Over the past 20 years, the rise of email as a generally-accepted medium of business communication has prompted the law to allow certain contracts, including leases, to be entered into electronically, without a handwritten signature. This article addresses recent developments and the present state of the law with respect to commercial leasing and electronic media.
Secured creditors and debtor-in-possession (DIP) lenders that rely on standard carve-out provisions to limit the impact of bankruptcy professional fees on their collateral would be well-advised to take notice of a U.S. Bankruptcy Court decision from earlier this year.
A Chapter 11 debtor "cannot nullify a preexisting obligation in a loan agreement to pay post-default interest solely by proposing a cure," held a split panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently held in Blixseth v. Brown that under Barton v. Barbour, a plaintiff must obtain a bankruptcy court's permission before commencing a lawsuit in another forum against a member of the committee of unsecured creditors, and that Stern v. Marshall does not preclude bankruptcy courts from adjudicating such claims on the merits.
Uncertain Treatment of Make-Whole Premiums Upon Bankruptcy-Induced Acceleration and Redemption of Indentures
Make-whole premiums are essentially prepayment penalties imposed on borrowers when loans are paid off in advance of their maturity dates. These premiums remove the borrowers' incentives to refinance whenever interest rates drop, and provide stability and predictability to the world of secured lending.
Part Two of a Two-Part Article
As discussed last month, in Lansaw v. Zokaites, the tenants (and bankruptcy petitioners) complained of certain harassment that occurred prior to the filing of their bankruptcy petition. Let us turn now to the court's analysis of the landlord's post–bankruptcy-petition behavior.
Construction industry executives are particularly optimistic regarding the prospects of local, nonresidential construction activity this year, according to a recent Wells Fargo Equipment Finance survey of industry contractors and equipment distributors.
This article focuses on the impact of section 552 of the Bankruptcy Code, which addresses the effect of a bankruptcy filing on property acquired by the debtor after the filing of the bankruptcy case (referred to as "after-acquired property") and proceeds of pre-bankruptcy collateral.
Any bankruptcy practitioner, upon first contact with a municipal bankruptcy case, may be shocked by the lack of substantive law to be found in Chapter 9. The dearth of detail has long caused bankruptcy lawyers and courts to turn to the far more substantive provisions of Chapter 11 for practical guidance.
Debra P. Goldberg has joined the law firm of Cullen and Dykman LLP as a partner in the firm's Banking Practice Group. Practicing from the firm's Garden…
