Business Bankruptcy
Law Firm Bankruptcies: The “Unfinished Business” Doctrine and the Jewel Waiver
One of the interesting aspects of business bankruptcy cases is that both the businesses and the issues their bankruptcy proceedings present can differ so much. In recent years, for example, we have seen department stores (Macy’s, Federated), toy retailers (Toys R Us), bookstore chains (Borders), automobile manufacturers (GM, Chrysler), supermarkets (A&P), auto supply companies (Delphi), […]
Timing Is Everything: How to Make a Rough Assessment of Potential Preference Action Defenses (PART 2)
Editor’s Note: Part 1 of this article laid out the prima facie case a plaintiff needs to have in order to sue for a preference, outlined the major defenses and explained the importance and use of certain key documents in assessing and maintaining a defense. Part 2 now delves into the major defenses in greater […]
Timing Is Everything: How to Make a Rough Assessment of Potential Preference Action Defenses (PART 1)
Your company has just been served with a preference complaint. The complaint seeks to recover tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars even though your company already has taken a loss on the debtor’s accounts. Your initial response is anger at the unfairness of being sued. Fortunately, Congress included defenses to preference actions so that […]
Fraudulent Transfer Remedies – How Much is Enough?
One of the most powerful tools in the Bankruptcy Code available to bankruptcy trustees (or other estate representatives) to maximize the recovery of creditors is the power to avoid and recover fraudulent transfers of a debtor’s property. These include transfers that are made, or obligations that are incurred, by a debtor (a) with the actual […]
Battling Bankrupt Bargains – A Non-Debtor Perspective on Executory Contracts
mong the most powerful and best known tools the Bankruptcy Code provides a debtor is the ability to reject burdensome contracts or to assume (and potentially assign) valuable contracts. From the perspective of non-debtor counterparties to such contracts, it may seem that the Bankruptcy Code stacks the deck against them. The well-publicized spike in retail bankruptcy cases has highlighted the treatment of leases of non-residential real property (i.e., store leases).
The “Absolute Priority Rule” and Other “Rules” of “Priority” in Bankruptcy
Are They Really “Absolute,” Are They Really “Rules,” and Do They Always Provide “Priority” to Some Claimants Over Others? At its core, corporate bankruptcy addresses the problem of the “inadequate pie.” While occasionally the debtor will be solvent, in most cases, the debtor will, for lack of a better term, be “bankrupt”—that is, it won’t have […]
When Are Goods “Received by the Debtor” for a Section 503(b)(9) Claim?
Two important decisions by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals and the Delaware Bankruptcy Court shed light on goods in receipt of debtors in Section 503(b)(9) claims.
Chapter 15 Bankruptcy: A Concise Overview
Like commerce in general, bankruptcies are not necessarily restricted by borders. A company that files for insolvency protection in the Caribbean, Europe or the Far East may also have assets or interests elsewhere, like New York or Miami. Under those circumstances, the debtor’s representative may need the assistance of the U.S. bankruptcy courts to achieve […]
An Introduction to Bankruptcy Claims Trading: Part 2
Documenting a Claims Trade In our previous article, Introduction to Bankruptcy Claims Trading, we discussed the claims trading marketplace, focusing on its characteristics, the motivations for its participants, some basics of documentation, key business and legal structuring considerations, as well as risks borne by sellers and purchasers in these types of transactions. In this article, […]
An Introduction to Bankruptcy Claims Trading
Upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition by a debtor in a U.S. chapter 11 proceeding, any attempts to collect debt by a creditor are halted. As a result, creditors face the daunting prospects of either waiting out the debtor’s bankruptcy case – not knowing when, how much, or even if they will ultimately recover […]