 | | Featured Premium Content | | | | | WSJ Pro Bankruptcy: Infowars Receives Higher Bid From Entity Associated With Alex Jones
A business entity associated with Alex Jones’s online shop more than doubled its initial $3.5 million offer to buy Infowars, the right-wing conspiracy website founded by Jones, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Also, an attorney representing the chapter 7 trustee in Jones’s bankruptcy case said the trustee expects to receive a new offer for Infowars from the owner of satirical news outlet the Onion, Global Tetrahedron. | | | | |  | | Editor's Picks | | | | | Edison Utility Accused of Igniting LA Fire in Lawsuit
Edison International Inc.’s southern California utility was hit with a lawsuit blaming the energy provider’s equipment for igniting one of the wildfires still raging in the second-largest U.S. metropolis, Bloomberg News reported. The lawsuit is on behalf of a group of homeowners, renters, business owners and others with properties destroyed by the Eaton Fire in the Pasadena area. The suit alleges a Southern California Edison pole holding power lines was the cause of the blaze that leveled the community of Altadena. The suit is believed to be the first of what’s expected to be thousands of legal claims tied to the fire, which is only partially contained. | | Houston Judge Suggests Settlement of Law Firm’s Role in Ex-Colleague’s Ethics Scandal
Bankruptcy Judge Marvin Isgur has proposed a settlement of allegations that law firm Jackson Walker concealed the romantic relationship that later forced his former colleague David R. Jones off the bench, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Judge Isgur’s proposal aims to resolve all legal claims alleging that Jackson Walker breached its professional duties by not disclosing that one of its partners was romantically involved with Jones, the former chief bankruptcy judge in Houston. | | Student Loan Borrowers Aided by Biden Debt Relief Tops 5 Million
President Joe Biden moved to discharge federal student loans for more than 150,000 people on Monday, in a final push that will bring the total number of borrowers who received loan forgiveness under his administration to over 5 million people, Bloomberg News reported. The Education Department is canceling debt for individuals who were cheated or defrauded by their institutions, people with severe disabilities, or public servants, according to a press release. MORE NEWS BELOW | | |  | | Upcoming Events | | | | | ABI International Caribbean Insolvency SymposiumThe Westin Grand Cayman Seven Mile Beach Resort & Spa
January 23-25 | Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands | | ABI Alexander L. Paskay Memorial Bankruptcy SeminarTampa Marriott Water Street
February 27-28 | Tampa, Fla. | | | | |  | | Daily Roundup | | | | | Largest U.S. Shrimp Farmer Files for Chapter 11 Protection
American Mariculture, the largest shrimp farmer in the United States, filed for chapter 11 protection on January 8, per court documents, SeafoodNews.com reported. According to its bankruptcy petition, the Florida-based company has 50-99 debtors. American Mariculture estimated that its assets range between $1 million and $10 million, and its liabilities range from $10 million to $50 million. | | Maryland Private School Shutters, Files for Bankruptcy
A private school serving pre-school through 8th graders in Rockville, Md., has ceased operations and filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy, the Washington Business Journal reported. The Feynman School Inc. filed a voluntary petition for bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland Dec. 17, according to public records. The school listed $62,953 in assets and $458,879.18 in total liabilities as of that date and estimated it had between 50 and 99 creditors. (Subscription required.) | | ATD Bankruptcy Auction Canceled Due to Lack of Bids
American Tire Distributors Inc. (ATD) did not auction its assets as planned yesterday, TireBusiness.com reported. The company informed the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware that it didn't receive any qualified bids as of the Jan. 10 deadline and, therefore, would proceed with the stalking-horse asset purchase it arranged in November with a group lenders. (Subscription required.) | | Biggest U.S. Banks Ready Mortgage Relief for Victims of Los Angeles Wildfires
JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America are preparing to ease mortgage repayment conditions for customers affected by the Los Angeles wildfires, as residents grapple with one of the most destructive natural disasters in the city's history, Reuters reported. Chase Home Lending is providing disaster forbearance for mortgage customers affected by the wildfires, parent firm JPMorgan said on Monday. BofA also said that its program includes the possibility of mortgage forbearance tailored to customer needs. | | Art Dealer Sentenced to 2 Years in Federal Prison for Embezzling Bankruptcy Estate of Miracle Mile and Beverly Hills Art Gallery
An internationally known art dealer was sentenced today to 24 months in federal prison for embezzling from the bankruptcy estate of Ace Gallery Los Angeles, an art gallery located in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles, while acting as the estate’s trustee and custodian, according to a DOJ press release. Douglas J. Chrismas of the Mid-Wilshire area of Los Angeles was sentenced by United States District Judge Mark C. Scarsi, who also ordered him to pay $12,809,192 in restitution. At the conclusion of a four-day trial in May 2024, a jury found Chrismas guilty of three counts of embezzlement against a bankruptcy estate. | | U.S. Farm Recovery Not Expected Until 2026 as Crop Prices Stay Low
Low crop prices and high costs for seeds and machinery mean a rebound in the American farm sector won’t start until next year, according to an outlook Monday from farm lender AgAmerica, Bloomberg News reported. U.S. net farm income has been in a downturn since hitting a record in 2022, with farmers now struggling to profit in a market awash in ample supplies of corn and soybeans. Growers are also getting less government payments as aid tied to pandemic relief expires. | | Biden Administration Adopts Rules to Guide A.I.’s Global Spread
The Biden administration issued sweeping rules on Monday governing how A.I. chips and models can be shared with foreign countries, in an attempt to set up a global framework that will guide how artificial intelligence spreads around the world in the years to come, the New York Times reported. With the power of A.I. rapidly growing, the Biden administration said the rules were necessary to keep a transformational technology under the control of the United States and its allies, and out of the hands of adversaries that could use it to augment their militaries, carry out cyberattacks and otherwise threaten the United States. Tech companies have protested the new rules, saying they threaten their sales and the future prospects of the American tech industry. | | Preliminary-Round Brief Graders and Judges Needed for the Duberstein National Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition!
The Duberstein National Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition, now in its 33rd year and widely recognized as one of the nation’s preeminent moot court competitions, will be held in New York March 1-3, 2025. Fifty-three teams from law schools across the country will compete through written briefings and oral argument. Please find the fact pattern by clicking here. Volunteers are needed to grade briefs (sign up here) and to judge the preliminary rounds (sign up here) of the competition. Click here for more information and to volunteer. | | | | |
