Election of Joe Graham to Partner

Joe Graham was elected partner in the New York office. This year, Joe played a leading role in the chapter 11 cases of Avaya, Benefytt and Diamond Sports. He regularly advises on out-of-court restructurings, bankruptcy litigation and distressed investments. Joe earned his J.D., magna cum laude, and his B.A. from the University of Notre Dame.

Kelley Cornish Inducted into “M&A Advisor Hall of Fame”

It is sometimes the case that a person who owes you money dies before they have repaid the same to you. In this article, we explore what happens to the debt and the options available to creditors who are faced with a deceased debtor.

What happens to debt after death?

The deceased’s liability to repay a debt does not cease upon his or her death. Instead, liability for the same transfers to the deceased’s estate, providing that their estate is not insolvent.

What happens to debt if the estate is insolvent

In the November 2023 edition of the Restructuring Department Bulletin, we highlight recent decisions and developments impacting the restructuring arena and share the latest news on the Paul, Weiss Restructuring Department.

» read the bulletin

The recent rise in company insolvencies has been driven by a high number of creditors’ voluntary liquidations (CVL). The outlook for the rest of 2023 is that there will be an even higher number of companies entering a formal insolvency process in almost every sector and industry.

A high proportion of these insolvencies are small businesses (SME’s), some of which had managed to keep going with the help of Government-led support packages and bounce back loans, but with rising interest rates and inflation, they are now struggling to repay loans and obtain financing.

In the October 2023 edition of the Restructuring Department Bulletin, we highlight recent decisions and developments impacting the restructuring arena and share the latest news on the Paul, Weiss Restructuring Department.

» read the bulletin

In the latest issue of the Restructuring Department Bulletin, we highlight the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision holding that Section 363(m) of the Bankruptcy Code is not jurisdictional. We also discuss two Bankruptcy Court decisions from the Southern District of New York, one which held that the “knowledge exception” to Section 546(e)’s safe harbor defense was sufficiently pled to survive dismissal, and the other which found that service of a discovery subpoena on the foreign debtor’s founders via Twitter was adequate.

On April 19, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held in MOAC Mall Holdings LLC v. Transform Holdco LLC that Section 363(m) of the Bankruptcy Code is not jurisdictional. The decision requires parties timely to invoke that provision, or else risk forfeiting its protections. The decision also continues the Supreme Court’s trend of interpreting statutes to be non-jurisdictional (and thus waivable or forfeitable) in the absence of a clear congressional statement to the contrary.

Background

Not all residential tenancies will be in the name of an individual. Sometimes it will be a company looking to take out the tenancy in their own name. Generally, this will be for the use of the one of the directors and their family. Often these sorts of agreements are seen as beneficial to many landlords who are under the impression that the company will be prompt with payment and ultimately good for the money. Whilst this can certainly be the case, it does not always work out this way.

On December 5, 2022, in In re Global Cord Blood Corp., 2022 WL 17478530 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. Dec. 5, 2022) (“Global Cord”), the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the “Court”) denied recognition of a proceeding pending in the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands (the “Cayman Proceeding” and the court, the “Cayman Court”) because it was more like a corporate governance and fraud remediation effort than a collective proceeding for the purpose of dealing with reorganization or liquidation, as Chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code requires.