Recharacterization: an overview
A recent court ruling is a good reminder to health care providers that bankruptcy may not (as is sometimes suggested) be a safe harbor for providers in danger of being forced out of business by the loss of their Medicare and Medicaid provider agreements.
In a matter of first impression, the Delaware Court of Chancery held inQuadrant Structured Products Co. Ltd. v. Vertin, No. 6990-VCL, 2015 BL 128889 (Del. Ch. May 4, 2015), that a creditor suing derivatively on behalf of an insolvent corporation does not lose standing to prosecute the derivative claims if the corporation becomes solvent while the lawsuit is pending. In so ruling, the court expressly rejected a “continuous insolvency” or an “irretrievable insolvency” requirement for standing purposes.
In a recent decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reaffirmed its position sanctioning, under appropriate circumstances, nonconsensual third party release provisions in chapter 11 plans. In SE Prop. Holdings, LLC v. Seaside Eng’g & Surveying, Inc.(In re Seaside Eng’g & Surveying, Inc.), 780 F.3d 1070 (11th Cir. 2015), the Eleventh Circuit affirmed bankruptcy and district court decisions approving a debtor’s chapter 11 plan that released the debtor’s former principals over the objection of a noninsider equity holder.
Fees on Fees
On June 15, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its ruling in Baker Botts LLP et al. v. ASARCO LLC, No. 14-103, 2015 BL 187887 (June 15, 2015), in which it considered whether a bankruptcy court has the power to award fees to a law firm for defending its fee application for services performed on behalf of a chapter 11 debtor.
"In Wellness Int’l Network, Ltd. v. Sharif, ___ U.S. ___, 135 S. Ct. 1932 (2015), a divided U.S. Supreme Court resolved the circuit split regarding whether a bankruptcy court may, with the consent of the litigants, adjudicate a claim that, though statutorily denominated as “core,” is not otherwise constitutionally determinable by a bankruptcy judge. The majority held that so long as consent—whether express or implied—is “knowing and voluntary,” Article III of the U.S. Constitution is not violated by a bankruptcy court’s adjudication of such a claim.
In an interesting decision with important implications for both Chapter 15 practice and financial institutions’ global credit risk analyses, a US Chapter 15 court (the “Court”) granted recognition of a number of Brazilian proceedings involving entities within the OAS Group. See In re OAS S.A. et al., Case No. 15-10937 (SMB) (Bankr.
On July 13, 2015, the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York issued its decision in In re OAS S.A. et al.
28 July 2015 Should Solvency Tests Give the Same Answer?1 By Dr. David Tabak Solvency is an important issue in many bankruptcy and related matters. Unfortunately for the sake of consistency, there is not a single definition of solvency, nor is there a single test for bankruptcy. This paper addresses two of the primary tests for bankruptcy, discussing when these tests should give the same or potentially different results. A case study is provided based on a bankruptcy case in which the author served as an expert witness.