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U.S. District Judge Katherine B. Forrest on Monday approved Anadarko Petroleum Corp.'s $5.15 billion settlement over its ill-fated acquisition of Tronox Inc., the final major hurdle in the federal government's largest environmental settlement ever, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Judge Forrest said that Tronox 's bankruptcy judge was correct earlier this year when he signed off on the deal. Approval from the two judges was necessary for the settlement to be completed. In agreeing with Bankruptcy Judge Allan L. Gropper, Judge Forrest overruled two objections from claimants who thought the settlement was too low or that they deserved a greater share of the proceeds.

Dendreon Corp., the maker of prostate-cancer drug Provenge, filed for bankruptcy protection, potentially wiping out shareholders in a company that pioneered the use of patients’ immune systems to fight tumors, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The agreement calls for a recapitalization of Dendreon, or a sale of the company or its assets, the Seattle-based drugmaker said yesterday. The company and its U.S. subsidiaries filed chapter 11 petitions in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. Provenge, approved in 2010 as the first so-called immunotherapy, was designed to treat patients with advanced-stage prostate cancer, the second-leading cause of cancer deaths among men in the U.S. The drug never lived up to expectations because it’s cumbersome to administer and costs $93,000. Dendreon said that it plans to continue operations during the restructuring and will provide Provenge to patients. The company has about 700 employees in Seattle and Bridgewater, N.J., after cutting about 750 full-time and contractor positions in 2012 and 2013 and selling a New Jersey plant.

As cash quickly runs out to keep Atlantic City’s Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort open, a bankruptcy judge refused to sign off on the outlines of a bankruptcy-exit plan for owner Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., telling the casino operator to come back next week with a firmer vision for the casino’s future, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. "My concern is that there is simply too much immediate uncertainty," Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross said during a Wednesday hearing. "There needs to be something in place that provides comfort that there is really a path to a plan." Under its current proposal, Trump Entertainment's secured lenders — entities controlled by billionaire Carl Icahn — would swap some of their $292 million in debt for the equity in a reorganized company. The Icahn entities have also agreed to extend a $100 million loan to get the ailing gambling operation on its feet. The plan, however, depends on the company securing $175 million in tax benefits and other aid from city, county or state government agencies.

The stable of judges on Manhattan's federal bankruptcy court is undergoing a dramatic turnover for one of the go-to venues for rescuing companies in financial distress, Reuters reported today. In January, Robert Gerber, the judge overseeing litigation stemming from the General Motors' ignition-switch recall debacle, will assume "recall" status, allowing court administrators to hire a new judge. Two more judges are expected to join the court early next year, meaning that by the end of 2015 a third of the nine-member bench will be new, and at least four veteran judges will have left the bench since 2012. It is the first time since 2000 that at least three new judges will join the New York court within a year and the change may affect the pace of the court's proceedings, the lawyers' fees and even the court's case load. Under recall status, common for long-serving bankruptcy judges, Gerber will technically retire but continue to serve. Also gone or leaving are Judge James Peck, who handled Lehman Brothers' liquidation, and Judge Allan Gropper, who adjudicated Kodak's restructuring and has announced his retirement. Replacements for Judges Peck and Gropper have been selected and are undergoing background checks, according to Karen Milton, circuit executive for the Second Circuit, which oversees judge succession in Manhattan.

General Motors said in a court filing yesterday that it should not have to face lawsuits based on safety issues in cars made before its 2009 bankruptcy, including a faulty ignition switch that led to the recall of 2.6 million cars earlier this year, Reuters reported yesterday. The brief, filed in Manhattan bankruptcy court, lays out GM's legal arguments and is the opening salvo in litigation from GM drivers who say the automaker should make them whole for losses related to recalls this year. The ignition switch recalls, which began in February, have since grown to encompass numerous problems affecting millions of vehicles. The company is facing some 130 lawsuits over accidents and lost vehicle value. In April, GM asked Judge Robert Gerber of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, who oversaw the bankruptcy, to bar claims related to vehicles made before 2009 based on the terms of the sale order that created the so-called "New GM." Liabilities related to older vehicles were largely retained by a shell company now known as "Old GM." Plaintiffs' lawyers have asked Gerber to rule that bankruptcy protection does not apply because their clients were not informed about the problems at the time and had no chance to argue their cases during the proceedings. GM said yesterday that plaintiffs' lawyers were trying to re-litigate issues that had been aired fully and settled five years ago.

AgFeed Industries Inc. received a bankruptcy judge's approval on its plan to dole out the more than $130 million it raised through the sale of its hog-raising operations, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Bankruptcy Judge Brendan Linehan Shannon approved the plan on Tuesday, finding that it was solicited and negotiated in good faith and is in the best interest of creditors. The plan pays secured and unsecured creditors and pays out two negotiated settlements with shareholders and a government regulator.

Bankrupt power company Energy Future Holdings Corp. received conditional court approval to accept bids for its majority stake in Oncor, a power transmission company in Texas worth billions of dollars, Reuters reported yesterday. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Sontchi said yesterday that Energy Future could begin accepting bids once it had changed the way affiliates approved of the plan to sell Oncor. He also said that the bidding process must involve the two official creditors committees and the time frame for the sale should be extended. "The immense size of this case and $18 billion asset is certainly unusual and the involvement of public companies as bidders is a complicating factor,” Judge Sontchi said. “But there is no reason to depart from established practices that have developed for selling an asset in bankruptcy.” Creditors had objected to the proposed process because it involved sealed bids to choose a stalking-horse bidder. Once the stalking horse was chosen, Energy Future planned to have an open auction when all bids could be reviewed by participants. Judge Sontchi said that Energy Future would have to allow the participation of the two official creditors committees in the selection of a stalking horse bidder. The company originally set a deadline for final bids for the role of stalking horse on Nov. 21, which Sontchi said would have to be extended.

UniTek Global Services Inc., a contractor for telecommunication companies, filed for bankruptcy with a plan to hand control over to its lenders, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The Blue Bell, Pa.-based company listed assets of $3.2 million and debt of $186 million in chapter 11 documents filed yesterday. The company announced last month that it had reached an agreement on terms of a restructuring with lenders including affiliates of Littlejohn & Co. and New Mountain Capital. The company will ask to borrow as much as $43 million in debtor-in-possession financing. Apollo Investment Corp. is the administrative agent. The case is In re UniTek Global Services Inc., 14-12471, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware (Wilmington).

Dish Network Corp. Chairman Charlie Ergen would receive a controlling stake in troubled wireless company LightSquared under the company's newest restructuring plan, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. The deal, reached Friday as a result of mediation with Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain, would give Ergen 60 percent of the new equity in the restructured LightSquared plus $1 billion in new junior debt. JPMorgan Chase Co., one of LightSquared's lenders, would receive a total of 31.9 percent of the equity and a seat on the board of directors in exchange for its debt and $189 million in funding. Other lenders would receive a smaller piece of equity and warrants to purchase common stock.

Regulators won a temporary freeze on the assets of Sam and Charles Wyly and their wives and relatives after the brothers were found liable in a fraud case, Bloomberg News reported today. U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin in Manhattan said yesterday that the freeze is appropriate because Sam Wyly and his brother’s estate have said that they can’t pay an award of more than $300 million and because of concern their wives and other relatives may spend money that the brothers owe the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Sam Wyly and and his late brother’s wife, Caroline, both filed for bankruptcy last month, citing a need to preserve assets as they face a U.S. forfeiture order.