1. Commercial Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Filings Have Increased Significantly Year-Over-Year: There has been a significant increase in the number of commercial Chapter 11 cases (larger company filings) in 2024. By way of example, there were 1,894 commercial Chapter 11 filings (including subchapter V filings) during the first quarter of 2024, up 43% from the 1,325 total commercial chapter 11 filings during the first calendar quarter of 2023 according to data provided by Epiq Bankruptcy, the leading provider of U.S. bankruptcy filing data.
The Supreme Court issued a landmark and potentially far-reaching decision in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma L.P., No. 23-124 (“Purdue”), on June 27, 2024. We set forth the facts and our initial observations below, with a more complete description of the decision at the end of this bulletin.
What Did the Court Decide?
Here’s a dilemma:
- Should bankruptcy be available as a tool for resolving mass tort cases of all types (like it already is in asbestos contexts)?
Here’s an illustration of the dilemma:
- many tort claimants in the Johnson & Johnson case DO NOT want bankruptcy involved; but
- many tort claimants in the Purdue Pharma case were BEGGING the courts to approve the bankruptcy plan.
How do we solve this dilemma?
On June 6, 2024, the United States Supreme Court issued its long-awaited ruling in Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser Gypsum Co., Inc., et al.,1 nullifying the insurance neutrality test for insurer standing in bankruptcy proceedings and holding that insurance companies that may face liability for bankruptcy claims filed against a debtor are parties in interest under section 1109(b) of the Bankruptcy Code that are entitled to “be heard on any issue” in such debtor’s bankruptcy case.
In the most significant decision of the decade on a matter of U.S. bankruptcy law, the U.S. Supreme Court rendered its highly anticipated decision in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma L.P., 603 U.S. ____ (2024) on June 27, 2024, striking down the non-consensual third party releases that were the cornerstone of Purdue Pharma's Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization by a vote of 5-4. In doing so, the Court said:
On June 27, 2024, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma LP, addressing the question of whether a company can use bankruptcy to resolve the liability of non-debtor third parties. The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, held that the bankruptcy code does not authorize a release and an injunction that, as part of a plan of reorganization under Chapter 11, effectively seek to discharge the claims against a nondebtor without the consent of the affected claimants.
Last week, in a 5-to-4 decision in the case ofHarrington, United States Trustee, Region 2 v. Purdue Pharma L.P, et al., the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the ability of bankruptcy courts to order non-consensual third-party releases (i.e., claims held by non-debtors against non-debtor third parties) as part of a Chapter 11 plan.
In the July 2024 edition of the Restructuring Department Bulletin, we highlight recent decisions and developments impacting the restructuring arena and share the latest news on the Paul, Weiss Restructuring Department.
Alice Eaton and Sean Mitchell Discuss Paul, Weiss’s Restructuring
Practice in Vault Q&A
Alice and Sean describe the breadth of Paul, Weiss’s Restructuring
practice and what sets the practice apart in a Q&A in the 2024 edition
of “Practice Perspectives: Vault’s Guide to Legal Practice Areas.”
Elizabeth McColm and Sean Mitchell Publish “USA” Chapter in
ICLG – Restructuring & Insolvency 2024
In the latest ICLG – Restructuring & Insolvency Laws & Regulations,
Elizabeth and Sean discuss common issues in restructurings and
This article originally appeared in The Bankruptcy Strategist.
To file bankruptcy in the U.S., a debtor must reside in, have a domicile or a place of business in, or have property in the United States. 11 U.S.C. §109(a). In cross border Chapter 15 cases, courts have considered if a foreign debtor must satisfy that jurisdictional test.