Nearly 50 years has passed since the last major change in bankruptcy law. The financial landscape now where debtors go through bankruptcy is very different. Is the Bankruptcy Code still achieving its fundamental goals, and are there ways to improve it?
Since 2019, courts have struggled with the interpretation of due diligence requirement to Section 547, specifically whether the due diligence requirement is an element of a preference claim that must be adequately pleaded in the plaintiff’s complaint. While the law is still developing, there are three important takeaways for trustees to consider.
This decision explains the judicial rationale for bankruptcy court preliminary injunctions.
Addressing a matter of first impression, the bankruptcy appellate panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently held that fully secured, nonrecourse creditors qualify as “countable” creditors for purposes of determining the viability of an involuntary bankruptcy petition under Section 303(b) of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
The lifeblood of any debtor operating in Chapter 11 is access to cash to maintain ongoing operations. This is particularly important in cases involving assisted living and skilled nursing facilities given the health, safety, and welfare concerns with respect to their residents. One of the most significant calls on cash involves post-petition rent obligations due on leased facilities.
Word that the historic French franchise Girondins de Bordeaux filed for bankruptcy recently rocked European football. But one force in particular poses an even broader threat to the sustainability of the elite level of French soccer than relegation: media rights.
Bankruptcy courts are not infallible, and their rulings should be reviewable. But too many district courts and bankruptcy appellate panels (BAPs) regularly refuse to review nonfinal bankruptcy court orders for questionable reasons.
When franchisees choose to financially reorganize under the Bankruptcy Code, they may be the right size to choose to reorganize under Subchapter V of Chapter 11. Where the franchisor and the franchisee cannot reconcile, Subchapter V may provide the franchisee with breathing room and leverage to be revitalized.
Today we review a situation where a 50% interest in mortgaged commercial real estate was transferred without the consent of the lender, and the new tenant-in-common owner subsequently filed a Chapter 11 case and attempted to modify the payment terms of the mortgage loan to which he is not a party.
Through a unilateral bankruptcy filing, a president and manager of a limited liability company sought to utilize the Chapter 11 process and sell a debtor’s business as a going concern over the objection of the debtor’s other members. In this case, the issue was whether the president was authorized to do so.
