Bankruptcy Court denies a party’s request to enforce arbitration of a legal malpractice claim—and then dismisses that malpractice claim for failure to state a claim.

The opinion is Murray v. Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP (In re Murray Energy Holdings Co.), Adv. Pro. No. 22-2007, Southern Ohio Bankruptcy Court (decided October 5, 2023, Doc. 89)—appeal is pending.

Context

De Hoge Raad heeft zich uitgelaten over de vraag in hoeverre er rekening moet worden gehouden met de draagkracht van een rechtspersoon bij het opleggen van een boete. De zaak waarin deze vraag speelde, gaat over een bedrijf dat is veroordeeld wegens het meermalen medeplegen van valsheid in geschrifte. In hoger beroep heeft het Openbaar Ministerie een boete gevorderd van 135.000 euro.

This ideal is floating around:

• upon removal of a Subchapter V debtor from possession, for fraud or other cause,
• the Subchapter V trustee has no expanded right, power, function or duty beyond operating debtor’s business (the “Ideal”).

This Ideal is both:

• contrary to unambiguous language of the Bankruptcy Code, as a matter of law; and
• in Never-Never Land, as a matter of practice.

I’ll try to explain.

This is a truism:

A study on using round-number offers and precise-number offers in negotiations reaches these two conclusions:

Here’s the latest opinion on a controversial question: In re Franco’s Paving LLC, Case No. 23-20069, Southern Texas Bankruptcy Court, (decided 10/5/2023; Doc. 74).

The Question & Answer

Voter apathy is a problem in Subchapter V cases. That apathy is in the form of creditors failing or refusing to vote on a Subchapter V plan. The In re Franco’s opinion addresses this apathy problem head-on.

Recent expressions of concern about courts mandating mediation reminded me of a mandated mediation process that worked well: the City of Detroit bankruptcy.

An illustration of the success of mandated mediation in the Detroit case is this line:

The Bankruptcy Judge“put an end to the public bickering over the water deal by ordering the parties into confidential mediation.”

www.ploum.nl Kwartaalupdate Bestuurdersaansprakelijkheid Q3 2023 1 START IT UP! Introductie Auteurs: Thomas Munnik en Annerieke Meerkerk In het derde kwartaal van 2023 zijn op www.rechtspraak.nl verschillende uitspraken gepubliceerd waarin de ingestelde vordering gegrond was op bestuurdersaansprakelijkheid. In deze Kwartaalupdate Bestuurdersaansprakelijkheid voor Q3 2023 is een selectie gemaakt uit deze uitspraken. De navolgende onderwerpen komen aan bod: 01. Bestuurder aansprakelijk vanwege onjuiste mededelingen? (Gerechtshof Arnhem-Leeuwarden 5 september 2023) 2 02.

In Purdue Pharma, the U.S. Supreme Court grants certiorari on this question:

The absolute priority rule [Fn. 1] has been a problem for businesses in bankruptcy—for a very long time! The rule dates back to at least 1899, when the U.S. Supreme Court prevents certain shareholder actions “until the interests of unsecured creditors have been preserved.” [Fn. 2]

Since then, the U.S. Supreme Court has followed a long and relatively straight road for the absolute priority rule. And the rule has shown staying power, along that road.

The opinion is In re Legarde, Case No. 22-12184, Eastern Pennsylvania Bankruptcy Court (issued September 14, 2023; Doc. 112).

Facts

Debtor claims Creditor raped her.

Then, Debtor posts stuff about Creditor on the internet.

So, Creditor sues Debtor for defamation, alleging willful and malicious conduct.

Bankruptcy Developments