The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois recently held in Krol v.

“…to be my student, you must develop a taste for victory.”

 Pai Mei, Kill Bill

Today’s blog article, which looks at offshore leases in the United States, is the fourth in a Weil Bankruptcy Blog series, “Drilling Down,” a series that will look at issues at the intersection of the oil and gas industry and bankruptcy law.  In Part One we provided an overview of the oil and gas industry, in 

Background and headlines As market participants will know, the English courts have been increasingly willing to accept jurisdiction to sanction schemes in respect of foreign companies (in a series of cases culminating in Apcoa’s change of governing law – see further below). Reaching a consensual restructuring grows ever more challenging in a world where more complex capital structures and creditor composition create divergent interests.

It’s that time of year again! The bankruptcy courts’ new rules, fees, and forms come into effect today. Just like news outlets this time of year summarize where you can find the best online deals, we thought we’d take the opportunity to review this year’s bankruptcy-related amendments. Consult your local listings bankruptcy rules, statutes and forms for more detail.

Rule Amendments

“Life is not about perfect information. Life is about choices, which is why you have elections.”

Regardless of whether a creditor has a claim identified in a debtor’s schedules of assets and liabilities, generally speaking, most attorneys representing creditors in the context of a chapter 11 case will advise their clients to file a formal proof of claim with the bankruptcy court.  Often this is just “belts and suspenders” and a matter of good practice but, if nothing else, a formal proof of claim will serve to protect a creditor’s rights and interests vis à vis the estate.

On August 26, 2014, Judge Drain concluded the confirmation hearing in Momentive Performance Materials and issued several bench rulings on cramdown interest rates, the availability of a make-whole premium, third party releases, and the extent of the subordination of senior subordinated noteholders.

As this Blog has discussed in a number of recent posts, free and clear sales under section 363(f) of the Bankruptcy Code often lead to disputes over whether section 363(f) can strip assets of particular types of claims and interests. Although section 363(f) plays an important role in maximizing the value of a debtor’s assets in a section 363 sale, adversely affected parties may object to those assets being sold free and clear of their claims.

When an oversecured creditor forecloses on a debtor’s property after the automatic stay has been lifted, does the Bankruptcy Code (as opposed to state law) govern recovery of attorney’s fees and other amounts from the sale proceeds? Does the bankruptcy court have jurisdiction over the distribution of such proceeds? In Goldsby v.