The Bottom Line:
Lexington Insurance Company participated in a tower of coverage for Dresser Industries, a manufacturer of asbestos-containing products that was forced into bankruptcy by the multi-billion dollar exposure it faced arising from product liability litigation against it. In the context of the bankruptcy proceeding, Dresser commenced an insurance coverage action against its various liability insurers.
We write to provide an important update concerning Executive Life Insurance Company of New York (“ELNY”).
The FDIC Board approved a final rule on the orderly liquidation process, which was the culmination of a series of rulemaking efforts begun earlier this year. The rule implements several provisions of Title II of the Dodd-Frank Act. Title II establishes an “orderly liquidation authority” (the “OLA”) through which the FDIC can be appointed as receiver and liquidate a covered financial company, such as a bank holding company, whose failure threatens to have serious adverse effects on financial stability in the U.S.
This Installment will address the potential legal disabilities that exist under the New York Debtor and Creditor Law for the Wilpon/Katz families, the owners of the New York Mets (collectively, the “Wilpon Interests”), in their effort to sell a minority interest(s) in the Mets, in light of the existence of the lawsuit against them (the “Wilpon Case”) by Irving Picard, the Trustee in the Bernard L. Madoff bankruptcy.
The Bottom Line:
In what is described as a case of first impression, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has determined that the portion of an employer’s withdrawal liability that is attributable to the period after the date of the petition for bankruptcy is an administrative expense and entitled to priority under bankruptcy law. In the particular case, the employer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on November 30, 2006. The employer participated in a multiemployer defined benefit plan. On May 30, 2008, the debtor sold its assets and ceased to employ any of the covered employees.
The United States Bankruptcy Code provides that any interest that a debtor holds in property as of the date of the debtor's bankruptcy filing becomes property of the debtor's bankruptcy estate. 11 U.S.C. § 541(c)(1). In a chapter 7 bankruptcy case, a trustee will be appointed to, among other things, liquidate property of the debtor's bankruptcy estate for the ultimate payment of the debtor's creditors. 11 U.S.C. § 704(a)(1).
The new .XXX top-level domain that launches next month allows brand owners to “opt-out” and block their trademarks from being used in an .XXX domain name. Trademark owners may apply to reserve their trademarks, so they are not available for others to register in the .XXX domain.
Fred Wilpon, Saul Katz, and their families and affiliated enterprises (the “Wilpon/Katz Group”) last week formally requested the dismissal of the adversary proceeding commenced by Irving Picard, the trustee of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (“BLMIS”). In a two hour hearing before U.S.