Introduction

As society’s technology continues to grow more and more complex, bankruptcy attorneys find themselves on the front lines of an ever-evolving legal practice. One such emerging technology, cryptocurrency, has only just begun to become a new thorn in the sides of bankruptcy attorneys and requires their increased attention.

What is Cryptocurrency?

In 2019, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the finality of an asset sale previously approved by the bankruptcy court, providing valuable precedent in support of this core aspect of Chapter 11 practice. Fulmer v. Fifth Third Equip. Fin. Co. et al. (In re Veg Liquidation, Inc.), 931 F.3d 730 (8th Cir. 2019)

Introduction

Prognostications of an impending recession are appearing in regular dispatches ranging from daily news media to quarterly economic reports. Like the Great Recession, the if and when of any recession will only be answered after it has occurred. Moreover, these conclusions are simply an aggregation of the particular experience of a wide-range of industries, and diverse and distinct companies within those industries. What is true today for each of those individual companies is that their particular economic ecosystem is changing rapidly, and often with increasing financial challenges.

Congress recently sent two different bills to the President’s desk that are designed to provide an easier path for family farming operations and small businesses to reorganize under the Bankruptcy Code: the Family Farmer Relief Act of 2019 and the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019.

The national and local publications have been full of articles recently on the emerging agricultural crisis confronting producers. By some measures, sectors of the ag economy are in the third year of declining net farm incomes, and some dairy producers in particular appear to be in dire straits. In light of these events, now might be a good time for lenders to brush up on the most significant laws affecting their loan remedies in the event it becomes necessary to seek enforcement of their loans. Below are short summaries of two important laws affecting loan enforcement:

As commonly understood amongst bankruptcy professionals, when a creditor violates the discharge injunction in a bankruptcy case, courts have the authority to levy civil contempt violations against the violating creditor. However, a more difficult question for those professionals, and one that presiding courts have occasionally struggled to answer, is under which circumstances a creditor’s abusive action actually rises to the level of civil contempt.

The legalization of marijuana and the Bankruptcy Code continue to proceed on a crash course. A majority of states have legalized marijuana for medical use, and a growing number have legalized recreational use as well. As a result, the industry is rapidly expanding – national sales in legal markets have increased 34 percent in 2018 to $10.8 billion.

Should the laws of the United States have effect outside of the United States? For that matter, should the laws of other countries have effect outside of their borders, and inside the United States? These are pretty fundamental questions about what should be the world order. A recent decision of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, a bankruptcy case with a high likelihood of reaching the U.S. Supreme Court, takes on that issue. It is a case to watch.

In certain states, including Minnesota, a resident may file a bankruptcy case and elect to protect certain assets under the Bankruptcy Code. The Bankruptcy Code provides that these exemption amounts are automatically adjusted for inflation every three years. In short, the adjustments are based on changes to the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers published by the Department of Labor, rounded to the nearest $25.