Landlord Socked $606,000 for Opposing Lease Assumption
Fee-shifting clause in the lease entitled the debtor to recover $606,000 in attorneys’ fees from the landlord for opposing lease assumption.
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Contested Matters Aren’t ‘Civil Actions’ Under the Equal Access to Justice Act
A contested matter in bankruptcy court isn’t a ‘civil action’ allowing the debtor to recover attorneys’ fees from the U.S. Trustee under the Equal Access to Justice Act.
No Retroactive Adequate Protection in Chapter 13, Judge Trust Says
Long Island judge follows ‘Burt’ Lifland and rules that a secured creditor is not entitled to adequate protections for periods of time before filing a motion giving rise to adequate protection.
Bankruptcy Talent Raiding Muddies the Waters in Passaic River Pollution Dispute
A top law firm’s raid of a rival’s bankruptcy talent is roiling a corporate feud over the multibillion-dollar cleanup bill for New Jersey’s polluted Passaic River, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The dispute concerns a number of high-profile hires by White & Case LLP, the law firm representing businesses that have sued Argentine energy giant YPF SA over environmental contamination linked to its defunct former subsidiary Maxus Energy Corp. White & Case in October poached rainmaker lawyer Jessica Boelter and other bankruptcy litigators from Sidley Austin LLP, the firm defending YPF against the pollution claims. Potential damages in the lawsuit, viewed as a test of U.S. environmental laws, include an estimated $12 billion tab for cleansing the Passaic of byproducts from the manufacture of Agent Orange, the Vietnam War-era defoliant once produced by a predecessor of Maxus. The dispute took a detour last month when YPF moved to disqualify White & Case, saying that its star hire Boelter knew too much about YPF’s legal strategy, which she helped design.