Even prior to the global impact of COVID-19, commercial bankruptcy filings were already on the rise. As stay-at-home orders caused many businesses to close or significantly curtail operations in 2020, financial struggles in the commercial sector mounted. Government assistance through the passage of different stimulus programs such as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (2020) and Coronavirus Response and Consolidated Appropriations Act (2021) has temporarily helped companies stave off difficult financial decisions.
In Dr. Thomas Markusic et al. v. Michael Blum et al. memorandum opinion 200818, the Delaware Chancery Court (the “Court”) declined to extend the Gentile doctrine. In so doing, the Court held that the counterclaims attempting to rely on it had to be dismissed.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW IN A MINUTE OR LESS
Companies should anticipate the possibility that they will find themselves in a situation where a vendor, customer, or other contract counterparty commences a bankruptcy case pursuant to Title 11 of the U.S. Code (the Bankruptcy Code). The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has caused economic stress to a wide variety of business sectors, and it has underscored the risk that a contract counterparty may file for bankruptcy.
Bankruptcy effect on vendor and supply contracts
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW IN A MINUTE OR LESS
Companies should anticipate the possibility that they will find themselves in a situation where a vendor, customer, or other contract counterparty commences a bankruptcy case pursuant to Title 11 of the U.S. Code (the Bankruptcy Code). The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has caused economic stress to a wide variety of business sectors, and it has underscored the risk that a contract counterparty may file for bankruptcy.
Bankruptcy effect on vendor and supply contracts
On April 29, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued its decision in Siegel v. Fitzgerald (In re Circuit City Stores, Inc.), Case No. 19-2240 (4th Cir. Apr. 29, 2021), upholding the constitutionality of a 2017 law that substantially increased the quarterly fees debtors are required to pay to the Office of the United States Trustee (the “US Trustee”) in chapter 11 bankruptcy cases.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
On March 31, 2021, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nevada awarded attorney’s fees to a debtor under a Nevada fee-shifting statute for objecting to a time-barred proof of claim.1 The opinion serves as a warning that filing a proof of claim for time-barred debt may carry consequences other than claim disallowance despite the Supreme Court’s recent holding in Midland Fu
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The UK government has extended its suspension of various rules and procedures affecting distressed businesses as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. However, with the UK lockdown easing on a rolling basis up to 21 June 2021, these may be the last of the blanket extensions across all of these areas. Expect the gradual reintroduction of some of the rules and procedures from 1 July onwards.
The Extensions to the End of June 2021
On March 27, 2021, President Biden signed into law the COVID-19 Bankruptcy Relief Extension Act (the Extension Act). The Extension Act temporarily extends certain COVID-19 bankruptcy relief provisions enacted as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the CARES Act), which were further amended and/or extended as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act (the CAA). Certain of the amendments included in the CAA and the Extension Act are highlighted below:
Debtors and Paycheck Protection Program Loans