Nearly nine months after it filed for protection under Chapter 9 of the Bankruptcy Code, a federal bankruptcy judge last week determined that the city of Stockton, California has satisfied the requirements of Section 109(c) of the Bankruptcy Code a

On April 1, 2013, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of California ruled that the City of Stockton qualified to file for protection under chapter 9 of the Bankruptcy Code. The court’s decision on this issue serves as an important milestone for chapter 9 jurisprudence, clarifying the requirements for “good faith” negotiations and being “insolvent” as conditions to filing for chapter 9 protection. Significantly, the court held that a municipal debtor need not negotiate with all of its creditors, only those that it intends to impair.

In June, 2012, Stockton California filed a bankruptcy case under chapter 9.  While businesses and individuals are entitled to file bankruptcy petitions without bankruptcy court approval, the same is not true for municipalities.  They can only be debtors if, among other things, the majority of their creditors agree; they negotiate in good faith and fail to obtain majority agreement; negotiation is impracticable; or a creditor is attempting to obtain a voidable preference.  In addition, the bankruptcy court can dismiss a municipality’s petition if it was not filed in “good fait

The recent case ofGreb v. Diamond International Corp. highlights the need for dissolved corporations and their insurers to consider the survival statute of their state of incorporation when defending against actions brought in California.

In Greb v. Diamond Int’l Corp., 2013 WL 628328 (Cal. Feb. 21, 2013), the California Supreme Court unequivocally and unanimously laid to rest the assertion that dissolved foreign corporations may be sued in California after the time of the statute of limitations provided by the laws under which the foreign corporations were incorporated.

Under prior law, a municipality could file a petition and prosecute to completion bankruptcy proceedings under federal law, subject to certain requirements.

Existing law identifies particular property of a debtor that is exempt from enforcement of a money judgment. Existing law provides for the adjustment of these exemption amounts based on changes in the annual California Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers. Those exemptions are available to a debtor in a federal bankruptcy case, unless the debtor elects certain alternative exemptions available under federal bankruptcy law.

On January 30, 2013, Judge Christopher Klein of the Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of California held that, pursuant to section 904 of the Bankruptcy Code, a municipal debtor is not required to seek court approval to enter into settlements with and make settlement payments to prepetition creditors during the pendency of its chapter 9 case. The decision demonstrates the broad scope of section 904 and the free reign that a municipal debtor enjoys under that section during the pendency of its chapter 9 case. In re City of Stockton, Cal., Case No. 12-32118 (Bankr. E.D. Cal.

Applying California law, a California appellate court has held, in an unpublished opinion, that a judgment for reimbursement against an insured law firm was properly amended to name the sole equity partner of that law firm in light of his “pervasive” involvement in the underlying litigation and coverage litigation and his direction of such litigation in light of the fact that he knew the law firm was dissolved and had no assets.  Carolina Cas. Ins. Co. v. L.M. Ross Law Group LLP, 2012 WL 6555545 (Cal. Ct. App. Dec. 17, 2012). 

The battle in California municipal bankruptcies between bond investors and Calpers, the California public employee pension system, began in the Stockton Chapter 9 bankruptcy case and continues unabated in the