In recent years, as extensive pre-bankruptcy planning has evolved, bankruptcy filings frequently involve affiliates of larger companies, engineered with a structuring of liabilities in mind. The question of whether these targeted filings are for a legitimate bankruptcy purpose or should be dismissed has been the subject of significant high-profile litigation.
By enabling defendants to shield themselves from mass tort liability, the "Texas Two-Step" is a new obstacle for plaintiffs pursuing mass tort cases against manufacturers of dangerous products.
If economic pressures become intense and defaults are a possibility, redevelopers and their lenders will be driven to consider the unique issues presented when there is a default on a redevelopment project, including consideration of a bankruptcy filing to stave-off creditor lawsuits or real estate foreclosure
The verdict, which excluded punitive damages, could have been much larger. But the jury's award has the potential to threaten the $8.9 billion settlement and, as a result, a proposed Chapter 11 reorganization plan in the bankruptcy of Johnson & Johnson's LTL Management.
The growth in size of companies dominating sectors of the entertainment industry has been subject to antitrust challenges with mixed results. What are some notable recent developments in this area?
An involuntary bankruptcy petition is a limited, risky remedy for both creditors' counsel and debtor's counsel. The fee problems encountered by counsel for the petitioners and the putative debtor in this case provide a cautionary tale.
Despite a provision in a commercial lease that prohibited electronic notice, the Massachusetts Appeals Court sided with a tenant in holding that an email to its landlord constituted effective notice to opt out of an automatic five-year lease extension.
Court Reserves Decision Pending Further Proceedings When ZBA Produced Inadequate Findings of Fact to Support Variance Grant Landmark Designation Upheld Despite Town's Failure to Call Public Hearing Within Code's Time Limit
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit made clear its view — that class-action plaintiffs' lawyers generally should not be awarded fees that exceed the amount their clients get from a settlement — as the court struck down a $1.7 million fee award in which a copyright plaintiffs' class received less than $53,000 in an infringement dispute settlement.
The Second Circuit had a tough call to make in the Purdue Pharmacy bankruptcy appeal: What to do about the release given to the Sackler families who had agreed to contribute $5.5 to $6 billion to Purdue's reorganization plan but were not themselves in bankruptcy.
