In a case of first impression, DLA Piper argued before the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware that a consent provision in a Delaware LLC operating agreement effectively granting a creditor a veto right over a debtor’s decision to file for bankruptcy was void because it was contrary to federal public policy.

The new year will bring tremendous changes to the Polish insolvency regime as significant amendments to the Bankruptcy and Recovery Law (Journal of Laws 2015, No. 233, uniform text) come into force on 1 January 2016 (New Bankruptcy Law). The aim of the New Bankruptcy Law is to make existing legal instruments more effective and to help business entities survive financial stress or distress. 

Overview

In recent months, the US has seen a staggering increase in the number of retailers, both large and small, filing for bankruptcy. Among others, Dots, Alco Stores, Radio Shack, Deb Shops, Wet Seal, and Delia’s have each filed for bankruptcy protection in the past six months alone.

Over the last several years, a wide range of healthcare companies, among them hospitals, home health agencies and continuing care facilities, have faced financial distress as a result of declining revenues, high operating costs, reduction in reimbursements rates and increasing competition.  Seeking relief, many hospitals and other healthcare companies are commencing chapter 11 cases and selling their assets to third parties in order to shed liabilities and facilitate an orderly transfer of their assets.  Fairmont General Hospital, Saint Francis Hospital, Natchez Regional Medical C

In order to assess whether or not an insurance company is in a state of insolvency, the yardstick to be used is not the same as for any other enterprise.

An opinion issued in connection with the bankruptcy cases of Lyondell Chemical Company and its affiliates may have significant implications for shareholders who receive payments in connection with a leveraged buyout when the underlying company subsequently files for bankruptcy. 

I am tempted to draft a blog post listing the top ten ironies of bankruptcy law. There is no shortage of contenders for that list, and vying for the top spot would be the simple fact that you need a lot of money to go bankrupt. Bankruptcy (or its cousins, creditors arrangement and administration -- but not receivership, the economies of which could also feature in a blog post of its own) involves an influx of lawyers, accountants, and other professionals who negotiate and bicker their way through the company’s balance sheet, all while charging by the hour.

A bankruptcy court’s asset sale order limiting specific pre-bankruptcy product liability claims required prior “actual or direct mail notice” to claimants when the debtor “knew or reasonably should have known about the claims,” held the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on July 13, 2016. In re Motors Liquidation Co., 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 12848, *46-47 (2d Cir. July 13, 2016).

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held on July 9 that the nondebtor licensee of a rejected trademark license may continue to use the trademark (Sunbeam Products, Inc. v. Chicago American Mfg., LLC, ___ F.3d ___, 2012 WL 2687939 (7th Cir. July 9, 2012) (Easterbrook, Ch. J.)). The court's clear, concise and no-nonsense opinion explained that Bankruptcy Code ("Code") § 365(g) deems a trustee's rejection to be a "breach" of the contract, enabling "the other party's rights [to] remain in place." Id., at *3.

A New York bankruptcy judge held on October 4, 2010, that second lien lenders could object to a debtor’s bid procedures approved by the first lien lenders despite the terms of an intercreditor agreement inIn re Boston Generating, LLC, No. 10-14419 (SCC) (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. Oct. 4, 2010).1 The intercreditor agreement provided the first lien lenders with the “exclusive right to…make determinations regarding the…sale” of the collateral. According to the court, however, the agreement did not expressly preclude the second lien lenders from objecting to bid procedures.