It is a harrowing scenario for any seller of goods: a trading-partner files for bankruptcy and leaves the seller with thousands, even millions of dollars in unpaid invoices. In many instances, some of these goods were delivered only days before the bankruptcy filing. While a creditor may be able to assert reclamation rights, those rights are often difficult to enforce in bankruptcy and may be subordinate to the interests of an all assets lender.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in In re Philadelphia Newspapers LLC,1 has ruled that secured creditors do not have a right, as a matter of law, to credit bid their claims when their collateral is sold under a plan of reorganization. The Third Circuit held that secured creditors may be barred from credit bidding where a debtor's reorganization plan provides secured creditors with the "indubitable equivalent" of their secured interest in the assets. The court's ruling follows a similar ruling last year by the U.S.

On March 22, 2010, the Third Circuit released its long-awaited ruling in the Philadelphia Newspapers case regarding the applicability of credit bidding.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held, in a split decision, on March 22, 2010, that secured creditors do not have a statutory right to credit bid1 their debt at an asset sale conducted under a “cramdown” reorganization plan. In re Philadelphia Newspapers, LLC, et al., --- F.3d ----, 2010 WL 1006647 (3d Cir. March 22, 2010) (2-1).

It has been reported that “medical bankruptcies” have been on the rise since 2001. There is no clear-cut definition for “medical bankruptcy,” but it has been summarily defined by the following terms:

Overview

In an unusual decision, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas found that emailing hyperlinks directing others to view a third-party’s blog is a sufficient “publication” to sustain a defamation claim under state law.

A hotel property derives much of its value from its operator and brand. When a hotel owner is in distress with respect to its loan obligations, the operator also plays a critical role in the resolution of the workout process between the owner and the lender. The rights and obligations of the operator contained in its agreements with the owner and the lender affect any workout decision that the parties may make.

One's Crisis is Another's Opportunity: Section 363 Sales With the increasing numbers of companies which were once thought to be giants of industry filing for bankruptcy, more opportunities to purchase major assets are becoming available to savvy buyers looking to expand their business or asset base. The Bankruptcy Code provides debtors with the ability to liquidate all or a part of their assets through court-supervised sales and buyers with the ability to obtain those assets at more favorable prices than they would pay if the sale were consummated outside of a bankruptcy.

Chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code permits a foreign representative of a foreign insolvency proceeding to seek a bankruptcy court’s assistance in an ancillary proceeding upon recognition of the foreign proceeding. Upon recognition, Chapter 15 empowers a bankruptcy court to grant broad relief to a foreign representative to protect the assets of the debtor or the interests of its creditors in the United States.