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Atlanta real estate developer Scott Leventhal has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported. Leventhal has been CEO of The Trillist Companies Inc., a real estate developer and property management firm. Trillist, which is not a party to the bankruptcy filing, developed a 245-unit apartment project called Yoo on the Park, located on 13th Street near Piedmont Park. At the beginning of 2020, the company proposed a 46-story, 544-foot tower on a small parking lot between Peachtree Street and Crescent Avenue. In his July 5 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Atlanta, Leventhal lists assets and liabilities of between $1 million and $10 million. According to the filing, unsecured claims pending on Leventhal include $69.5 million to CIM RE Lending Sub LLC of Dallas; $9.3 million owed to AFF III Crescent LLC; $4,445,722 owed to Angel Oak Commercial Bridge; and $1,857,070 owed to Choate Construction Co. Leventhal has been entangled since February in a vicious legal battle in federal court in Miami with his business partner at Trillist, Joseph Kavana. Both are 50% owners of Trillist. Kavana served as the company's chairman, according to a court filing. Leventhal first sued Kavana, and then Kavana sued Leventhal. Kavana sought "to remove Leventhal as the Operating Officer of Trillist on account of his acts of fraud and gross misconduct and his myriad breaches of the parties’ Shareholders’ Agreement," Kavana's attorneys claimed in a court filing. Leventhal's attorney described the litigation as "basically a dispute between two partners."

A sex-abuse compensation program unveiled by the Boy Scouts of America would pay victims based not only on the severity of abuse they endured but also where it happened, taking into account the states where victims have had the opportunity to sue abusers regardless of when their abuse occurred, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The proposal outlines a range of possible payments, from $3,500 for sexual abuse that involved no touching, to as much as $2.7 million for sexual penetration by an adult perpetrator and other aggravating circumstances, according to court papers filed Thursday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. The longer the abuse went on and the more severe it was, the higher the payments under the Boy Scouts’ settlement plan. Other criteria that will determine payouts includes whether an abuser has been accused by multiple victims, or was named in confidential internal files the Boy Scouts kept on suspected abuse, according to court records. Victims whose claim would have a better chance of succeeding outside of bankruptcy will get more than those on weaker legal ground. The compensation proposal is the culmination of negotiations between the Boy Scouts and representatives for most of the roughly 84,000 men who have filed claims against the youth group over childhood abuse. The settlement program requires the approval of the bankruptcy judge overseeing the Boy Scouts’ chapter 11 case and could undergo changes in coming weeks. The $850 million offer by the Boy Scouts represents the largest settlement of childhood sexual abuse claims in U.S. history, said Ken Rothweiler, a lawyer whose firm represents 16,000 claimants. The Boy Scouts also have proposed signing over their insurance rights and those of hundreds of affiliated local councils for the benefit of victims. The proposal, however, doesn’t have support from insurance carriers that are potentially on the hook for victim claims under policies they sold the Boy Scouts decades ago, when most of the alleged abuse occurred. Insurers have criticized the proposal, saying the youth group “turned over the pen” to victims’ lawyers to set the terms under which abuse claims will be valued and paid.

The Archdiocese of Santa Fe, N.M., announced in a community letter that the effort to auction 732 properties for a bankruptcy settlement has been delayed, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported. The Rev. Glennon Jones, vicar general of the archdiocese, said this week in the letter that the auction company doesn’t have a final list of properties because surveyors’ work continues, property titles still need to be acquired or analyzed, and opening prices haven’t been set. Jones suggested that the postponement reflected no setback and the auction would simply be rescheduled. About 385 victims of sexual abuse by archdiocese clergy members have sued, prompting the Archdiocese of Santa Fe to declare bankruptcy three years ago. The archdiocese now seeks to raise money to settle the case, but the amount hasn’t been determined, an attorney for victims said. Numerous Catholic dioceses across the country have filed for bankruptcy because of abuse by priests. Brad Hall, an Albuquerque attorney who represents a number of victims, said the survivors themselves would vote on whether an amount is appropriate. No such vote is imminent.

Some of the world’s largest oil companies have been ordered to pay part of a $7.2 billion tab to retire hundreds of aging wells in the Gulf of Mexico that they used to own, capping a case that legal experts say is a harbinger of future battles over cleanup costs, the Wall Street Journal reported. A federal judge ruled last month that Fieldwood Energy LLC, a privately held company that currently controls the old wells and had sought bankruptcy protection, could pass on hundreds of millions of dollars in environmental liabilities to prior owners and insurers of the wells as part of its reorganization plan. Exxon Mobil Corp., BP, Hess Corp., Royal Dutch Shell and insurance companies had objected to the plan. The dispute, litigated for months in federal bankruptcy court in Houston, centered over who should bear the enormous costs of capping and abandoning wells, primarily in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico, where an oil spill could wreak havoc. The companies could still appeal the ruling. The exact future costs of the cleanup are still unclear, but lawyers for BP estimated that its liability could top $300 million, while lawyers for Exxon said its exposure could total as much as $373 million. A group of insurers said they could be on the hook for more than $1 billion. For offshore wells—unlike most onshore wells—the Department of the Interior can hold previous operators liable for the cleanup if the current operator is unable to cover the expenses, to avoid taxpayers incurring the costs.

