In JPMCC 2007-C1 Grasslawn Lodging, LLC v. Transwest Resort Props. Inc., et al. (In re Transwest Resort Props. Inc.), Case No. 16-16221, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 1947 (9th Cir. Jan. 25, 2018), the Ninth Circuit was the first Circuit court to decide a significant split in the lower courts between the “per plan” or “per debtor” impaired accepting class requirement to confirmation.

Claire’s Stores, Inc., along with seven affiliates and subsidiaries, has filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Lead Case No. 18-10584). Claire’s, a well-known specialty retailer of jewelry, accessories and beauty products for young women and adolescents, is based in Cook County, Illinois.

Augustus Energy Resources, LLC, a privately owned, natural gas exploration, development and production company headquartered in Billings, Montana, has filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Case No. 18-10580). Augustus’ Petition estimates both its assets and liabilities to be between $10–$50 million.

Bellflower Funding, LLC and Wall 123, LLC, two affiliates of the Woodbridge Group of Companies, LLC, have filed petitions for relief under Chapter 11 in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Case Nos. 18-10507 & 18-10508).

Orexigen Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of obesity based in La Jolla, CA, has filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Case No. 18-10518). According to the Petition, as of November 30, 2017, Orexigen had $265.1 million in assets and $226.4 million in liabilities.

Zohar III, Corp., along with five of its subsidiaries and affiliates, has filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Lead Case No. 18-10512).

Over the last twenty years, courts have increasingly insulated transactions from avoidance as fraudulent transfers by invoking the so-called “settlement payment” defense codified in section 546(e) of the Bankruptcy Code. The safe harbor has been interpreted in the Second and Third Circuits and elsewhere as precluding debtors, trustees and creditors committees from clawing back otherwise objectionable pre-bankruptcy transfers solely because the money at issue flowed through a bank or other financial institution.

The Walking Company Holdings, a Santa Barbara, CA-based designer, manufacturer and retailer of comfort footwear and casual apparel, has, along with its wholly owned subsidiaries The Walking Company, Big Dog USA, Inc. and FootSmart, Inc., filed

HCR ManorCare, Inc., a national provider of short-term, post-hospital services and long-term care based in Toledo, Ohio, has filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Case No. 18-10467). HCR’s Petition estimates both its assets and liabilities to be between $1–$10 billion.

Prior to the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Czyewski v. Jevic Holding Corp., 137 S.Ct. 973, 197 L.Ed.2d 398 (2017), one way to reshuffle the deck chairs on the titanic in a case with too little money, no more assets and too many creditors was for the parties to divvy up the remains through a structured dismissal under Section 349 of the Bankruptcy Code.