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Features
Appellate Courts Skeptical About Bankruptcy Court Sanctions
Michael L. Cook
Recent appellate decisions reflect a distaste for appeals from bankruptcy court sanction orders. A split Fourth Circuit even refused to hear such an appeal. Other courts tend to limit sanctions or, alternatively, accept a bankruptcy judge’s findings under a stringent “abuse of discretion” standard.
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Features
Supreme Court’s Rejection of Purdue Pharma Settlement Redefines Releases In Chapter 11
Angelo Castaldi
The U.S. Supreme Court has issued its most anticipated bankruptcy decision in recent memory. In a 5-4 decision entered June 27, the Supreme Court struck down the nonconsensual third-party releases. Writing for the Court, Justice Neil Gorsuch ruled that nothing in the Bankruptcy Code authorized the nonconsensual release or discharge of claims of opioid victims against the Sacklers, who were not debtors themselves.
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Features
Ninth Circuit: Debt In Asset Case Is Nondischargeable If Debtor Fails to Properly Schedule the Debt
Lawrence J. Kotler and Geoffrey A. Heaton
In a recent published decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit addressed a previously unresolved question in that circuit: whether a debtor’s failure to properly schedule a debt in an “asset case” renders the debt nondischargeable.
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Features
Is the Rule Preventing Bankruptcy Judges from Appointing Special Masters Outdated?
Mark B. Conlan and Noel L. Hillman
Rule 9031 of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure prevents all bankruptcy judges, and, if broadly interpreted, any federal judge hearing bankruptcy cases and proceedings, from appointing special masters. The rule has not been amended since its adoption in 1983. It is outdated and should be repealed or amended to accord with the reality of today’s complex Chapter 11 cases.
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Features
Fourth Circuit Could Decide Fate of the ‘Texas Two-Step’
Amanda Bronstad
An influential appellate court has agreed to take up a bankruptcy involving the controversial “Texas two-step,” potentially deciding the merger tactic’s fate in future Chapter 11 cases. The Fourth Circuit agreed to hear a petition to dismiss the bankruptcy of Bestwall, a subsidiary of Koch Industries-owned Georgia-Pacific, created through a “Texas two-step” to resolve 60,000 lawsuits over asbestos exposure.
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Features
Supreme Court: Prospective Parity Is Answer to Past Trustee Fee Disparity
Steve Lash
The appropriate remedy for the past disparity in bankruptcy fees between federal Bankruptcy Trustee and Administrator districts is simply to ensure all the courts are charging the same going forward, the Supreme Court ruled on June 14.
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