You ship goods to a customer that is having financial difficulties. The customer sends you a check for the goods. What do you do?
Cash it and potentially be sued for a preference after the customer files for bankruptcy
or
Don’t cash it, and have a claim in the ensuing bankruptcy
Over the past few years, the senior living sector has endured some hard times. In 2023, many operators found themselves in distress and facing a sale or court-governed proceeding. Interest rates, wage inflation, staffing shortages and patient volume decline post-pandemic all impact operational risk and investment opportunities.
The Bankruptcy Code’s Section 547(b) allows a trustee or debtor in possession to recover property transferred to a creditor, known as a preference action. However, the Code also provides defenses to a preference action, including the ordinary course of business defense.
Following are our summaries of the civil decisions of the Court of Appeal for Ontario for the week of January 15, 2024.
On January 22, 2024, the chief judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York entered General Order M-621 adopting amended procedural guidelines governing prepackaged Chapter 11 cases.
The guidelines provide a comprehensive framework for the administration of prepackaged Chapter 11 cases in the district. Among other things, they recognize and address “Rapid Prepackaged Chapter 11 Case[s],” defined as cases “where the Debtor seeks confirmation of the plan to be granted between one (1) and fourteen (14) days after the petition date.”
On December 12, 2023, in the case of In re Envision Healthcare Corp., Case No. 23-90342, Judge Christopher M. López of the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas determined that Section 541 of the Bankruptcy Code conflicts directly with, and therefore trumps, Section 18-304 of the Delaware LLC Act to prevent the termination of a member’s interests in a Delaware limited liability company arising from such member’s bankruptcy filing.
Summary of Section 18-304 of the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act (LLC Act)
A look back at bankruptcy trends and litigation in 2023 reveals a spike in bankruptcy filings driven by economic factors and fallout from the pandemic while in upper courts several interesting cases were decided involving proofs of claim, stay violations, and discharge issues.
Hamilton Reserve Bank Ltd. v. Sri Lanka, No. 22-cv-5199 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 1, 2023) [click for opinion]
Celsius creditors feeling the heat over preference claims
2023 is the year that the need for a uniform state law on assignments for benefit of creditors became obvious.
And a Drafting Committee at the Uniform Law Commission began working in 2023 to create such a law.
Here are some of the reasons why the need became obvious.
Background and Purpose