Ever wonder about bankruptcy appeals; about how long a bankruptcy appeal to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals will take? The answer lies in the Court’s statistical data.

On January 12, 2018, an involuntary chapter 11 petition was filed against Oak HRC New Castle, LLC, a rehabilitation facility located in Wilmington, Delaware, and health care business (as defined in 11 U.S.C. 101(27A)). The petitioners, each asserting trade claims, are: Healthcare Services Group, Inc.

First River Energy, LLC, a midstream energy company based in San Antonio, TX, has filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11. in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Case No. 18-10080).

The District Court of Appeal of the State of Florida, Fourth District, recently reversed a trial court’s order denying two borrowers’ request for attorney’s fees and costs on judicial estoppel grounds.

In so ruling, the Fourth DCA held that the trial court improperly relied on a Fifth Circuit case and failed to apply Florida’s judicial estoppel doctrine when it concluded that the borrowers’ failure to disclose their attorney’s fee claim in their Chapter 11 bankruptcy schedules barred the fee claim.

F.T.K. Worldwide Mfg BVBA (a/k/a FTK Worldwide Manufacturing BVBA) has filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 15 in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Case No. 17-13024).

2017 represented one of the busiest years for Chapter 11 retail bankruptcy filings. Many companies that filed have successfully emerged, like Payless. Yet, some are still questionable as to their future, such as Toys “R” Us, which is expected to begin selling a number of their leases and company owned real estate this quarter.

As the New Year begins, here are 10 retailers to watch for a possible Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing this year:

SeaStar Holdings, Inc., along with two 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. 18-10039). SeaStar operates a passenger airline based in San Juan, Puerto Rico under the name Seaborne Airlines.

Rentech WP U.S., Inc. (NASDAQ: RTKH) and an affiliate have filed chapter 11 petitions before the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Lead Case No. 17-12958). The cases have been assigned to the Honorable Christopher S. Sontchi. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Fulghum Fibres, Rentech offers a full range of integrated fibre services including, wood chipping, operations, marketing, trading and vessel loading.

Certain amendments to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, which became effective on December 1, 2017, impose affirmative obligations on secured creditors to protect the right to distribution in a bankruptcy case. Specifically, Rule 3002(a) now requires a secured creditor to file a proof of claim in order to gain allowance for a secured claim.

Bankruptcy courts lack the power to impose serious punitive sanctions, a federal district judge ruled recently in PHH Mortgage Corporation v. Sensenich, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 207801 (D. Vt. Dec. 18, 2018). Judge Geoffrey Crawford reversed a bankruptcy judge’s ruling that had imposed sanctions against a creditor based on Rule 3002.1(i) of the Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, the bankruptcy court’s inherent authority, and Bankruptcy Code section 105.