The Court’s unanimous decision in RadLAX Gateway Hotel LLC v. Amalgamated Banksettles dispute over the credit-bid right, retaining this important creditor protection.

Senior Transeastern Lenders v. Official Comm. Of Unsecured Creditors of TOUSA, Inc. (In re TOUSA, Inc.), 2012 US App. LEXIS 9796 (11th Cir. May 15, 2012)

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently addressed in In re XMH Corp., 647 F. 3d 690 (7th Cir. 2011), whether or not trademark licenses are assignable in bankruptcy proceedings. In its ruling, the Court held that a trademark license may not be assigned by a licensee in a bankruptcy proceeding unless there is an express provision in the contract permitting assignment by the licensee.

On May 4, 2012, the trustee liquidating Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities Inc., Irving Picard, revised his lawsuit against the Madoff family to add as defendants the spouses of Bernard Madoff’s two sons. Picard is seeking $54.5 million in claims for unjust enrichment from Andrew Madoff’s wife, Deborah Madoff, and Mark Madoff’s widow, Stephanie Mack. Picard is also seeking an additional $3 million that was allegedly transferred to Deborah Madoff, Stephanie Mack and Mark Madoff’s first wife, Susan Elkin.

On May 15, 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued a decision^[1]  in the much-watched litigation involving the residential construction company, TOUSA, Inc. ("TOUSA"). The decision reversed the prior decision of the District Court, ^[2] reinstating the ruling of the Bankruptcy Court.^[3]

Background

A highly significant ruling involving fraudulent transfers recently decided by the Eleventh Circuit could have a far-reaching impact on distressed lending and investing.   In Senior Transeastern Lenders v. Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors (In re TOUSA, Inc.), 2012 WL 1673901 (11th Cir.

On May 29, 2012, in RadLAX Gateway Hotel, LLC v. Amalgamated Bank, the United States Supreme Court unanimously held that a debtor may not confirm a chapter 11 plan of reorganization providing for the “free and clear” sale of a secured creditor’s collateral, without permitting the secured creditor to credit bid at the sale.

On May 24, 2012, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (District Court) issued an opinion with significant ramifications for law firms seeking to hire former partners from bankrupt law firms. At issue was whether, under New York partnership law, the law firms that hired former partners of Coudert Brothers LLP (Coudert), a dissolved and bankrupt law partnership, must account for profits that the former Coudert partners earned while completing work on open client matters they took with them from Coudert.

October 17, 2012, will mark the seven-year anniversary of the effective date of chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code, which was enacted as part of the comprehensive bankruptcy reforms implemented under the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005.

In a much anticipated opinion,In re TOUSA, Inc., --- F.3d ----, 2012 WL 1673910 (11th Cir. May 15, 2012), the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has resolved a disagreement between the Bankruptcy Court and District Court for the Southern District of Florida by upholding the Bankruptcy Court’s findings—to the chagrin of lenders, who are now arguably exposed to new liabilities and higher standards of due diligence.