This week, Edward Gavin, the liquidating trustee (the "Trustee") for the Ultimate Escapes bankruptcy, filed preference complaints against several defendants.  Under the complaints, the Trustee alleges that the defendants received preferential transfers that are avoidable under 11 U.S.C. section 547 of the Bankruptcy Code.  For those unfamiliar with this bankruptcy proceeding, Ultimate Escapes ("Ultimate" or the "Debtor") filed petitions for bankruptcy in the Delaware Bankruptcy Court on September 20, 2010. 

To successfully reorganize in Chapter 11, a bankrupt company may need to retain key employees who understand the company’s business and who can design and implement the company’s reorganization plan. Retaining and properly incentivizing these employees during a Chapter 11 case can be challenging for a number of reasons.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently vacated a decision by the District Court for the Southern District of New York, which had declined to enforce the contractual allocation of claim impairment risk between a bankruptcy claim buyer and its seller.[1] Relying on the plain language of the documents, the Second Circuit held in Longacre Master Fund, Ltd. v. ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. (Longacre)that the debtors’ objection to the claims had triggered the seller’s repurchase obligation.

In a decision described as the first of its kind, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York ruled that claims based on soft dollar credits issued by Lehman Brothers Inc. (LBI) to numerous investment advisers were not entitled to the special protections afforded to “customer claims” under the Securities Investor Protection Act (SIPA).

Since the passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in 1988, casinos owned by Native American tribes have proliferated across tribal lands and have generated billions of dollars in revenue annually.  While casinos such as Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods are among the largest and well-known tribal casinos, over 60 exist in the State of California, where many dozen small properties have sprung up throughout the state in recent years, in some cases built in part with the proceeds of high-yield bond debt.  This recent growth spurt juxtaposed with the prolonged downturn in consumer spending

On July 25, 2012, the Third Circuit issued its decision in In re American Capital Equipment LLC and Skinner Engine Co., 688 F.3d 145 (3rd Cir. 2012), becoming the first circuit court to align itself with numerous district courts that have allowed bankruptcy courts to reject a Chapter 11 plan prior to a confirmation hearing.

Stephens Media, LLC is the publisher of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.  In 2009, Stephens Media filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court against Citihealth, L.L.C. alleging a variety of trademark related claims.  Citihealth failed to respond to the suit and Stephens Media filed a motion for a default judgment.  One of the co-owners of Citihealth then notified the court that Citihealth had dissolved and that he and the other co-owner filed for personal bankruptcy.  In ruling on the motion, U.S.

On August 2, 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that a requirements contract for the supply of electricity constituted a “forward contract” under the Bankruptcy Code and, therefore, was exempt from preference avoidance actions.  The Fifth Circuit held that the contract in this case met the plain language definition of a “forward contract,” notwithstanding the fact that it lacked fixed quantity and delivery date terms.  Lightfoot v. MXEnergy Elec., Inc. (In re MBS Mgmt. Servs., Inc.), 2012 WL 3125167 (5th Cir. Aug. 2, 2012).

As the financial and housing markets headed toward freefall in September of 2008, an enterprising homeowner named Kyung Ha Chung applied for two loans, from two lenders, to be secured by two deeds of trust against her house.  The problem was, she didn’t tell the two lenders about each other, and signed the two deeds of trust on the same day, before two different notaries.

How The Problem Arose:  Document Batches Recorded Together

First and foremost here at the Drug and Device Law Blog, we like good, strong defense decisions.  If those decisions contain lessons (or reminders) for our everyday practice – so much the better.  That’s why we’ve blogged about cases that let us remind you to check publicly available information about plaintiffs, make sure the plaintiff was alive when she filed suit, and search bankruptcy filings to see if plaintiff disclosed her lawsuit.  We