In the seemingly never-ending post-Stern quest to elucidate what constitutes a “core” versus “non-core” matter – and exactly what impact that distinction has on the bankruptcy court’s authority to enter a final judgment – the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York recently set out to answer the question of whether a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress properly is cons
On September 24, Southern District of Florida District Court Judge James I. Cohn issued an opinion affirming an order approving the settlement of a debtor’s breach of fiduciary duty, corporate waste, and mismanagement claims against its former directors and officers barring non-debtors’ claims against the former directors and officers entered by Southern District of Florida Bankruptcy Court Judge Raymond B.
Providing notice to creditors of actions that could affect their interests is one of a debtor’s most important responsibilities. Absent proper notice, relief requested by a debtor that may be warranted could nonetheless be denied. Indeed, the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure set out pages and pages of rules regarding the time periods, form, and content of notices that a debtor, among others, must follow. As the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado recently reminded us in the
In a recent decision related to the SemCrude bankruptcy, the federal district court upheld the Bankruptcy Court’s rulings on the efficacy of certain common risk-mitigation tools used in the energy trading and marketing business – namely product payment netting and cross-product setup upon liquidation and closeout. The decision comes amid long-running challenges from producers who had sold product to the SemGroup entities on credit.
InIn re: Delta Petroleum Corp. (Bankr. Del. Apr. 2, 2015), the bankruptcy court (the “Court”) considered competing motions for summary judgment as to whether certain overriding royalty interests (“ORRIs”) constituted (1) mere contractual rights to payment that were discharged by the confirmed chapter 11 reorganization plan or (2) real property interests that were not part of the estate in bankruptcy and, thus, survived the trustee’s challenge.
Some bankruptcy cases can have long tails with issues developing years after the entities confirm their chapter 11 plans. That seems to be particularly true when cases deal with mass torts. As the recent case of Piper Aircraft Corporation demonstrates, an issue can arise in a chapter 11 case over twenty years after the debtor’s plan was confirmed. In
In resolving a motion for leave to file an amended complaint to add new claims, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in Hosking v.
The Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York recently handed down a decision declining to grant a creditor’s motion to reopen a debtor’s chapter 7 case and vacate a discharge order. Although the legal predicates at issue in that case may not be relevant to all practitioners, the case itself serves as a valuable reminder about “best” practices and provides a number of teachable moments for attorneys of all ages and practice areas.
Background
On August 26, 2015, Santa Fe Gold Corporation and three affiliates filed voluntary chapter 11 petitions in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The cases are docketed as case no. 15-11761, and have been assigned to The Honorable Mary F. Walrath.