Just last month, a piece of Lehman’s earthly remains won a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, when the judges agreed that an employee’s claim of retaliatory discharge had been properly dismissed, according to a Bloomberg News commentary. A few days earlier, this time as plaintiff, Lehman successfully avoided dismissal of its own lawsuit against entities from whom it purchased mortgage securities. Yes, you heard that right. Lehman claims it was misled by the sellers. In its lingering existence as a bankrupt estate, the company now proclaims itself the victim. “Insolvent corporations,” warned a federal bankruptcy referee back in 1914, “usually live forever.” A decade, by no means represents an unusually long period for a company’s estate to continue, according to the commentary. Early in 2014, for instance, W.R. Grace emerged from bankruptcy after proceedings that lasted almost 13 years. Its stock price exceeded $90 per share — a huge jump from the value of $1.52 when the company filed for bankruptcy in April, 2001.
