Automatic Stay

Fifth Circuit Tells Us What Ritzen and Travelers Mean and Don’t Mean

To revisit denial of a lift-stay motion, the prior order denying modification of the stay isn’t required to say ‘without prejudice.’

Tyler Applied Retroactively to Set Aside a Judgment of Tax Foreclosure

Tyler was applied retroactively because the debtor’s efforts to set aside a tax foreclosure judgment were ‘in the pipeline’ when bankruptcy began.

Dismissal of Second J&J Chapter 11 Filing Upheld by Return Mail in the Circuit

The ‘attenuated possibility of insolvency’ in the future does not establish ‘financial distress,’ Circuit Judge Ambro said, interpreting his own prior opinion.

Enjoining a Prepetition Policy Doesn’t Violate the Automatic Stay, Fifth Circuit Says

Seeking attorneys’ fees from the debtor for a postpetition civil rights violation does not by itself make a postpetition lawsuit subject to the automatic stay.

Sept 2024

Arbitration Nixed on a Lender’s Claims for Violation of the Automatic Stay

Bankruptcy Judge Paul Black denied a motion to compel arbitration but didn’t decide whether he would certify a class.

Chicago’s Judge Cox Enjoins Suits Against Nondebtors, Distinguishing Purdue

After Purdue, two bankruptcy judges now say that preliminary injunctions protecting nondebtors are permissible to foster successful chapter 11 reorganizations.

Delaware Judge Explains How to Obtain a PI Protecting Nondebtors After Purdue

In the first decision on the topic after Purdue, Delaware’s Judge Goldblatt denied the debtor’s motion for a preliminary injunction to stop a lawsuit against nondebtors.

Misleading Ads to Poach a Debtor’s Customers Is No Stay Violation, Circuit Says

The Second Circuit gives competitors license to mount false advertising unless it’s ‘virtually certain’ to affect a debtor’s customer contracts or goodwill.

Discharge Injunction Violations Can’t Be Heard in Federal District Court

Circuits are split on whether claims for contempt of the discharge injunction must be brought in the bankruptcy court that issued the discharge.