“I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.” – HAL 9000, 2001: A Space Odyssey
As a general rule, bankruptcy courts do not enforce provisions in organizational documents, loan agreements, or other prepetition contracts that purport to alter or waive the protections of the Bankruptcy Code. As with most rules, however, there are exceptions.
Do Your Duty As You See It: Recent Decisions on Board Duties and Corporate Governance
Proofs of claim filed against a debtor can be as varied as the claimants themselves. Everything from hand-written notes to hundreds of pages of sophisticated corporate documents has been submitted in support of claims. Matters become even more complicated when the claimant is a foreigner relying on foreign law and foreign language documents. In
For a Throwback Thursday, we often go way back, to cases establishing first principles. This time, however, we travel not so far back, but still to a bygone era, the early 80’s. It was a time when the Bankruptcy Code was still new, and judges could interpret it without the weight of much practice and precedent. Often, these cases present the starting point for familiar interpretations that continued to develop in later years, but other times it’s surprising to see a new interpretive opening that, years later, is not thoroughly explored.
Recently, the Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana stayed its own judgment pending an appeal to resolve doubt over the bankruptcy court’s authority to enter judgment on counterclaims related to a management agreement among Highsteppin’ Productions, L.L.C.
In Part II of this three-part entry, we mentioned that the District Court for
Introduction
“In bankruptcy, as in life, timing can be everything” – the Fifth Circuit.
Judge Vincent Bricetti of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a ruling in the Momentive Performance Materialscases affirming the Bankruptcy Court’s confirmation rulings on Monday, May 4. Key themes raised in this case of interest to distressed investors and addressed in Judge Bricetti’s ruling include the appropriate interpretation of