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The Bruce Matson-LandAmerica saga appears to be coming to an end. The imprisoned former Richmond attorney reached a settlement this week with the trustee overseeing the bankruptcy estate of the long-defunct Henrico-based title insurance company, RichmondBizSense.com reported. Matson, who was LandAmerica’s original bankruptcy trustee, is now serving a four-year federal prison sentence for stealing millions of dollars from the company’s bankruptcy wind-down fund. That crime forced him to relinquish his role as trustee, as the court handed the title over to longtime Richmond attorney Ben Ackerly. In January, as Matson sat in prison, Ackerly filed a lawsuit claiming Matson breached his fiduciary duty to the estate as a result of his crimes and sought a judgment forcing Matson to pay back at least $480,000. That would have been in addition to more than $4 million Matson has already paid back into the LandAmerica trust after his theft was discovered. But this week’s settlement, which awaits the court’s approval, will not result in any additional funds from Matson. Instead, it calls for an end to the suit, for both sides to release any claims against one another and to bar both sides from making any additional related claims against the other in the future — all without Matson paying any more into the LandAmerica trust.

Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn dealt a blow to Celsius Network’s stockholders yesterday, ruling against their motion to form an official committee of equityholders as they seek to stake a claim to the crypto lender’s most valuable assets, Bloomberg News reported. The ruling means holders of Celsius’s preferred equity will have to pay for their own lawyers and advisers during the bankruptcy. Venture capital firm WestCap Management LLC and pension fund Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec (CDPQ) are among the company’s stockholders. Some Celsius stockholders are arguing that they, rather than the company’s customers, are entitled to the value from the crypto lender’s mining business and loan book because of Celsius’s corporate structure. Lawyers for Celsius creditors -- which are overwhelmingly its customers -- disagree. In a written decision issued yesterday, Judge Glenn said the stockholders hadn’t met the legal standard needed to have their advisers’ bills paid for by Celsius. The investors are already adequately represented and haven’t shown that they’ll probably recover money during the bankruptcy, he said.

The Justice Department’s bankruptcy watchdog wants Kirkland & Ellis LLP removed as counsel to 3M Co.’s bankrupt earplug manufacturing unit, saying the law firm has a conflict because it also is defending the parent company in mass earplug lawsuits, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Kirkland & Ellis doesn’t possess “undivided loyalty” to its client, 3M subsidiary Aearo Technologies LLC, according to court papers filed by the Office of the U.S. Trustee on Thursday objecting to the firm’s retention. The U.S. Trustee said that Kirkland can’t be loyal to Aearo because its bankruptcy process is being financed by 3M, which the firm also represents in roughly 230,000 personal-injury lawsuits pending against the company in federal court in Pensacola, Fla. 3M placed Aearo under chapter 11 protection in July in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Indianapolis, hoping to move the earplug lawsuits against the subsidiary and its solvent parent out of the tort system. Aearo’s chief restructuring officer said in court papers in August that Kirkland is well qualified and uniquely able to represent Aearo in chapter 11 because of its familiarity with the company’s business and potential legal issues that might arise in bankruptcy. The bankruptcy depends on 3M’s commitment to provide unlimited funding toward resolving the earplug litigation in return for a full release from liability. As counsel to Aearo, Kirkland has a fiduciary duty to maximize 3M’s contribution — and by implication to maximize 3M’s share of their combined tort liability, the U.S. Trustee said yesterday.