January 25, 2024

Avoidance Actions Are Estate Property that May Be Sold, the Fifth Circuit Says

The Fifth Circuit answered one of the two questions being posed at this year’s Duberstein Moot Court Competition.

5th Circuit

January 10, 2024

Equity Governs When Lease Rejection May Be Retroactive to the Filing Date

The ‘cap’ for lease-rejection damages can start when the debtor attempts to surrender the premises.

2nd Circuit, New York, New York Southern District

January 08, 2024

How to Turn Prepetition Work into a Postpetition Administrative Claim

Prepetition brokerage fees characterized as rent under an aircraft lease were administrative claims to be paid in full under Section 365(d)(5).

2nd Circuit, New York, New York Southern District

December 28, 2023

When Inherited Property Becomes Property of the Debtor’s Bankruptcy Estate

Being an heir by itself doesn’t bring a decedent’s estate into the heir’s bankruptcy estate.

7th Circuit, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Eastern District

December 26, 2023

Oil and Gas Royalties Never Become Estate Property in Colorado

The Third Circuit gave royalty owners a constructive trust over royalties improperly paid to secured creditors. The circuit court did not rule on remedy.

3rd Circuit

December 08, 2023

Courts Are Split on Counting Future Rent Toward the $7.5 Million Debt Cap in Sub V

If future liability on unexpired leases and executory contracts is counted, many companies will be ineligible for Subchapter V of chapter 11.

2nd Circuit, New York, New York Southern District

December 07, 2023

Debtor May Amend a ‘13’ Plan to Modify the Treatment of a Secured Creditor’s Claim

Chicago Bankruptcy Judge David Cleary followed a decision by then-district Judge David Hamilton and “respectfully” disagreed with decisions by two predecessors on the same bankruptcy bench.

7th Circuit, Illinois, Illinois Northern District

December 05, 2023

Supreme Court Seems Dubious About Purdue’s Nonconsensual, Nondebtor Releases

At oral argument, the justices were focused on whether the word “appropriate” in Section 1123(b)(6) allows chapter 11 plans to include nonconsensual, nondebtor third-party releases.

Supreme Court

December 01, 2023

Sub V Plan with Nondebtor Release Approved over Opposition from the Affected Class

A decision from a New York bankruptcy court makes nondebtor releases easier to obtain in Subchapter V than in large, mass tort chapter 11 cases.

2nd Circuit, New York, New York Southern District

November 29, 2023

Dispute over Part of a Claim Disqualifies an Involuntary Petitioner

The 2005 amendment to Section 303(b)(1) disqualifies an involuntary petitioner if there is a dispute as to even part of the creditor’s claim.

2nd Circuit, New York, New York Southern District