The extent of a transferee’s knowledge in the context of fraudulent transfer claims under the Bankruptcy Code has been a frequent topic of discussion on the Weil Bankruptcy Blog.
“I get knocked down / But I get up again / You’re never gonna keep me down.”
– Chumbawumba
“The past can’t hurt you anymore, not unless you let it.” – Alan Moore, V for Vendetta
To paraphrase Samuel Johnson, publication notice is, quite often, the debtor’s “last refuge.” Yet it is frequently a necessary feature of the notices provided in bankruptcy cases. Debtors rarely possess an accurate method for notifying the many unidentifiable potential claimants. And so enters publication notice. Pursuant to well-settled law, publication notice – if sufficient – may satisfy the requirement to provide due process to unknown creditors in a bankruptcy proceeding.
As one bankruptcy court has said, “[b]ecause deals are the heart and soul of the [c]hapter 11 process, bankruptcy courts enforce them as cut by the parties.” Unfortunately, however, deals do not always turn out as the parties expected and there is sometimes litigation to determine what exactly was bargained for in a chapter 11 plan.
In yesterday’s post, we published a speech in which Harvey Miller discussed how he got started practicing bankruptcy law. Today, we are publishing the text of a speech that Harvey gave in March of 2014 on the 40th anniversary of the Southeastern Bankruptcy Law Institute, at which Harvey was a frequent speaker. In this speech, Harvey looked back at the evolution of bankruptcy law over the past 50 years.
Introduction
Providing proper notice to existing and potential creditors is an important consideration for debtors’ counsel. A seminal Supreme Court decision established that due process for “unknown” claimants is generally satisfied by publication notice, so long as it is reasonably calculated to reach such creditors under the circumstances.
Some of our readers may have had the pleasure of renting a resort villa during their summer vacation (electronic postcards of such fancy digs are always welcome at the Weil Bankruptcy Blog, especially if you pose for a photo where you are reading one of our entries!). For the uninitiated (including yours truly), villas are often viewed as the ultimate upgrade for privacy and convenience when staying at a large resort for a week or more—a private home with the luxuries of a full service hotel.
Secured creditors naturally want to be repaid. Sometimes secured creditors go as far as asking a debtor to waive its right to seek bankruptcy protection. Although such clauses are frequently held to be unenforceable, we previously have discussed exceptions for LLCs.