Mediation-in-bankruptcy has been an effective tool for resolving mass tort cases.
That effectiveness has been for the benefit of all parties involved, such as:
“2 There is one inconsequential difference — § 1228(a) refers to debt ‘of a kind specified,’ while § 1192(2) refers to debt ‘of the kind specified.’” [Fn. 1]
This “inconsequential difference” quotation, from footnote 2 in the Fourth Circuit’s Cantwell v. Clearyopinion, is on the application of § 523 discharge exceptions to corporations and LLCs. The “inconsequential difference” quote, is both:
On July 11, 2022, genomic sequencing company GenapSys Inc. of Redwood City, CA filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Case No. 22-10621). The company reports $10 million to $50 million in both assets and liabilities.
On July 5, 2022, New York-based cryptocurrency exchange, Voyager Digital Holdings, Inc. along with its publicly traded Canadian affiliate, Voyager Digital Ltd., filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (Case No. 22-10943). The company reports $1 to $10 billion in both assets and liabilities.
Justice Stephen G. Breyer is now retired from the U.S. Supreme Court, serving from August 3, 1994, to June 30, 2022.
One of his legacies—and an exceedingly important one—is this: he has worked, successfully, to erase “public rights” from the lexicon of controlling bankruptcy law.
What follows is a summary of how “public rights” came to be part of that lexicon, and how Justice Breyer works to get it erased.
“PUBLIC RIGHTS” BEGINNING—Northern Pipeline
On July 5, 2022, Scandinavian airline SAS AB, along with several affiliates, filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (Case No. 22-10925), reporting $10 to $50 billion in assets and $1 to $10 billion in liabilities.
The case before the U.S. Supreme Court is MOAC Mall Holdings LLC v. Transform Holdco LLC, Case No. 21-1270.
The bankruptcy question upon which the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari is this:
Both the Johnson & Johnson and InfoWars bankruptcies are filed to address tort lawsuits.
Johnson & Johnson’s bankruptcy survives a motions to dismiss.[Fn. 1] InfoWars’ bankruptcy doesn’t.[Fn. 2]
What follows is an effort to compare and contrast the two cases, revealing why one survives and the other doesn’t.
The Businesses
–Johnson & Johnson
On June 30, 2022, Palo Alto, California-based mobile technology retailer pairing company Enjoy Technology, Inc., along with two affiliates, who provide a revolutionary commerce-at-home experience for consumers through the companies’ network of mobile retail stores, filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Case No.
On June 29, 2022, New York City-based Madison Square Boys & Girls Club, Inc. (the “Club”), a non-profit aimed to save and enhance the lives of underserved boys and girls through after school programming and youth development services, filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (Case No. 22-10910).