In In re Purdue Pharma, L.P., 1 U.S. District Court Judge Colleen McMahon of the Southern District of New York vacated Purdue Pharma’s confirmed plan of reorganization after finding that the bankruptcy court below did not have statutory authority to issue a confirmation order granting non-consensual third-party releases—namely for the benefit of the Sackler family, which owns Purdue.

A confession of judgment lets a creditor take a judgment without notice to the debtor, who usually first learns of the lawsuit when the creditor seizes his bank accounts and takes related steps. Here are strategies for representing commercial debtors facing such judgments. 

Your developer client borrows $5 million from a bank to improve a strip mall on Chicago’s northwest side. The developer signs a promissory note with a floating interest rate of 1 percent over the Wall Street Journal prime rate, and its principal shareholder signs a guaranty. 

This week's TGIF considers Stubbings v Jams 2 Pty Ltd [2022] HCA 6, in which the High Court overturned a finding by the Victorian Court of Appeal and confirmed that certificates of independent advice will not always protect lenders from an unconscionability claim.

Overview

“Trillions of dollars”: That’s the amount of civil penalty claims a group of 40 States are asserting against Johnson & Johnson for consumer protection law violations. [Fn. 1]

Such civil penalty claims:

In a recent case involving a default judgment to recover the sum of an outstanding loan, the Federal Court of Australia considered whether it had jurisdiction to set aside a bankruptcy notice issued against the guarantor of the loan and whether it had jurisdiction to extend the time for compliance with the bankruptcy notice.

Background

The Hon’ble Supreme Court has recently upheld a Judgement of the Division Bench of Tripura High Court in the case of Sri Subhankar Bhowmik vs Union of India(1) wherein it was held that a Decree Holder cannot be treated at par with Financial Creditors in a Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) initiated under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (Code).

Quite recently, a two Judges’ bench of the Hon’ble Apex Court in Indian Overseas Bank v. M/s. RCM Infrastructure Ltd. & Anr., Civil Appeal No. 4750/2021 (dated 18.05.2022), inter alia, determined on the issue of applicability of provisions under Section 14 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016/ IBC/ Code to a proceeding initiated in terms of the SARFAESI Act, in particular, auction sale.

Anti-phoenix laws were introduced in 2020, however, it wasn’t until last week that a judgment enforced these laws in Court, setting out clear precedent for future cases. In the case of Intellicomms Pty Ltd (in Liquidation) (Intellicomms) & Ors v Technologie Fluenti Pty Ltd (Technologie Fluenti), Associate Justice Gardiner observed that the case had “all the classic hallmarks of a phoenix transaction” before handing down his decision.

The appointment of voluntary administrators to Probuild in March 2022 sent shockwaves through the construction industry. External administrations of other recognised brands such as Grocon, ABD Group, Privium and Condev have also caught media attention. Overall, external administrations in the construction industry have been increasing, notwithstanding that the insolvency numbers generally have declined to historical 20-year lows. The insolvency of each builder impacts numerous parties including developers, principals, sub-contractors, suppliers, consultants and employees.