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October 13, 2005
id='1'>Bankruptcy
Lawyers “Deluged” Days Before BAPCPA Takes Effect
Keyport, N.J.,
lawyer Warren
Brumel is buried under paperwork as clients rush to file for
bankruptcy before
Monday, the day changes in the bankruptcy law take effect, the Asbury
Park Press
reported yesterday. "I am deluged," said Brumel, who had to
stop taking
new cases to handle the flood. He’s not alone. Petitions from
people seeking
to erase their debts are inundating the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New
Jersey.
As of earlier this week, 3,727 cases were filed this month alone, said
James
J. Waldron, clerk of the bankruptcy court. He expects the number to
rise to
between 5,000 and 6,000 by Monday. Last year, 3,191 cases were filed
in October.
"People are really going wild," Waldron said. "It is
just that
they know they have a deadline, and they are trying to get this stuff
in beforehand."
href='http://www.blackenterprise.com/yb/ybopen.asp?section=ybbf&story_id=8404…'>Read
the full story.
Automotive
Industry
id='2'>Delphi’s
Bankruptcy Will Spur New Wave of Filings
href='http://newswire.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/behold.pl?ascribeid=20051012.140812…'>Delphi’s
filing for bankruptcy could spur a wave of consumer and business
bankruptcies—all
after a more stringent federal bankruptcy law takes effect Oct. 17,
according
to Jeffrey Morris, a University of Dayton law professor who
recently
completed a stint as scholar-in-residence at the American
Bankruptcy Institute,
AScribe Newswire reported yesterday. "Reports suggest that the
Dayton
area will experience more than its share of pain," Morris said.
"Layoffs
will put people here in a position where they’ll go from a
pretty decent living
to one where they’ll be hard-pressed to find similar work.
They’ll be working
for half or less than their current income. The prospect of a wave
of individual
bankruptcies resulting from this is a real one."
In other news, Delphi workers are angry about the part
supplier’s proposals
to cut wages and benefits, but Delphi has no choice if U.S. plants
and pensions
are to survive its bankruptcy restructuring, CEO Steve Miller said
yesterday,
Reuters reported. Delphi wants only to put wages and benefits for
hourly workers
in line with rates unions often have agreed to at its U.S.
competitors in
the supplier industry, Miller said.
id='3'>GM
Downplays Bankruptcy Possibility
General Motors
Corp. is downplaying
the possibility it could follow Delphi Corp. into U.S. Bankruptcy
Court, UPI
reported yesterday. Delphi has been struggling under labor costs of
$65 per
hour and huge pension obligations, virtually the same as GM is trying
to work
out from beneath. Since Delphi sought legal protection from its
creditors on
Saturday, analysts have speculated that GM could follow suit.
"We`ll let
others opine on that," spokesman Jerry Dubrowski said of rumors
that GM
might also file for bankruptcy. "We`re trying to focus on running
our business."
id='4'>Tower
Committee Procedures Approved
The U.S. Bankruptcy
Court
approved Tower Automotive’s motion to establish procedures for
the committee
of retired employees formation process, BankruptcyData.com reported
today. The
Court directed the company to file on or before October 31, 2005 a
report of
all retired employees who have volunteered to serve and to consult the
official
creditors’ committee during this process.
href='http://www.bankruptcydata.com/'>Read
more.
id='5'>AEI
to Discuss Economy Today
The
href='http://www.aei.org'>American
Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (AEI) will hold a
discussion
titled "Economy Watch" that will touch on current economic
policy
issues, including rebuilding after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, tax
reform,
and the state of the U.S. economy today at 8:30 a.m. (EDT).
Participants include
Mark Zandi of Economy.com; Zanny Minton-Beddoes of The Economist; and
Kevin
Hassett and Lawrence Lindsey of AEI. Location: AEI, 1150 17th St., NW,
Wohlstetter
Conference Center, 12th Floor, Washington, D.C. For more information,
contact:
Veronique Rodman at (202) 862-4871 or
href='mailto:vrodman@aei.org'>vrodman@aei.org.
Airlines
id='6'>United
Airlines to Recall 300 Pilots in 2006
United Airlines
plans to
recall about 300 pilots in 2006 to meet an expected increase in flying
as it
emerges from bankruptcy protection, Reuters reported yesterday. The
airline
said that the number of recalls could go higher once the company
accounts for
certain contract provisions and pilots on military leave. The airline
has more
than 1,900 pilots on furlough and 6,200 on active service. The first
group of
recalled pilots will start work in January. United hopes to exit court
protection
on Feb. 1, 2006.
id='7'>Delta,
American Match JetBlue Fares
American Airlines
and Delta
Air Lines Inc. have cut New York-to-Boston fares after JetBlue Airways
Corp.
entered the market, a case of discount carriers squeezing traditional
rivals,
Reuters reported yesterday. American said that it has cut ticket
prices to as
low as $25 each way on the heavily traveled northeastern U.S. route
effective
Nov. 8, spokesman Ned Reynolds said yesterday. That matches
JetBlue’s introductory
fare for the route, starting on the same date with its new 100-seat
Embraer
jets. Delta, one of two traditional "shuttle" operators
between the
cities, has also cut fares, to $40 each way, said Terry Trippler, an
analyst
at Cheapseats.com.
href='http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticleSearch.aspx?storyID=212712%2B1…'>Read
the full story.
id='8'>Northwest
Talks of Voiding Labor Pacts
Northwest Airlines Corp. said yesterday that it would ask a
bankruptcy judge
for permission to void its labor contracts if its employee unions do
not agree
to concessions worth $1.4 billion a year, Reuters reported
yesterday. The
annual labor reductions would be part of $2.5 billion in overall
savings the
airline would seek through steps including the return of passenger
jets whose
leases are too expensive, Northwest said in a statement.
Meanwhile, a Minnesota Public Radio reporter yesterday mused that
href='http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2005/10/06_horwichj_nwab…'>Northwest
stock will probably become worthless. New investors—banks,
other
companies, wealthy individuals—will likely offer up cash to
keep Northwest
going. In return, they’ll become the new owners. The people,
companies and
banks to whom Northwest owes money may also receive part ownership
as compensation
for the money Northwest owes them. For many of the 11 men and one
woman who
currently serve as Northwest directors, the equation is probably
simple: When
the new owners come in, they’re out.
id='9'>INEX
Pharmaceuticals Announces Completion of Bankruptcy Petition
Hearing
INEX
Pharmaceuticals Corp.
announced yesterday that the hearing for its bankruptcy petition
brought forward
by Star Trading and Shepherd Investments International Ltd.
(collectively "Stark")
has been completed, TechFinance.ca News Service reported yesterday.
The judge
has reserved judgment until Oct. 27, 2005. INEX said it will report on
the final
judgment when it is received. Stark is the majority holder of certain
promissory
notes issued by Inex International Holdings, a subsidiary of INEX.
href='http://www.techfinance.ca/m-topnews%2Bnews%2Btnid-679-tnd-20051012.html'>Read
more.
id='10'>Anchor
Glass Objections Filed
Edward J. Peterson
III, on
behalf of the official committee of unsecured creditors, filed
objections to
Anchor Glass’ applications for an order authorizing the
retention and employment
of Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin Captial as financial advisor and
for an
order authorizing the company to retain and employ Jones Day as
special counsel,
BankruptcyData.com reported today.
href='http://www.bankruptcydata.com/'>Read
more.