Why it matters

The Bankruptcy Code impairs lenders’ rights in various ways.  Accordingly, lenders have long attempted to devise methods of preventing borrowers from filing for bankruptcy protection.  Such attempts generally have not been successful -- courts hold that as a general matter, a borrower’s pre bankruptcy waiver of the right to file bankruptcy is against public policy and is void.  See, e.g., Klingman v. Levinson,831 F.2d 1292, 1296 n.3 (7th Cir.

Over the years, clients have sought my advice after they have obtained a judgment against a limited liability company or a corporation, and after they have tried, without success, to collect on that judgment.  All of the typical judgment enforcement methods have already failed.  Because judgment debtors generally do not volunteer payment and sometimes will take steps to make it much more difficult for a creditor to collect, this scenario is somewhat common.  In response, clients will ask what they can do.  There are a number of options.  These include putting the ju

In Lodge v. Kondaur Capital Corp., Case No. 13-10919 (decided May 8, 2014), the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit decided an issue that it never previously addressed: whether a party could recover damages under 11 U.S.C. § 362(k) for emotional distress resulting from another party’s violation of the automatic stay in bankruptcy. In Lodge, the Court held that such damages were recoverable but could not be recovered in the particular circumstances of that case.

The District Court for the Southern District of New York recently issued an opinion in Davis v. Elliot Management Corp. (In re Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.), 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 48102 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 31, 2014) that will have important implications for individual members of official creditor committees in future cases. 

On June 4, 2014, the New York Court of Appeals will hear arguments arising from the bankruptcies of two law firms—Thelen and Coudert Brothers—as to whether the former partners of the bankrupt law firms must turn over profits earned on billable-hour client matters they brought to their new firms.

A recent decision from an Oregon bankruptcy court provides a cautionary tale for lenders attempting to “bankruptcy proof” their borrowers. 

The inclusion of pre-bankruptcy waivers in “standard issue” credit documents has generated a host of litigation in bankruptcy cases about the enforceability of such provisions.

In In re Mississippi Valley Livestock, Inc., No. 13-1377 (7th Cir. Mar.

The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial, and Antitrust Law recently held hearings regarding certain provisions of the Bankruptcy Code, including the safe harbor from preference and fraudulent conveyance claims for “settlement payments.”