On July 27, the U.S.

In In re Nine West Holdings, Inc., the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York overruled the U.S.

Here’s an aggregation of 28 of my Twitter posts from the beginning of July 2018, with links to cases, articles, and news briefs that restructuring professionals should find of interest. Thanks for reading!

LIFE, BUSINESS, AND THE WORLD GENERALLY:

In In re Avanti Commc'ns Grp. PLC, 582 B.R. 603 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 2018), Judge Martin Glenn of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York entered an order under chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code enforcing a scheme of arrangement sanctioned by a court in England that included nonconsensual third-party releases. Judge Glenn determined that such releases should be recognized and enforced consistent with principles of "comity" and cooperation with foreign courts inherent under chapter 15.

In Corporate Claims Management, Inc. v. Shapier, et al. (In re Patriot National Inc.), Adv. Pro. No. 18-50307 (Bankr. D. Del August 8, 2018), the Delaware Bankruptcy Court found that alleged misappropriation of trade secrets could constitute a violation of the automatic stay under section 362 of the Bankruptcy Code and be subject to turnover under section 542 of the Bankruptcy Code. 

The American economy is increasingly dependent upon the importation of merchandise, both raw materials and finished goods. Many of these imported goods are subject to duties imposed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“Customs”), known as “ordinary duties.” In some situations, supplemental duties such as antidumping and countervailing duties, and now the new duties on aluminum and steel imposed by Executive Order, are also assessed.

Lawsuits and collection actions against a corporation are automatically stayed when the corporation files for bankruptcy, generally speaking. In order to avoid the automatic stay, creditors may bring claims against the directors and/or officers of the bankrupt corporation rather than against the corporation itself.

In the wake of scandal-driven bankruptcies filed by nearly 20 U.S. Roman Catholic dioceses and religious orders, scrutiny has been increasingly brought to bear on the benefits and burdens that federal bankruptcy laws offer to eleemosynary (nonprofit) corporations. Nonprofits seek bankruptcy protection for a variety of reasons.

A purported conditional sale agreement “created a security interest rather than a lease,” held the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Aug. 7, 2018. In re Pioneer Health Services Inc., 2018 WL 3747537, *3 (5th Cir. Aug. 7, 2018). Affirming the lower courts’ finding “that the relevant agreements were not ‘true leases,’” the court rejected a bank’s “motion to compel payment under [its] contract as an unexpired lease or an administrative expense.” Id., at *1. The economic substance, not the form of the transaction, was decisive.

As the brick and mortar retail industry continues to decline, landlords are likely to engage in an increasing number of lease disputes with delinquent tenants. As we have seen over the past five years, those disputes often end up in bankruptcy court and may drag on for months before a landlord is able to shake its non-performing tenant. But what if the landlord terminated the lease before the tenant filed for bankruptcy relief? Can the tenant revive and assume the lease? In some instances, yes.