On July 25, 2012, the Third Circuit issued its decision in In re American Capital Equipment LLC and Skinner Engine Co., 688 F.3d 145 (3rd Cir. 2012), becoming the first circuit court to align itself with numerous district courts that have allowed bankruptcy courts to reject a Chapter 11 plan prior to a confirmation hearing.
Stephens Media, LLC is the publisher of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. In 2009, Stephens Media filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court against Citihealth, L.L.C. alleging a variety of trademark related claims. Citihealth failed to respond to the suit and Stephens Media filed a motion for a default judgment. One of the co-owners of Citihealth then notified the court that Citihealth had dissolved and that he and the other co-owner filed for personal bankruptcy. In ruling on the motion, U.S.
Decisions in two recent cases raise concerns for those interested in buying assets out of bankruptcy.
California’s AB 506 process was intended to help a municipality in restructuring its debt obligations and avoid bankruptcy. However, the lessons of the bankruptcies of the City of Stockton, the Town of Mammoth Lakes and the City of San Bernardino support the reality that a meaningful restructure requires material involvement by the major stakeholders. California’s recent wave of municipal bankruptcies tend to show that the AB 506 process has not changed this reality, but rather made a difficult process longer and more arduous.
In 2012, several judicial opinions have reminded directors, officers and “responsible persons” that personal liability may be imposed for business taxes. See our alert from June 20, 2012. Responsible persons are reminded again that not only will authorities impose liability for unpaid taxes of a business on individuals but that the imposition of such taxes may not be dischargeable in bankruptcy.
Jeffrey Marks, a partner in the Vorys Cincinnati office and a member of the commercial and finance group, authored this column about the decision from U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Onkyo Electronics V. Global Technovations. The column originally appeared in the September 17, 2012 edition of Bankruptcy Law360.
Case Study: Onkyo Electronics V. Global Technovations
A recent decision by the Second Circuit underscores the importance to debt collectors of accurately describing the options available to a student loan borrower in bankruptcy, even a borrower who previously filed but did not seek the determination of undue hardship that would have been a necessary predicate to any discharge.
On August 29, 2012, Contec Holdings, Ltd ("Contec") and various related entities filed chapter 11 petitions for bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Simultaneous with filing its bankruptcy petitions, Contec also filed with the Bankruptcy Court a declaration of the company's Chief Restructuring Officer in support of its first day motions (the "Declaration"). Contec was started in 1978 and provides repair services for cable and broadband operators. The company services equipment such as cable set-tops, modems and satellite receivers.