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District Court Recognizes Texas Legislation in Overturning Clark Contracting Decision
As reported in the September 2009 edition of LJN's Equipment Leasing Newsletter (“Texas Legislature Passes Certificate of Title Bill Negating Effect of Clark Contracting Decision,” Michael D. Jewesson), Senate Bill 1592, S.B.1592, 81st Leg., Reg. Sess. (Tex. 2009) (“SB1592″) was signed into law by Texas Gov. Rick Perry on June 19, 2009, thereby negating a decision handed down by a bankruptcy court in the Western District of Texas in late 2008 relating to the perfected status of an assignee lender on a loan purportedly secured by six equipment trucks. Clark Contracting Serv., Inc. v. Wells Fargo Equip. Fin. (In re Clark Contracting Serv., Inc.) 399 B.R. 789 (Bankr. W.D. Tex. 2008).
In Clark Contracting, the lender, Wells Fargo, in accordance with standard industry practice, did not apply for new certificates of title to reflect itself as the new lienholder after CIT (the original lender) assigned the loan and the related lien in the trucks to Wells Fargo. Instead, Wells Fargo relied on permissive language in the Texas Certificate of Title Act (“TCTA”) (TEX. TRANSP. CODE ANN. ” 501.001-501.159 (2007)) and commentary to Chapter 9 of the Texas Uniform Commercial Code that indicated that re-titling in such circumstances was not necessary to transfer the perfected status of the assignor lienholder to its assignee. The implications of the bankruptcy court's decision to render Wells Fargo unperfected extended far beyond the parties to the Clark Contracting case to cast doubt upon the perfected status of other secured parties in Texas motor vehicles and other titled assets that did not customarily re-title upon assignment.
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
Judge Rules Shaquille O'Neal Will Face Securities Lawsuit for Promotion, Sale of NFTs
A federal district court in Miami, FL, has ruled that former National Basketball Association star Shaquille O'Neal will have to face a lawsuit over his promotion of unregistered securities in the form of cryptocurrency tokens and that he was a "seller" of these unregistered securities.
Why So Many Great Lawyers Stink at Business Development and What Law Firms Are Doing About It
Why is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?
Blockchain Domains: New Developments for Brand Owners
Blockchain domain names offer decentralized alternatives to traditional DNS-based domain names, promising enhanced security, privacy and censorship resistance. However, these benefits come with significant challenges, particularly for brand owners seeking to protect their trademarks in these new digital spaces.
Coverage Issues Stemming from Dry Cleaner Contamination Suits
In recent years, there has been a growing number of dry cleaners claiming to be "organic," "green," or "eco-friendly." While that may be true with respect to some, many dry cleaners continue to use a cleaning method involving the use of a solvent called perchloroethylene, commonly known as perc. And, there seems to be an increasing number of lawsuits stemming from environmental problems associated with historic dry cleaning operations utilizing this chemical.