5th Circuit

Additional Committee for Commercial Creditors Appointed in Archdiocese Bankruptcy

Judge Grabill would have given commercial creditors either their own committee or special counsel given the different interests of sexual abuse claimants.

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Louisiana Eastern District

Louisiana

Court Records Destroyed, a Finding of Proper Notice Presumes Notice by Publication

The finding of proper notice in a confirmation order satisfies the debtor’s burden of proving notice by publication to creditors with future claims, even in the absence of a trust for future creditors, Houston judge says.

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Texas Legislature Didn’t Succeed in Giving Lien Priority to Oil and Gas Producers

Fifth Circuit says that Oklahoma protected that state’s oil and gas producers while Texas didn’t.

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Defenses to Preferences Are Considered in Counting an Involuntary Debtor’s Creditors

A former bankruptcy judge, now a district judge, makes important law on involuntary petitions.

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Louisiana Western District

Louisiana

Cross-Collateralization Turns Two Loans into One Claim in the Fifth Circuit

When personal property loans are cross-collateralized, a chapter 13 plan must use the same option for cramming down both loans, the Fifth Circuit says.

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Dissolved Corporation May Not File to Reorganize in Chapter 11, Only to Liquidate

Dissolved by forfeit, a corporation cannot reinstate a charter and may resort to bankruptcy only to liquidate, Judge Eduardo Rodriguez says.

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Statement of Profitability Must Be in Writing to Underpin a Nondischargeability Claim

A statement about the profitability of a corporation the debtor owns is a statement about the debtor’s own financial condition, the Fifth Circuit says.

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Bankruptcy Judges Disagree About Abatement of Rent During the Pandemic

Neither the Bankruptcy Code nor state law permits reducing rent when government regulations restrict a debtor’s ability to generate income, Judge Isgur says.

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Court of Claims Upholds Fee Increase for U.S. Trustee System

The Fifth Circuit and now the Court of Claims found no constitutional flaw in the 2017 increase in fees paid by chapter 11 debtors to the U.S. Trustee system.

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