 | | Featured Premium Content | | | | | [ABI Journal]: Bio-Hazard! The Sale of Biogenetic Data in a Bankruptcy Proceeding
Companies in bankruptcy often attempt to sell assets, including customer data, according to an ABI Journal article. The sale of customer data can raise significant privacy concerns. Bankruptcy courts often navigate the sale of data to ensure compliance with privacy laws and balance the interests of creditors and consumer rights, especially when data includes personally identifiable information (PII). READ MORE | | |  | | Editor's Picks | | | | | U.S. House Committee Seeks Testimony from 23andMe Co-Founder After Bankruptcy
A U.S. House committee on Tuesday asked 23andMe's co-founder to testify next month as it launched an investigation into the risk of genetic data being transferred to potential buyers amid the DNA testing company's bankruptcy, Reuters reported. James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky and the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent a letter to 23andMe's Anne Wojcicki, seeking her testimony on May 6 as well as documents and information from the genomics firm. READ MORE | | Big Banks Show Consumers Remained Resilient Heading into Tariff Turmoil
Americans say they are getting worried about the economy and inflation, but banks say they aren’t acting like it yet, the Wall Street Journal reported. Bank of America and Citigroup said Tuesday that consumer spending ticked higher in the first quarter when concerns about tariffs and the economy began to bubble up. Executives also said spending has largely held up in the weeks after the quarter ended, even after President Trump sharply escalated his tariff threats on “Liberation Day.” READ MORE | | Asbestos Companies Object to Bankruptcy Trusts’ Planned Deletion of Mesothelioma Claims
Some of the biggest asbestos bankruptcy trusts established to compensate victims of mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases have announced plans to destroy documents and data related to already-resolved claims, Mesothelioma.net reported. While WR Grace, Babcock & Wilcox, Pittsburgh Corning and Owens Corning say they are doing so to protect personal and sensitive information, asbestos companies that have been named in other personal-injury claims are opposing the move. READ MORE
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June 11-13 | Park City, Utah | | | | |  | | Daily Roundup | | | | | Prison Health Company Wellpath Reaches $15.5M Creditor Settlement
Prison health company Wellpath on Tuesday announced a settlement with its junior creditors, including people that had sued the company for allegedly providing substandard medical care, removing a major obstacle to the company’s exit from chapter 11, Reuters reported. The settlement will provide $15.5 million to junior creditors, give them a 33.3% equity stake in the reorganized company and provide other benefits, Wellpath’s attorneys said at a bankruptcy court hearing in Houston. “This is what we've been fighting for since the beginning of this case,” said committee attorney Nicholas Zluticky of law firm Stinson. READ MORE | | Forever 21 Creditors Face Large Losses Under Bankruptcy Plan
Suppliers, vendors and other unsecured creditors of Forever 21 are "getting smoked" under a restructuring plan that envisions paltry recoveries on debts owed by the bankrupt fast fashion retailer, a lawyer for the company's unsecured creditors said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. At a virtual hearing before a Delaware-based U.S. bankruptcy judge, attorney Justin Alberto, who represents a committee of creditors including U.S. and China-based manufacturers and suppliers, added that his committee is continuing to investigate a January deal in which retailer JCPenney acquired Forever 21's parent, known as SPARC Group. READ MORE | | Penn Medicine to Take Over Two Crozer Health Leases in $5 Million Deal Amid System Bankruptcy
The University of Pennsylvania Health System is set to take over two Crozer Health leases as part of a $5 million deal to prevent the Delaware County-based health system from closing while its parent company goes through bankruptcy, The Daily Pennsylvanian reported. Crozer Health and its owner Prospect Medical Holdings filed for bankruptcy in January, creating financial and public health concerns for the region. Delaware County also paid $1 million to FTI Consulting — an external firm that has managed Crozer since February — for "mental health services rendered" as part of the effort to keep the health system afloat. READ MORE | | Judge Blocks Trump from Retaliating Against Another Top Law Firm
A federal judge on Tuesday blocked President Trump from punishing the law firm Susman Godfrey, calling the retribution campaign he has waged from the White House against the nation’s top firms “a shocking abuse of power,” the New York Times reported. Ruling from the bench, Judge Loren L. AliKhan of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia said that the executive order Mr. Trump signed last week targeting the firm stemmed from a “personal vendetta.” Susman Godfrey represented Dominion, a manufacturer of voting machines that lawyers allied with Mr. Trump falsely attacked when he lost the 2020 election; the firm helped Dominion secure a $787.5 million settlement in a defamation case against Fox News. READ MORE | | 75-Unit Burger King Franchisee Declares Bankruptcy
Burger King franchisee Consolidated Burger Holdings LLC and two affiliates became the latest large operator group of the fast-food chain to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, QSR magazine reported. The Destin, Fla.-based operator directs 75 locations in Florida and Georgia. Consolidated filed April 14 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Florida and listed $50 million to $100 million in assets and liabilities. The franchisee secured $1.6 million in DIP financing to aid its reorganization. READ MORE | | | | |
