In a recent decision related to the SemCrude bankruptcy, the federal district court upheld the Bankruptcy Court’s rulings on the efficacy of certain common risk-mitigation tools used in the energy trading and marketing business – namely product payment netting and cross-product setup upon liquidation and closeout. The decision comes amid long-running challenges from producers who had sold product to the SemGroup entities on credit.

On July 30, 2015, Relativity Media, along with 144 of its affiliates, filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy.  The multi-million dollar entertainment company, which produced films such as The Social Network, The Fighter, Limitless, and others, is headquartered on Beverly Blvd. in Beverly Hills.  As of the date of the bankruptcy, according to its court filings, Relativity and its affiliates had approximately 89 full- and part-time employees and approximately 760 temporary production personnel in the film and television side of the business.

In Baker Botts L.L.P. v. Asarco LLC, No. 14-103, 2015 WL 2473336 (U.S. June 15, 2015), the U.S.

When your company receives notice from a customer that the customer has filed for bankruptcy protection, what do you do? What should you do? First, DO NOT ignore it. The bankruptcy most likely will not go away. Instead, take these five steps to ensure you do not end up sideways in the bankruptcy.

1. Notify your Accounts Receivable Department not to send further collection notices or seek to collect the debt.

If repayment of debt is accelerated as a result of bankruptcy, are debtholders eligible to receive a make-whole premium? The answer from an increasing number of courts is, without specific language in the indenture, no. Indentures usually include specific language to protect investors by declaring that upon certain designated “bankruptcy events,” all outstanding securities issued under that indenture become immediately due and payable (without further action from the holders of the securities).

On July 23, 2015, in an action arising from the huge TCEH chapter 11 bankruptcy, Judge Paul A. Engelmayer of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued an opinion in Delaware Trust Company v.

The Bankruptcy Code is federal law. It affords debtors protections - including the automatic stay and debt discharge injunction - that hold creditors at bay.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) is also federal law. It contains limitations on what a debt collector can do when attempting to collect a debt.

Because debts - and more particularly attempts to collect those debts - drive people into bankruptcy, bankruptcy courts are sometimes forced to grapple with questions of how the Bankruptcy Code and FDCPA interact and impact each other.

You have heard the rumor that one of your clients or customers is on the verge of bankruptcy. What should you do? Although your instinct may be to suspend all dealings with them for fear of total loss in the abyss of bankruptcy, you should not over-react. With proper assistance, you can safely navigate as a creditor in even the murkiest waters.

“Startin’ to feel like there’s nothin’ left to talk about but the, money, money

Bill collectors keep comin’ . . . to get money, money”

-Curtis James Jackson, III – “Money”

Many companies that file for bankruptcy protection have liabilities that cannot be definitively quantified as of the bankruptcy petition date. Such “unmatured,” “contingent,” “unliquidated,” or “disputed” debts could arise from, among other things: (i) causes of action that are being litigated at the time of a bankruptcy filing but have not resulted in a judgment; or (ii) claims against the company that exist prior to a bankruptcy filing but have not been asserted against the company in litigation or otherwise, let alone liquidated, as of the petition date.