Federal bankruptcy judges, who are not appointed under Article III of the Constitution, do not have the power to enter a final judgment in all matters that come before them. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)(2), they generally may enter a judgment in all cases under the Bankruptcy Code or in certain proceedings defined as “core proceedings.”

Bankruptcy

Legal Alert

Authors

George P. Angelich Partner New York, NY 212.457.5423 [email protected]

M. Douglas Flahaut Counsel Los Angeles, CA 213.443.7559 [email protected]

Kraus Carpet Inc., along with five subsidiaries and affiliates, has filed a petition for recognition of a foreign proceeding under chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Lead Case No. 18-12057).

On September 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy, an event considered by many to mark the beginning of the credit crisis of 2008–2009 and the unprecedented public policy responses that followed. Much has been written about the multiple contributing factors to the crisis, ranging from predatory lending to Federal Reserve interest rate policy.

We have discussed plan releases in prior posts. Oftentimes, disputes involving plan releases revolve around whether, and in what contexts, third-party releases in plans are appropriate. Recently, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals addressed the relatively unique question of whether releases in a confirmed plan are binding upon post-confirmation purchasers of the debtor’s stock.

Two years ago, after a slew of bankruptcies in the energy sector triggered by a dramatic drop in commodity prices during the worst downturn for U.S. energy producers since the 1980’s, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued new guidance that proposed changes to underwriting analysis and loan risk rating determinations by national banks and federal savings associations of loans secured by oil and gas reserves (RBLs).

1 Driven by a concern that banks were not appropriately capturing risks associated with increased

The current, ultimate dilemma in the health care reimbursement legal arena is the catastrophically long wait for a hearing with an Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) with the Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals (“OMHA”). The estimated wait time for an ALJ hearing after completing the first two levels of appeal is now more than 1,200 days, and the debt being appealed accrues interest at 10.5% the entire time. Moreover, CMS will continue to recoup against new Medicare claims during the three-year wait for a decision-maker that overturns far more decisions than the first two levels.

The Great Recession of 2008 may seem a distant memory. September 15, 2018 is the 10th anniversary of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history, and often seen as the point at which a garden-variety recession turned into the Great Recession, with catastrophic results severely impacting the livelihood of millions.

Open Roads Films, LLC, along with five of its subsidiaries and affiliates, has filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Lead Case No. 18-12012). The Debtors, based in Los Angeles, California, collectively comprise an independent distributor and licensor of motion pictures.

We generally advise clients to think carefully before commencing an involuntary bankruptcy petition against an alleged debtor.