As summarized in the March 2018 issue of the American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, ABI’s Consumer Bankruptcy Committee has recently issued several recommendations and made several observations regarding the treatment of student loans under the Bankruptcy Code, codified in Title 11 of the United States Code.

Client Alert

Section 365(a) of the Bankruptcy Code is a powerful tool which enables a debtor to reject certain contracts it finds unnecessary or burdensome to its reorganization.

WTE-S&S AG Enters., LLC v. GHD, Inc., 2017 Bankr. LEXIS 2343 (Bankr. N. D. Ill. August 18, 2017)

On September 18, in an en banc review, the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit overruled, in part, seminal casesBarger v. City of Cartersville, 348 F.3d 1289 (11th Cir. 2003) and Burnes v. Pemco Aeroplex, Inc., 291 F.3d 1282 (11th Cir. 2002), adopting a totality-of-the-circumstances analysis when facing questions of judicial estoppel.

Reprinted with permission from the September 14, 2017 issue of The Legal Intelligencer. © 2017 ALM Media Properties, LLC. Further duplication without permission is prohibited. All rights reserved.

Can marijuana businesses receive federal copyright protection?

Yes. The requirements for registration with the U.S. Copyright Office are that the work is original, creative and fixed in some form of expression. These requirements do not prevent a marijuana business from registering its works, such as pamphlets, instructional videos or even artwork.

Can marijuana businesses receive any patent protection?

In re: Linear Electric Co., Inc., No. 16-1477, 2017 U.S. App. Lexis 5527 (3d Cir., March 30, 2017)

Les multiples réformes menées par le Ministre de la Justice Koen Geens se traduisent également dans les procédures d’insolvabilité. Avant la réforme annoncée de la loi sur les faillites et de la loi sur la continuité des entreprises, la loi du 1er décembre 2016 modifiant le Code judiciaire et la loi du 8 août 1997 sur les faillites, instaure un Registre Central de la Solvabilité.

Since 1 January 2017, the law explicitly provides for a general option for the National Social Security Office (“NSSO”) to recover undisputed debts by means of a writ of execution. 

This means that the NSSO can provide itself an enforceable title (a writ of execution) without having to rely on the labor court. 

The recovery through a writ of execution can be used for all contributions, penalties, interests and other amounts that would be due to the NSSO. It is, however, important that it concerns debts: 

(i) that are not fundamentally disputed;