In my last post I discussed the Meridian Sunrise Village v. NB Distressed Debt Investment Fund Ltd. opinion handed down by the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington in March of this year.

As has been widely publicized, the United States Supreme Court recently provided guidance on a bankruptcy court's  jurisdiction to address certain types of claims, but left open issues of whether parties may consent to bankruptcy court jurisdiction (or waive a lack of jurisdiction argument if not raised early enough) to enter final judgments on certain types of matters.  See Executive Benefits Agency v. Arkison (In re Bellingham Ins. Agency, Inc.), 573 U.S. ___ (June 9, 2014).

The United States Supreme Court, on July 1, 2014, granted a petition for certiorari in an important Seventh Circuit case limiting the power of bankruptcy courts to decide property disputes. Wellness International Network, Ltd. et al. v. Sharif, 727 F.3d 751 (7th Cir. 2013). The Seventh Circuit had held last year that the bankruptcy court lacked the constitutional authority to determine whether purported trust assets were property of the debtor’s estate.

The Eighth Circuit recently issued an opinion in the Interstate Bakeries Corporation bankruptcy case reversing its previous holding that a perpetual royalty-free trademark license constituted an executory contract that could be assumed or rejected in bankruptcy.¹ The Eighth Circuit, in a r

The Supreme Court Gets Its Grammar on: Interpreting the Right to Postpetition Interest Under Section 506(b)

In this Throwback Thursday, piece we revisit the decision of the United States Supreme Court in U.S. v. Ron Pair Enters. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court held that section 506(b) of the Bankruptcy Code permits a creditor to receive postpetition interest on an oversecured claim even if the creditor does not have the benefit of an agreement providing for interest on the claim.

The filing of a bankruptcy petition creates a bankruptcy estate that includes “all legal or equitable interests of the debtor in property as of the commencement of the case.” Highland Capital Mgmt. LP v. Chesapeake Energy Corp. (In re Seven Seas Petroleum, Inc.), 522 F.3d 575, 584 (5th Cir. 2008) (quoting 11 U.S.C. § 541(a)(1)). This includes “rights of action such as claims based on state or federal law.” Id.

In a recent decision welcomed by creditors, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina reversed a bankruptcy court order confirming a Chapter 11 debtor’s plan because the debtor engaged in “obvious gerrymandering” in order to secure the votes necessary to obtain confirmation of the plan.  

I. Facts

The Texas Supreme Court, on June 20, 2014, issued its highly  anticipated opinion in Ritchie v. Rupe, 2014 Tex. LEXIS 500 (Tex.  2014). Ritchie involved a claim by a minority shareholder in a  closely held corporation under the Texas receivership statute,  seeking to force the majority shareholders to buy-out the minority  shareholder’s interest in the corporation.

Malone v. Allstate Indemnity Co.,No. 2:13–CV–00884–WMA, WL 2592352 (N.D. Al. Jun. 10, 2014)

The Northern District of Alabama finds that an insurer did not act in bad faith by denying coverage for damage caused by a house fire where investigators suspected arson, the insured made misrepresentations in bankruptcy filings, and the insurer received an uncontradicted coverage opinion from an attorney.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held on June 23, 2014 that an oversecured lender’s legal fees were subject to the bankruptcy court’s review for reasonableness despite a court-ordered non-judicial foreclosure sale of the lender’s collateral. In re 804 Congress, LLC, ­­__ F.3d ­­__, 2014 WL 2816521 (5th Cir. June 23, 2014). Affirming the bankruptcy court’s power and reversing the district court, the Fifth Circuit found the lender’s utter failure to detail its legal fees with any documentary support to be fatal.

Facts