcy proceedings around the country, the Supreme Court recently denied the petition for writ of certiorari of David Hargreaves, which challenged the equitable mootness doctrine.¹ As a result, the concept of equitable mootness remains anything but moot.

Anchorage Capital Master Offshore Ltd v Sparkes (No 3); Bank of Communications Co Ltd v Sparkes (No 2) [2021] NSWSC 1025

Badenoch Integrated Logging Pty Ltd v Bryant, in the matter of Gunns Limited (in liq) (receivers and managers appointed) [2021] FCAFC 64

In Cant v Mad Brothers Earthmoving [2020] VSCA 198, the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Victoria has clarified the application of the unfair preference regime in the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) to payments made by third parties at the direction of a debtor to its creditors. In short, a payment to a creditor by a third party at the direction of the debtor will not be ‘from’ the debtor unless the payment diminishes the assets available to the debtor’s other creditors.

Background

Re Redstar Transport Pty Ltd (in liq) [2020] VSC 547

The joy of a summertime splash in the pool seems like a distant memory, at least for those of us in lockdown here in Melbourne.

Similarly elusive can be the granting of a pooling order under section 579E of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) for a corporate group in liquidation.