“[W]hat I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career…” – Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson), Taken

“The past can’t hurt you anymore, not unless you let it.” – Alan Moore, V for Vendetta

A debtor’s prepetition causes of action and other legal interests typically become property of the debtor’s estate under section 541 of the Bankruptcy Code. In a chapter 11 case, this often leaves the trustee (or debtor in possession) with the sole authority to pursue – or not pursue – such causes of action postpetition. Although the trustee is generally required to maximize the value of the estate, situations can arise where a trustee refuses to pursue litigation that is otherwise in the estate’s best interest.

Those of us old enough to remember the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (or NAFTA) recall its promise of free movement of goods, services, persons, and capital between Canada, the United States, and Mexico, and greater economic prosperity in each of these countries.

Being one of the first defendants to settle claims has its pros and cons. On the one hand, defendants may avoid protracted litigation. On the other hand, future defendants may ultimately negotiate lower settlement amounts. To avoid “leaving money on the table,” defendants who settle early may seek to include an equal treatment provision, or “most favored nations” (MFN) clause, into the settlement agreement.

The 2005 Amendments to the Bankruptcy Code ushered in section 503(b)(9) of the Bankruptcy Code, which grants trade creditors an administrative expense for goods sold to the debtor in t

Some of our readers may have had the pleasure of renting a resort villa during their summer vacation (electronic postcards of such fancy digs are always welcome at the Weil Bankruptcy Blog, especially if you pose for a photo where you are reading one of our entries!). For the uninitiated (including yours truly), villas are often viewed as the ultimate upgrade for privacy and convenience when staying at a large resort for a week or more—a private home with the luxuries of a full service hotel.

This article has been contributed to the blog by Caitlin Fell and Sean Stidwill. Caitlin Fell is an associate in the insolvency and restructuring group of Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP and Sean Stidwill is a summer student at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP.

When a bank holding company files a chapter 11 case, a key factor to the success of the case will be whether the debtor previously made any commitment to a federal depository institution regulatory agency, such as the FDIC, to maintain the capital of the debtor’s bank subsidiary.  This is because section 365(o) of the Bankruptcy Code provides that the debtor is deemed to have assumed such obligations, and any claim for subsequent breach of these obligations is entitled to priority under section 507(a)(9) of the Bankruptcy Code.  The FDIC often demands

What do you get when you combine a 20+ year old bankruptcy, a contaminated landfill, and a state regulatory agency that moves at a glacial pace? The answer: In re Solitron Devices, Inc., a recent decision from the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida.