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With available funds dwindling and millions in claims pending over the January 2014 Elk River chemical leak, the Freedom Industries bankruptcy case appears to be at a crossroads, the Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette reported yesterday. No clear plan for resolving the case is in sight, prompting U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Ronald Pearson to schedule a “status conference” early next month to ask various interested parties for options. Judge Pearson called the conference, set for 10 a.m. March 3, to ask for input “with respect to how this case should be administered to conclusion utilizing the limited resources available to obtain the best results for the public and parties in interest,” the judge said in a three-page order entered on Feb. 6. In the ruling, Judge Pearson noted that more than $200 million in claims have been filed against Freedom Industries, with most of that accounted for by 3,800 damage claims filed by victims of the Jan. 9, 2014, leak that contaminated the regional drinking water supply.

General Motors Co. will be in court today fighting to maintain a bankruptcy shield blocking legal claims from customers seeking compensation for declining resale values and injuries stemming from a defective ignition switch, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The switch has been tied to at least 56 deaths and stems from a safety lapse that Chief Executive Mary Barra has said arose from a “pattern of incompetence and neglect.” But today’s legal battle, with plaintiffs seeking billions of dollars in damages, is also largely the result of a significant concession GM made more than five years ago to expedite its emergence from bankruptcy proceedings. The automaker finds itself back in Bankruptcy Judge Robert Gerber’s courtroom because that deal weakened the very bankruptcy shield that GM is now trying to keep. Judge Gerber presided over GM’s government-backed restructuring and is essentially revisiting details of the case to decide whether plaintiffs can sue for losses associated with vehicles made before the company’s restructuring. The plaintiffs want GM stripped of its bankruptcy shield. GM for more than a decade failed to recall vehicles equipped with switches prone to jostling out of the run position and cutting power to air bags and other safety features.

A bankruptcy judge in West Virginia is throwing open the courthouse doors to those affected by a chemical-spill disaster last year, inviting them to weigh in on what should happen to the little that remains of Freedom Industries Inc., Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Bankruptcy Judge Ronald Pearson scheduled a March 3 status conference in the chapter 11 case of Freedom, which owned the tank that leaked a coal-treatment chemical into the Elk River, contaminating the water supply for 300,000 West Virginians. Cash is running out, professional bills are mounting and company ex-president Gary Southern, one of the former Freedom leaders facing criminal charges, has tied up a $3 million insurance settlement that could help those injured by the spill, the judge said in an order issued Friday. "It is time to have the principal parties in interest...provide input with respect to how this case should be administered," Judge Pearson wrote.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis listed more than $45 million in assets and about $16 million in liabilities in a compulsory financial report filed with a federal court, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. The reported assets include more than $11 million in real estate, the majority of which is tied to the archbishop's residence and chancery building, which are collectively valued at about $6.3 million. The value of some of the archdiocese's other real estate, including the Cathedral of St. Paul, were listed as "unknown" and thus not factored into the total.

The total number of claims filed with the General Motors Co. ignition switch compensation fund climbed to 4,180 as potential victims rushed to submit their paper work before the deadline, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Fund administrator Camille Biros, working alongside Kenneth Feinberg to determine payout eligibility, said that the total will increase somewhat since some people may have mailed their claims rather than submit them electronically. All claims had to be postmarked by midnight Jan. 31.

General Motors Co. rejected a request by two U.S. senators to extend their ignition switch compensation fund claim deadline for a second time, the Wall Street Journal reported today. “Our goal is to be just and timely in compensating the families who lost loved ones and those who suffered physical injury,” GM said in a statement Wednesday. “We have conducted extensive outreach about the program. We previously extended the deadline until January 31, and we do not plan another extension.” The automaker extended the deadline last month to Saturday from Dec. 31 after it was reported that a potential victim eligible for a payout didn’t have enough time to submit a claim. All claims must be postmarked or submitted electronically through the fund’s website by Jan. 31. U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) sent the letter to GM Chief Executive Mary Barra asking that the deadline be extended until the Justice Department completes its investigation into the recall delay.

As part of its bankruptcy filing, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis sought wide discretion to withhold details on settlements with victims of sexually abusive priests, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune yesterday. The Star Tribune challenged that motion in court last week, agreeing that names and identifying information of victims should be kept private but arguing that the archdiocese's request was "overly broad." U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Kressel said from the bench that the Archdiocese's request was "too vague." On Wednesday, Judge Kressel issued an order that allows the redaction of names and other identifying information about abuse victims, but otherwise limits what the Archdiocese can withhold from public scrutiny.