As of Jan. 1, 2018, each jointly administered debtor with quarterly disbursements of at least $1,000,000 must pay a fee of 1% of all disbursements, up to $250,000 per quarter. Although this change in the law was only intended to address shortfalls in UST funding, it has taken a little-noticed component of bankruptcy and magnified it into a ticking tax-bomb for unsuspecting debtors and their lenders.
In a recent decision, Bankruptcy Judge Christopher S. Sontchi addressed the question of whether a Chapter 11 debtor, the tenant under a commercial lease, could exercise an option to renew the lease during the bankruptcy proceedings, even though the debtor was in default under the lease and the lease specified that it could not be renewed if defaults existed at the time the option was exercised.
In a case of first impression at the circuit level, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that section 1129(a)(10) of the Bankruptcy Code — which requires a favorable vote of at least one impaired class of creditors in order to confirm a Chapter 11 plan — applies on a “per-plan” basis, rather than a “per-debtor” basis.
Ultimately, Village at Lakeridge is noteworthy for what the Supreme Court did not decide. In granting certiorari, the Supreme Court declined to address whether the lower courts' various “non-statutory insider” tests should be refined. As concurrences from Justices Sotomayor and Kennedy emphasized, though, that issue is ripe for increased scrutiny.
It's not uncommon for rights licensees in the entertainment industry to find themselves in a rights dispute when a licensor files for bankruptcy.
The First Circuit Widens the Controversy
In In re Tempnology, the First Circuit held that the debtor's rejection of a trademark license strips the nondebtor licensee of any right to continue to use the trademarks. In so doing, the court takes the same approach as the Fourth Circuit and rejects the approaches advocated by the Third and Seventh Circuits.
The Supreme Court's decision and analysis are instructive for both bankruptcy and corporate practitioners, and will likely yield significant returns for estate beneficiaries.
In re Lexington Hospitality Group, LLC
Bankruptcy remote structures are often used to protect against the impact of default under a credit facility. A common mechanism is organizational documents requiring an outside director or member's vote to authorize a bankruptcy filing. However, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky found that such a requirement implemented at the behest of a lender, among other bankruptcy restrictions, and where there was not true independence frustrated the important federal public policy of favoring fresh starts in bankruptcy.
The first quarter of 2018 has seen the Dow and NASDAQ pushing through record highs, increasing consumer confidence in the U.S. and Europe. However, there are segments in the market that are expected to need continued restructuring work, both onshore and offshore through 2018, particularly: offshore oil and gas drillers; European and U.S. retail; and the highly leveraged Chinese real estate sector.
