Question: What gets an attorney’s fee application allowed—or rejected—in bankruptcy?

Short answer: The services, (i) must be “necessary,” and (ii) must require legal expertise.

Two Recent Opinions

Two recent opinions address this question:

１ はじめに

（１） 本稿の目的

会社法は、債権者に、一定の条件のもと、債務者会社の株 主名簿（会社法125条2項3項、以下注記なき条文は会社 法）、取締役会議事録（371条4項）、株主総会議事録（318条 4項）、計算書類等（442条3項）の閲覧を請求できる権利を認 めている。もっとも、債権管理あるいは事業再生の文脈で、会 社法で認められたこれらの権利が活用されることは、筆者が 知る限り、あまり多くないのではないかと思われる。

本稿では、債権管理の局面において、情報不足になりがち な債権者に与えられたツールとして、会社法上の情報開示 請求権を有効活用しうる場面があり得るのではないか、との 指摘をすることを試みたい。

（２） 考察の背景

会社法が上記の各請求権を認めたのは、債務者の業務や 財産に関する一定の調査を行うことを可能として、債権者が 実効的な権利行使をできるよう配慮した趣旨と解される。債 権管理・事業再生の場面は、まさに債権者の実効的な権利 行使が問題となる局面といえる。にもかかわらず、この請求権 が参照される機会が少ないのはなぜか。

We were approached by a company to assist with its restructuring. Our client’s biggest problem was that its largest unsecured creditor was also its main supplier. Approximately 80% of the client’s business depended on the products supplied by this supplier. This would not be a problem if the client and the supplier had an ongoing agreement to continue to supply, but there was no such agreement. The supplier could cut our client off at any time and had no legal obligation to continue to accept our client’s business.

On 21 April 2022, the federal Chamber of Representatives adopted the Private Members’ Bill inserting Book 1 on “General provisions” of the Civil Code (Wetsvoorstel houdende Boek 1 “Algemene bepalingen” van het Burgerlijk Wetboek / Proposition de loi portant le Livre 1er “Dispositions générales” du Code civil – the Book on General Provisions) and that inserting Book 5 “Obligations” of the Civil Code (Wetsvoorstel houndende Boek 5 “Verbintenissen” van het Burgerlijk Wetboek / Proposition de loi portant le Livre 5 “Les obligations” du Code civil – the Book on Obligations) (for a summary of bot

The Supreme Court has on 11 April 2022 dismissed a Special Leave Petition against the decision of the High Court of Tripura at Agarthala, wherein the High Court had held that the distinction of decree holders as creditors from ‘financial creditors’ and ‘operational creditors’, is intelligible and takes forward the purpose of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, without being discriminatory or arbitrary.

What role might dispute funding play in a complex cross-border dispute involving multiple jurisdictions in Latin America?

Ristorante Ltd t/a Bar Massimo v Zurich Insurance Plc [2021] EWHC 2538 (Ch)

This case is an example of where an insurer alleged that the insured had not complied with the duty of fair presentation introduced by the Insurance Act 2015 and used the insured’s failure to disclose the past involvement of its directors in insolvent companies as a reason to refuse to pay out following a fire. However, the insurer was not successful because of the way in which the question that gave rise to the alleged non-disclosure was worded.

Background

For the first time in England & Wales, a court has ordered the winding-up of a listed plc on the grounds of loss of substratum – the abandonment of the company's original main object and purpose. If Hong Kong follows this decision, it would be very welcome to minority shareholders who would have an additional option to retrieve their investment monies from companies that embark on a completely different path to that for which they initially signed up.

Jasmine Buildmart Pvt. Ltd. i.e., the corporate debtor (Jasmine) introduced a Gurgaon based housing project i.e., Krrish Provence Estate. The homebuyers of Krrish Provence Estate made an application for initiation of corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) against Jasmine before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) as Jasmine could not complete the project even after a period of eight years. Additionally, the homebuyers sought a refund of approximately INR 69 million on the grounds of inordinate delay.

On April 11, 2022, Sungard AS New Holdings, LLC and several affiliates have filed a petition for Chapter 11 relief in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (Case No. 22-90018). The company reports $500 million to $1 billion in both assets and liabilities.