The Stern v. Marshall Decision. In its 2011 decision in Stern v. Marshall, decided by a 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court held that even though Congress designated certain state law counterclaims as “core” proceedings, Article III of the U.S. Constitution prohibits bankruptcy courts from finally adjudicating those claims. Stern v.
MK Builders Pty Ltd v 36 Warrigal Road Pty Ltd & Ors [2014] VSC 149
The decision is significant because it confirms that a payment of a dividend to a creditor does not necessarily extinguish the company’s claim for the balance in fact owing to it.
A recent decision by Judge Shannon of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, In re Optim Energy, LLC, et al., No. 14-10262 (BLS) (Bankr. D. Del. May 13, 2014), highlights a shift in Delaware recharacterization jurisprudence.
Akers as a joint representative of Saad Investments Company Limited (in Official Liquidation) v Deputy Commissioner of Taxation [2014] FCAFC 57
The Full Federal Court has confirmed a “modified universalism” approach to cross-border insolvencies, and provided guidance on what is required for the “adequate protection” of rights of local creditors under the Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency (‘Model Law’), as enacted in Australia by the Cross-Border Insolvency Act 2008 (Cth).
In a ruling yesterday, Judge Christopher Sontchi of the United State Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware denied a motion by a bond trustee to transfer venue of the Dallas-based Energy Future Holdings from Wilmington, Delaware to the Northern District of Texas, citing broad support from many creditors for keeping the case before the Delaware court.
In December 2013 I wrote about the Innovation Act, H.R. 3309, a bill focused on patent infringement litigation and other patent law reforms that passed the House of Representatives on a bipartisan basis.
On Monday, May 29, 2014, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York approved Sbarro LLC’s plan of reorganization, paving the way for the pizza restaurant chain to exit bankruptcy. Sbarro filed for chapter 11 protection earlier this year with a prepackaged plan that allowed its prepetition secured lenders to swap over $148 million in debt for control of the reorganized business if higher or otherwise better purchasers for Sbarro’s business did not overbid. When no alternative purchasers materialized, Sbarro moved forward with its debt-for-equity swap
Three months ago, the U.S. District Court in Delaware upheld the bankruptcy court’s decision in In re Fisker Auto. Holdings, Inc., which limited, for “cause,” the amount that the purchaser of a secured lender’s claim could credit bid in connection with an asset sale under section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code.
Stewart v Atco Controls Pty Ltd (in liquidation) [2014] HCA 15
The High Court has held unanimously that a liquidator is entitled to an equitable lien over settlement monies for litigation expenses which the liquidator incurred for the purpose of impugning a secured creditor’s charge, applying and confirming the principle in Universal Distributing in the process.