A landmark trial targeting multiple opioid manufacturers and distributors opened yesterday with lawyers for the government accusing the companies of bringing death and destruction to communities, the Associated Press reported. The case bought by Suffolk and Nassau counties and New York Attorney General Letitia James is part of a slew of litigation over an epidemic linked to nearly 500,000 deaths over the last two decades. But this case is unique in targeting the entire opioid supply chain and for being tried in front of a jury, instead of a judge. The case is being heard in a Long Island law school auditorium to accommodate the multiple defendants and their lawyers. Jayne Conroy, the lawyer for Suffolk County, said in her opening statement that she would try to show how drug makers and distributors had operated in a “parallel universe” from those experiencing the ravages of opioid addiction. Purdue Pharma was initially named in the case, as were some individual members of the Sackler family, before the company filed for bankruptcy. Cases against Purdue, Mallinckrodt, and Rochester Drug Cooperative are all now moving separately through U.S. Bankruptcy Court, according to James’ office. Defendants in the suit included Endo Health Solutions and its affiliates; Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. and its affiliates; Allergan Finance, LLC and its affiliates McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health Inc. and Amerisource Bergen Drug Corporation, according the attorney general’s office. Defendants say the claims are overly broad and their culpability cannot be proven, according to court documents. James announced Saturday that one defendant, Johnson & Johnson, agreed in an 11th-hour settlement to pay the state up to $230 million to stop manufacturing or distributing opioids.

Brazos Electric Power Cooperative is seeking an additional four months to maintain control of its bankruptcy case, saying that recently enacted laws aimed at mitigating the financial fallout of February’s winter storm in Texas have complicated its restructuring efforts, Reuters reported. In court papers filed on Monday, the co-op asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David Jones

Two years after Hahnemann University Hospital went bankrupt, the legal war over proceeds from the eventual sale of the hulking Center City property is heating up, with an early skirmish expected at a Wednesday court hearing, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The latest conflict arises from the split of the Hahnemann and St. Christopher’s real estate from the hospitals, which filed for chapter 11 protection starting on June 30, 2019. The real estate was kept out of the bankruptcy. Some saw that split as an insidious move by Joel Freedman, the California businessman who paid $170 million — all of it borrowed — in 2018 for Hahnemann and St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, to ensure that he would make money no matter what. First, Freedman agreed to court-approved mediation that could lead to some of the money from the sale of real estate going to businesses left with unpaid bills after the bankruptcy. Creditors have filed $8.5 billion in claims in the bankruptcy — though unduplicated claims are likely to be less than $300 million, a filing said. It’s too early to say how much money has been collected to pay those claims. And now, Freedman’s partner and major lender, Harrison Street Real Estate, wants to participate in the talks among the bankrupt business shells, unsecured creditors, and Freedman. Without Harrison Street’s participation, mediation “is doomed to fail” because it would have to approve any agreement, the Chicago real estate investment firm said in a filing. It’s unclear how much the Hahnemann buildings that Freedman owns will sell for because they are in poor condition, making them a costly redevelopment project. Lawyers for the bankrupt shell of Hahnemann have opposed the participation of Harrison Street in talks with Freedman, arguing that Harrison Street’s participation would slow progress, especially given that Harrison Street has refused to provide any documents during the unsecured creditors’ investigation of the original deal. Freedman has said that Harrison Street should participate in the talks. The dispute is scheduled for an online hearing Wednesday before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Mary F. Walrath in Wilmington.

The 177-acre property once heralded for a sports dome, lake, hotel and campground has been acquired by the city of Portage, Ind., after it fell into foreclosure, the Post-Tribune reported. The Portage Redevelopment Commission bought the property for $6.6 million at an auction last week during a Porter County Sheriff’s sale. In 2015, the RDC agreed to sell the property, located north of Interstate 94 and west of Indiana 149 just west of the Ameriplex complex, to Catalyst Lifestyles Sport Resort LLC for $6 million. Catalyst was expected to pay the city $600,000 over 10 years. The developers made two payments on the property, but were plagued by financial and development issues, which halted the project. Infrastructure problems with NIPSCO right of way utility towers and plans for an overpass from U.S. 12 to Indiana 249 slowed progress. The partners in the development took each other to court and then filed for bankruptcy in 2018. Two bankruptcy attempts were dismissed by a judge. Meanwhile, the developers never paid taxes on the property, owing about $63,000. The RDC foreclosed on the loan and the state named a receiver last year. The receiver tried to market the property, but was slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The RDC was the lone bidder on the property at last week’s auction.