I have blogged several times about the difficulties of preserving non-qualified plan benefits, particularly when the plan sponsor goes bankrupt. At the time of a bankruptcy, the company's non-qualified plan becomes nothing more than an unfunded promise to pay benefits and participants usually have to get in line with the company's other creditors. The recent decision in Tate v. General Motors LLC (56 EBC 1363, 6th Cir.
While the American economy continues to grow at a tepid pace, the filing rate for both personal and business bankruptcies has slowed dramatically. As banks have cleared many, but certainly not all, of their problem loans and have curtailed lending activity, the main driver of small- and medium-business bankruptcies has slowed. However, like death and taxes, bankruptcy is not going to go away. The retail sector appears to be primed for the next wave in bankruptcy filings, and that means that vendors, suppliers, and other creditors should be prepared.
Quin v. County of Kauai Dep't. of Transp., 2013 WL 3814916 (9th Cir. 2013)
CASE RESULTS DEPEND UPON A VARIETY OF FACTORS UNIQUE TO EACH CASE AND DO NOT GUARANTEE OR PREDICT A SIMILAR RESULT IN ANY FUTURE CASE
The Bottom Line
It should be common knowledge that a secured creditor, having received proper notice in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, faces the risk that its lien will be extinguished if it fails to object to a reorganization plan that does not specifically preserve the lien. Apparently, however, not all secured lenders realize this risk, and some fall prey to a trap for the unwary in §1141(c) of the Bankruptcy Code by failing to protect their liens and place their collateral at risk.
Is anyone ready for a test on bankruptcy appellate jurisdiction? For the second time in a week, the Sixth Circuit addressed its appellate jurisdiction in bankruptcy appeals, this time in the context of orders denying the substantive consolidation of two separate chapter 7 bankruptcy estates, In re Cyberco Holdings and Teleservices Group. On the heels of its decision in Lindsey v.
In re Majestic Star Casino, LLC, F.3d 736 (3rd Cir. 2013), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit broke from other courts by holding that S corporation status (or "qualified subchapter S subsidiary" or "QSub" status) is not property of the estate of the S corporation's bankruptcy estate. Other Circuits have routinely held that entity tax status is property of the estate.
A Florida-based import-export company has filed for Chapter 7 protection in bankruptcy court, listing more than $204 million in liabilities from litigation over its role in the import from China of powdered milk contaminated with melamine. In re Exim Brickell, LLC, No. 13-28502 (U.S. Bankruptcy Ct., S.D. Fla., filed August 3, 2013). Exim Brickell, LLC declared $300 in office furniture as its only asset.