Shipping Insolvencies and Texas Businesses
January 01, 2018
Texas businesses and their attorneys should be aware of legal and practical issues that may arise in the event of a shipping insolvency. Two particularly murky areas that have been illuminated by recent case law are maritime liens and reclamation rights.
When 'Bankruptcy Remote' Meets Public Policy
January 01, 2018
<b><i>Serving Two Masters</i></b><p>This article examines two recent cases, and suggests practices that lenders to BREs can use to reduce the risk of a debtor bankruptcy without compromising the policies underlying bankruptcy and corporate laws.
The Food Safety Modernization Act
December 01, 2017
<b><i>Part Two of a Two-Part Article</i></b><p>Last month, the author began discussion of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which will have a large impact on the food and feed industry in the coming years. The author continues here with an explanation of some of the effects the FSMA is expected to have on equipment manufacturers and on lenders and lessors.
Surviving the Retail Shift
December 01, 2017
<b><i>What to Do with Personal Property After a Tenant Vacates</b></i><p><i><b>Part Four of a Five-Part Series</i></b><p>The wreckage of a failed retail business often includes the tenant's personal property that remains in the leased space. Critical to evaluating what to do with this personal property is understanding the nature of that property and determining who has rights to it.
Third Circuit Defines 'Received' for Section 503 (B)(9) Claims
December 01, 2017
For over a decade now, the Bankruptcy Code has granted a priority of payment with regard to creditor claims for goods received by the debtor in the 20 days before bankruptcy. A creditor merely needs to demonstrate that the debtor "received" the goods within the prescribed pre-bankruptcy interval, and its claim attains priority as an administrative expense. Ah, but therein lies the rub.
Industry Growth Trending Up for the Year
December 01, 2017
The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation has released its Q4 update to the 2017 Equipment Leasing & Finance U.S. Economic Outlook, which increased its yearly equipment and software investment forecast to 4.3%, up from 3.6% forecast in the Q3 Outlook.
The New Patent Venue Regime
Venue in patent cases lies "in the judicial district where the defendant resides, or where the defendant has committed acts of infringement and has a regular and established place of business." Since 1990, the Federal Circuit interpreted the term "resides" coextensively with the general venue statute such that patent venue lay where the defendant was subject to personal jurisdiction. But this year, the Supreme Court greatly narrowed that definition in <i>TC Heartland v. Kraft Foods</i>. The Federal Circuit, in turn, interpreted the newly-relevant alternative phrase. After two decades of relaxed patent venue rules, these decisions work a seismic shift in patent litigation.
