The healthcare industry was ailing in 2011. There were 88 publicly traded companies that filed for Chapter 11 relief in 2011, and of that amount, approximately 11 companies were in the healthcare industry. The healthcare industry led the group, with telecommunications and energy tied for second place (nine filings in each industry). The healthcare industry has faced many challenges over the years. For starters, hospitals are not always paid for their services.

On February 10, 2012, Judge Sean H. Lane of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York issued a ruling in a Chapter 15 bankruptcy proceeding where The Containership Company (TCC) is the debtor. Numerous shippers in the proceeding requested that the Bankruptcy Court defer to the Federal Maritime Commission with respect to the shippers' claims that TCC violated the Shipping Act of 1984.

In an earlier discussion on preference claims, we highlighted an increasingly common form of litigation in the bankruptcy courts that arises out of commercial bankruptcies: the preference action. We examined the policy underlying preference actions and the elements that give rise to a prima facie preference claim. We will now discuss some potential defenses to a preference claim and how a trade creditor can prepare itself to respond to a preference claim.

Turnaround Management Association

The United States is about to enter year five of what has been aptly deemed “The Great Recession.” Bankruptcy advising is a cyclical business, and after a dearth of work in the heady financial years of the mid-2000s, expectations were high that in the downturn bankruptcy work would be abundant and steady.

CENTRAL STATES, SOUTHEAST AND SOUTHWEST AREAS PENSION FUND v. SCOFBP (December 27, 2011)

Bankruptcy Rule changes, effective December 1, 2011, require mortgage holders and servicers to include additional documentation supporting proofs of claim filed in individual debtor cases. Mortgage holders and servicers must follow these rules or face sanctions and potential loss of the right to present the omitted documentation as evidence in subsequent proceedings.

In its recent decision in Meruelo Maddux Properties, Inc.,¹ the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that an entity that meets the definition of a “single real estate” debtor under the Bankruptcy Code may not escape the consequences of such designation simply because it is a subsidiary of a group of companies with integrated and intertwined relationships among them. The decision may provide powerful rights not only to lenders to such entities in general, but could significantly enhance the rights of creditors of real estate owning single purpose entities.

Many experienced business people are now familiar with the process by which their valid and successful debt collection efforts result in liability under the preference provisions of the Bankruptcy Code.

New amendments to Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 2019 were recently adopted in an attempt to clarify requirements surrounding file 2019 statements in Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases.

Prior to the amendments, which were adopted Dec. 1, 2011, Rule 2019 was often applied in an inconsistent haphazard manner resulting in a great deal of uncertainty regarding who was required to file the statement and under what circumstances that statement was required to be filed.  

The Original Rule 2019

The Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Trade Commission, and Commodities Futures Trading Commission often seek appointment of receivers in civil enforcement actions, including in actions alleging operation of Ponzi-like investment schemes. Receivers are generally tasked with taking over entities used to perpetrate schemes, conducting forensic accountings, reporting their findings to the appointing court, and recovering funds, where possible, for distribution to defrauded investors.