Introduction

On February 10th, electricity operator LSP Energy LP ("LSP") filed chapter 11 petitions for bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.  As stated in court filings, LSP owns and operates an electricity plant located in Batesville, Mississippi.  Aside from its gas-fired electric generation facility, LSP's assets consist primarily of 58 acres of land in which it operates its facility.  See Declaration of LSP's President in Support of First Day Motions (the "Declaration" or "Decl.").

USDC S.D. California, February 10, 2012

Click here for a copy of the full decision.

Pennsylvania Bar Institute Course

The healthcare industry was ailing in 2011. There were 88 publicly traded companies that filed for Chapter 11 relief in 2011, and of that amount, approximately 11 companies were in the healthcare industry. The healthcare industry led the group, with telecommunications and energy tied for second place (nine filings in each industry). The healthcare industry has faced many challenges over the years. For starters, hospitals are not always paid for their services.

In Wells Fargo Bank Northwest v. US Airways, Inc., 2011 NY Slip Op 52188(U) (Sup. Ct. N.Y. County Dec. 1, 2011), Justice Bernard J. Fried held that a liquidated damages provision requiring payment of a holdover fee equal to twice the monthly rent was reasonable and did not function as a penalty under New York contract law. The case arose from three aircraft sale and leaseback transactions, pursuant to which Defendant US Airways, Inc. (“US Airways”), sold to Plaintiff Wells Fargo Bank Northwest (“Wells Fargo”), and Wells Fargo leased back to US Airways, three Boeing 737 aircraft.

On February 10, 2012, Judge Sean H. Lane of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York issued a ruling in a Chapter 15 bankruptcy proceeding where The Containership Company (TCC) is the debtor. Numerous shippers in the proceeding requested that the Bankruptcy Court defer to the Federal Maritime Commission with respect to the shippers' claims that TCC violated the Shipping Act of 1984.

In an earlier discussion on preference claims, we highlighted an increasingly common form of litigation in the bankruptcy courts that arises out of commercial bankruptcies: the preference action. We examined the policy underlying preference actions and the elements that give rise to a prima facie preference claim. We will now discuss some potential defenses to a preference claim and how a trade creditor can prepare itself to respond to a preference claim.

Turnaround Management Association

The United States is about to enter year five of what has been aptly deemed “The Great Recession.” Bankruptcy advising is a cyclical business, and after a dearth of work in the heady financial years of the mid-2000s, expectations were high that in the downturn bankruptcy work would be abundant and steady.

CENTRAL STATES, SOUTHEAST AND SOUTHWEST AREAS PENSION FUND v. SCOFBP (December 27, 2011)

Taking the lead from its recent decision in In re River Road Hotel Partners,¹ in In re River East Plaza, LLC,² the Seventh Circuit held that a debtor cannot avoid the lien retention prong of Section 1129(b)(2)(A)(i)³ by transferring an undersecured creditor’s lien to substitute collateral as indubitable equivalence pursuant to Section 1129(b)(2)(A)(iii).