Practice and Procedure

Bankruptcy Judge Hints: Third Circuit Precedent on Public Records May Be Too Broad

Delaware’s Judge Goldblatt seems to be recommending that the Third Circuit close a loophole in confidentiality agreements.

Foreign Sovereign Immunity Bars the Madoff Trustee from Recovering $20 Million

A district judge in New York reversed the bankruptcy court, which had held that a Kuwaiti public pension fund was not entitled to sovereign immunity for having engaged in commercial activity.

A Settlement Term Sheet Signed After Mediation Was an Enforceable Contract

The state law standards for creation of a contract governed enforceability of a term sheet signed after mediation.

Ethics and AI

Benchnotes November 2023

Nov 2023

Supreme Court Will Soon Grant or Deny ‘Cert’ to Rule on Refunds for UST Overpayments

The bankruptcy court in Delaware sided with four circuits by directing the U.S. Trustee to give refunds for overpayment of fees that were not uniform throughout the country.

Fourth Circuit: Bankruptcy Courts Aren’t Bound by Article III’s Case or Controversy Requirements

The Fourth Circuit says that bankruptcy courts have broader jurisdiction than other federal courts and that some of their decisions are unreviewable by Article III courts.

Estate Avoidance Actions: Stand in the Trustee’s Shoes, or Buy Them?

Nov 2023

From Crisis to Opportunity: Distressed Health Care Deals

Nov 2023

Chapter 7 Debtors Have No Appellate Standing to Challenge a Short Sale, Circuit Says

Ninth Circuit doesn’t allow debtors to appeal when a trustee sells their home out from underneath them in a short sale.