In many corporate Chapter 11 cases, unsecured creditors of the debtor have few, if any, assets they may use to satisfy their claims. A debtor’s hard assets, cash and cash equivalents are almost always subject to liens in favor of secured creditors, leaving no tangible assets for unsecured creditors. If unsecured creditors are to receive any value in return for their claims, this value usually must be realized from the debtor’s causes of action.
Directors and officers (D&Os) of troubled companies should be highly sensitive to D&O insurance policies with Prior Act Exclusion. While policies with such exclusion may be cheaper, a recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Eleventh Circuit raises the spectre that a court may hold a loss to have more than a coincidental causal connection with the officer’s conduct pre-policy period and make the (cheaper) coverage worthless.
A case decided last week by the Sixth Circuit illustrates the importance of seeking bankruptcy claim policy amendments when placing D&O coverage. Indian Harbor Ins. Co. v. Zucker (6th Cir. Jun. 20, 2017) involved the application of the insured-vs.-insured exclusion and specifically, whether the policy’s insured-vs.-insured exclusion precluded coverage for a claim brought by a company’s liquidating trust, to which the company’s claims had been assigned by the company as debtor-in-possession after the company filed for bankruptcy.
CONSTRUCTION LEGAL EDGE This newsletter is informational only and should not be construed as legal advice. 2017, Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti, LLP. All rights reserved. SUMMER 2017
ARTICLES CONTAINED IN THIS ISSUE OF THE CLE: 1 3D Printing is Changing Construction 2 Attack of the Drones: Are You Insured? 3 Third Circuit Cautions Contractors about the Scope of the
Bankruptcy Automatic Stay 4 Avoiding Liability for Injuries to Downstream Employees through
The U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, applying Florida law, recently held that a professional services exclusion, which excluded coverage for any loss arising out of any insured’s performance of professional services, barred coverage for claims arising from an alleged Ponzi scheme. Stettin v. Nat’l Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, Pa., 2017 WL 2858768 (11th Cir. July 5, 2017).
"The Parent Bank entered into this insurance contract with its eyes wide open and its wallet on its mind."
For many litigants, the decision whether to prosecute or defend a lawsuit vigorously boils down to a rather basic calculus: What are my chances of success? What is the potential recovery or loss? Is this a “bet the company” litigation? And, how much will I have to pay the lawyers? In many respects, it is not all that different from a poker player eyeing his chip stack and deciding whether the pot odds and implied odds warrant the call of a big bet.
For many litigants, the decision whether to prosecute or defend a lawsuit vigorously boils down to a rather basic calculus: What are my chances of success? What is the potential recovery or loss? Is this a "bet the company" litigation? And, how much will I have to pay the lawyers? In many respects, it is not all that different from a poker player eyeing his chip stack and deciding whether the pot odds and implied odds warrant the call of a big bet.
Recoupment is an equitable remedy – not expressly addressed in the Bankruptcy Code – that permits the offset of mutual debts arising out of the same transaction or occurrence. Unlike typical setoff, if recoupment applies, prepetition debts can be set off against postpetition debts. A recent decision from the Delaware bankruptcy court demonstrates that the availability of recoupment often depends on how the court defines the contours of the “same transaction or occurrence” requirement.
The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld summary judgment dismissing all claims against an insurer based on a bankruptcy and creditors exclusion in the insured’s directors and officers (“D&O”) policy. Markel Am. Ins. Co. v. Huibert Verbeek, No. 1:15-51099 (5th Cir. Sept. 27, 2016).