Christopher F. Graham
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Frank J. Perch III
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Morgan A. Goldstein
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Lina Maria Diaz
Courts continue to grapple with issues impacting the rights of debtors, creditors and insurers in Chapter 11 cases filed by companies facing mass tort liabilities. This article summarizes key takeaways from significant cases such as Red River Talc and Boy Scouts of America (BSA).
In a recent U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit case, the court considered whether a bankruptcy court had the authority to retroactively annul the automatic stay under circumstances where the debtor affirmatively participated in an arbitration but subsequently argued that enforcement of the arbitration award against him should be subject to the automatic stay when he did not like the outcome.
In a recent decision, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey subordinated a 502(h) claim to prevent the claimant from being paid in full prior to investors defrauded by the debtors’ pre-petition operation of a Ponzi scheme. In its decision, the court maintained that the equitable powers of bankruptcy courts were sufficiently broad to subordinate a claim on equitable grounds under Section 510(c) and that there is nothing in the Bankruptcy Code that prevents a court from so doing.
As personal injury and bankruptcy law increasingly intersect, attorneys must navigate a complex legal landscape. Nowhere is this more apparent than in cases involving financially distressed individuals with pending personal injury claims, or tort plaintiffs pursuing recovery against bankrupt defendants. This article highlights key questions and considerations attorneys should understand when navigating these types of cases.
The United Arab Emirates is launching a specialized federal bankruptcy court to streamline insolvency cases, a step that could increase investor confidence, reduce cross-emirate confusion, and create opportunities for legal and financial professionals.
With trillions of dollars to keep watch over, the last thing we need is the distraction of costly litigation brought on by patent assertion entities (PAEs or "patent trolls"), companies that don't make any products but instead seek royalties by asserting their patents against those who do make products.
“Baseball arbitration” refers to the process used in Major League Baseball in which if an eligible player's representative and the club ownership cannot reach a compensation agreement through negotiation, each party enters a final submission and during a formal hearing each side — player and management — presents its case and then the designated panel of arbitrators chooses one of the salary bids with no other result being allowed. This method has become increasingly popular even beyond the sport of baseball.
Insiders (and others) in the private equity business are accustomed to seeing a good deal of discussion ' academic and trade ' on the question of the appropriate methods of valuing private equity positions and securities which are otherwise illiquid. An interesting recent decision in the Southern District has been brought to our attention. The case is <i>In Re Allied Capital Corp.</i>, CCH Fed. SEC L. Rep. 92411 (US DC, S.D.N.Y., Apr. 25, 2003). Judge Lynch's decision is well written, the Judge reviewing a motion to dismiss by a business development company, Allied Capital, against a strike suit claiming that Allied's method of valuing its portfolio failed adequately to account for i) conditions at the companies themselves and ii) market conditions. The complaint appears to be, as is often the case, slap dash, content to point out that Allied revalued some of its positions, marking them down for a variety of reasons, and the stock price went down - all this, in the view of plaintiff's counsel, amounting to violations of Rule 10b-5.
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
While the DOJ Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative is still in its early stages and cybersecurity regulations are evolving, whistleblower plaintiffs have already begun leveraging the FCA to pursue alleged noncompliance with government cybersecurity requirements.
