January 23, 2020

Stays Are Automatic from Denial of a Motion to Dismiss for Sovereign Immunity

Courts are divided on whether the district court loses jurisdiction to stay proceedings in bankruptcy court after the filing of a notice of appeal.

3rd Circuit, Delaware

January 22, 2020

Reservation of Rights Won’t Prevent Waiver of Right to Jury Trial

The general rule in Langenkamp calling for the waiver of Seventh Amendment rights prevails over the unique facts of a case.

5th Circuit, Texas, Texas Western District

January 17, 2020

Technicalities Insulated a Lawyer from Liability for Misusing an IOLA

A creditor lost a dischargeability suit by failing to call the right witnesses to prove that a lawyer’s trust account was used to hide assets.

2nd Circuit, New York, New York Eastern District

January 16, 2020

A Chapter 11 Filing Can Extend an Inflexible Closing Date by 60 Days

Filing a chapter 11 petition to obtain an automatic 60-day extension of a closing date is not a bad faith filing, Judge Bernstein says.

2nd Circuit, New York, New York Southern District

January 15, 2020

A Prior BAP Opinion Is Virtually Binding on a Later BAP Panel

A later First Circuit BAP panel should follow BAP authority unless the prior opinion seems “dead wrong.”

1st Circuit

January 14, 2020

Delaware Judge Upholds U.S. Trustee Fee Increase in Pending Cases

Parting with some other bankruptcy courts, Judge Walrath upholds the constitutionality of the major increase in U.S. Trustee fees that was imposed on pending cases in early 2018.

3rd Circuit, Delaware

January 14, 2020

Supreme Court Rules that ‘Unreservedly’ Denying a Lift-Stay Motion Is Appealable

Building on Bullard, the Supreme Court rules unanimously that a lift-stay motion is a “procedural unit” that’s appealable if the bankruptcy court “conclusively” denies the motion.

Supreme Court

January 13, 2020

Supreme Court Won’t Hear a Case to Compel Paying Puerto Rico Bondholders Currently

Supreme Court let a First Circuit opinion stand that barred bondholders from compelling payment during Puerto Rico’s restructuring under PROMESA.

Supreme Court

January 07, 2020

Second Circuit Again Applies the ‘Safe Harbor’ to Protect Selling Shareholders in an LBO

The Supreme Court’s Merit Management opinion fails to persuade the Second Circuit to change the result in Tribune.

2nd Circuit

January 02, 2020

PACA Doesn’t Give Rise to Denial of Discharge for Defalcation, Chicago Judge Says

A PACA trust lacks the hallmarks of a trust, so a failure to pay a produce supplier doesn’t give rise to a nondischargeable debt for defalcation while acting in a fiduciary capacity, Judge Goldgar says.

7th Circuit, Illinois, Illinois Northern District