Mississippi bankruptcy court holds that agreement encompassing both settlement agreement resolving claims for past-due performance royalties and contemporaneously executed ASCAP licensing agreements is not a single agreement, permitting the debtor to assume the licensing agreements without paying-or curing any default on payment of $400,000 due under the settlement agreement.
A recent decision by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals contains two important lessons for anyone drafting documents which contain a trademark license. In In re XMH Corporation, the Seventh Circuit held that a licensee may not assign a trademark license in a bankruptcy case over the licensor's objection unless there is an expres
USDC S.D. California, February 10, 2012
The Supreme Court’s 5-to-4 decision in Stern v. Marshall, 131 S. Ct. 2594, 2011 WL 2472792 (June 23, 2011), drew upon a tortured factual background filled with sensational accusations and revelations, to deliver an opinion that definitively upsets a quarter- century’s jurisdiction by bankruptcy courts over a large set of actions.
USCA Ninth Circuit, September 23, 2008
In In re Callaway (Bankr. N.D. Cal. 2024), the bankruptcy court refused to dismiss a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case in which the dy to file for bankruptcy, as another bankruptcy court recently denied a motion dismiss a cannabis-related bankruptcy.
When a bankruptcy debtor rejects a lease, a landlord is entitled to a rejection damages claim. Under Section 502(b)(6) of the Bankruptcy Code, a landlord’s claim is capped at “the rent reserved by such lease, without acceleration, for the greater of one year, or 15%, not to exceed three years, of the remaining term of such lease.”
Courts have taken two different approaches in interpreting what constitutes the “15%” in the statute: (A) the remaining rent due under the lease; or (B) the remaining time under the lease.
The “Rent Approach”
In In re Hal Luftig Company, Inc., the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (Judge Denise L. Cote), denied confirmation of a Subchapter V plan of reorganization that contained a nonconsensual release of a non-debtor party.
Background
As noted by my partner David Besikof, the failure of various blockchain businesses is leading to a number of complications in Bankruptcy Court. However, these complications are now edging into allegations of outright fraud. The dimensions of the fraud alleged by Gemini here appear to be both fuzzy and sweeping.
The market for crypto assets has recently experienced significant tumult as evidenced by the bankruptcy filings of several key crypto players, including Three Arrows Capital, Voyager Digital, Celsius Networks, FTX and, most recently, BlockFi. These bankruptcy cases give rise to numerous issues for investors holding crypto assets, which can be mitigated with proper diligence and planning. In addition, there are several estate planning and trust-specific considerations that should be addressed when holding crypto assets (or determining whether to invest in crypto assets).