In a dispute that once generated the “largest environmental bankruptcy award ever,” the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York this month issued a decision further clarifying the effects of the monumental 2014 bankruptcy settlement agreement. The February 1, 2016 decision in In re Tronox Incorporated, No.
Claims estimation can be an important tool for a chapter 11 debtor, particularly to pave the way for proposing a chapter 11 plan. How a bankruptcy court estimates wrongful death and personal injury tort claims (which have a jury trial right) is an interesting issue that was recently discussed by the Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California in In re North American Health Care, Inc.
Equitable subordination in bankruptcy can be a powerful tool, providing a court with considerable latitude to set things right insofar as the estates of the penniless and the rights of their creditors are concerned.
Last week, we discussed the complexities of metals exploration chapter 11 bankruptcy cases and addressed several of the notable issues that arise in those cases. The discussion of significant issues continues below.
High profile insolvencies in the construction industry highlight the risks faced by contractors, and also the way in which debtor companies can seek to obtain advantage through ‘forum shopping’ once insolvency occurs, by seeking to invoke the jurisdiction of debtor-friendly countries like the United States.
The Tenth Circuit has in the past refused to give preclusive effect in bankruptcy non-dischargeability actions brought under § 523(a)(2) to pre-petition default judgments arising from claims of actual fraud. In re Jordana, 216 F.3d 1087 (10thCir. 2000).
The release provisions in a corporate debtor’s Chapter 11 plan were “not sufficiently specific to release” a plaintiff’s Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) claim against the debtor’s president (“P”), held the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Jan. 6, 2016. Hernandez v. Larry Miller Roofing, Inc., 2016 WL 67217, at *4 (5th Cir. Jan. 6, 2016).
As avid blog readers know, we’ve posted extensively on make whole issues, including several articles covering the ongoing make whole litigations in the chapter 11 cases of Energy Future Holdings and its affiliated debtors, which can be found here,
The scenario: You have been injured and PretendCorp is liable to you in the amount of $100,000. PretendCorp has a commercial general liability insurance policy (“CGL”), which covers your claim. The CGL has a $20,000 self-insured retention (“SIR”) clause that states that PretendCorp is to directly pay you before the insurance company is liable for the remaining amount of the claim. PretendCorp files for federal bankruptcy protection and, as a result, is not required to pay the SIR. Is the insurance company still liable for your claim?
With the steep collapse of oil and gas prices in the last eighteen months, dozens of exploration and production companies have declared bankruptcy and many more companies are expected to file for bankruptcy protection unless prices rebound dramatically. As the prospect of further bankruptcies looms, it is important for parties to understand how to adequately protect their security interests and the nature of competing liens that could prevent them from fully realizing on the value of the collateral securing their counterparty’s obligations.