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Smallpox drug maker Siga Technologies Inc. on Wednesday told a judge that without bankruptcy protection, it "would no longer be able to continue its operations,” the Wall Street Journal reported today. Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP's Harvey Miller, a Siga lawyer, called Siga a healthy company that filed for chapter 11 because it can't afford to post the necessary bond that would allow it to appeal a recent court decision over its smallpox drug, Tecoviramat. "Siga believes that it has meritorious and substantial grounds for appeal," Mr. Miller said. Siga filed for bankruptcy on Tuesday, saying the automatic stay provided by the bankruptcy code is the only thing that can prevent it from having to post as much as $200 million related to the loss so it can appeal. Last month, a Delaware corporate-law court found Siga liable to PharmAthene Inc. in a licensing dispute, a decision that could mean a damages award of $232 million or more. The court ruled PharmAthene was entitled to lost profits related to Tescoviramat.

Specialty retailer Brookstone yesterday said that its president and chief executive, James Speltz, has resigned after taking the seller of travel gadgets and massage chairs through bankruptcy proceedings this summer, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. Steve Schwartz, a 15-year veteran of the company who is currently Brookstone's chief merchandising officer, will serve as interim president and CEO. Brookstone, which has about 240 stores in malls and airports, filed for bankruptcy protection in April. In court filings, the company said sales have lagged since 2007, and that it began searching for a buyer after a weak 2013 holiday season. Chinese investment firm Sailing Capital Overseas Investment Fund LP and Chinese conglomerate Sanpower Group won an auction in June to buy Brookstone for $174 million, trumping a $146.3 million offer from an affiliate of Spencer Spirit Holdings Inc., the parent company of Spencer's and Spirit Halloween retail chains.

The men accused of cooking the books at defunct law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP were back in court this week as their lawyers argued that charges against them be dismissed, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Once a 1,300-lawyer global firm, Dewey & LeBoeuf collapsed in 2012, leaving creditors on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in the largest law firm failure in history. At a hearing on Monday in Manhattan Supreme Court, defense attorneys for three former Dewey leaders told Justice Robert Stolz there was no evidence that their clients had intended to engage in accounting trickery or to "permanently" deprive Dewey's lenders and bondholders of their property. They asked the judge to release minutes from the grand jury, and said that the court should dismiss some of the charges if the evidence does not show larcenous intent on the part of former Dewey chairman Steven Davis, former executive director Stephen DiCarmine and the firm's former chief financial officer, Joel Sanders.

The father-and-son owners of 28 rental properties encompassing 90 units in Fall River, Mass., filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday, attributing their companies' problems to crime, fire and uncooperative bankers, the Boston Business Journal reported today. Through a series of related filings, the entities seeking chapter 11 protection are: D. Brian Colville, David B. Colville, D. Brian Colville LLC, Colville Properties LLC and Wade Realty LLC. The Colvilles administer the properties, according to court papers, through an entity called C&C Property Management LLC. Fall River Five Cents Savings Bank, which holds a note with a principle balance of $2.25 million secured by first mortgages on 19 properties. Rockland Trust Company, which holds a note with a principle balance of $1.8 million secured by a mortgage on 13 properties.

U.S. Steel Corp. said that its Canadian arm would apply for relief from creditors under Canada's Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act and said it would drop plans to expand two of its facilities, Reuters reported yesterday. The company said its Canadian operations, which have lost about $2.4 billion over the past five years, will be dropped from its financial statements. U.S. Steel said it would provide its Canadian arm with $185 million Canadian dollars ($168.6 million) of secured debtor-in-possession financing (DIP Financing) to support operations through the end of 2015. U.S. Steel Canada, formerly known as Stelco, accounts for about $1 billion of U.S. Steel's consolidated employee benefits liability as of June 30.

U.S. Trustee Roberta DeAngelis said that a bankruptcy judge should reject a proposed sale of Education Training Corp.'s schools because the sale occurred prior to the company's chapter 11 filing and was designed to skirt federal regulations, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Education Training — a for-profit school that operated post-secondary schools under the Anthem and Florida Career College brands — filed for chapter 11 protection in August, immediately following a quick sale of 14 of its campuses in an effort to keep them operational. Had Education Training still been the owner of the schools when it filed for bankruptcy, the U.S. Department of Education would have revoked those schools' ability to accept federal student loan dollars. Those dollars made up 90 percent of Education Training's revenue, meaning that action by the Education Department would have rendered the schools basically worthless.

An auction for Oncor, the regulated distribution unit of bankrupt Texas power company Energy Future Holdings, could come in the first quarter of next year, as interest in the prized asset mounts, Reuters reported yesterday. Energy Future, which filed one of the 10 largest chapter 11 bankruptcies in April, is targeting an auction in the first quarter of 2015, with Bank of America Merrill Lynch retained to seek buyers, the people said in recent days. NextEra Energy Inc., which last month dropped a bid for Oncor, and Hunt Consolidated, which recently hired a former Energy Future executive to lead its investment arm, are expected to continue to be in the fray. Hunt is considering structuring Oncor as a real estate investment trust (REIT) to go along with its Sharyland Utilities unit, which is among the only REIT-structured entities in the energy sector. Houston-based Centerpoint Energy and Spanish Iberdola SA have also shown interest.

Two affiliates of troubled Indianapolis-based developer HDG Mansur oppose requests to appoint a chapter 11 trustee or convert the case to a liquidation in chapter 7, saying that significant progress has been made toward a plan and global settlement of claims, the Indianapolis Business Journal reported today. HDGM Advisory Services LLC and HDG Mansur Investment Services Inc., which managed Shariah-compliant investment funds, filed court papers Sept. 11 opposing the requests. The requests were made by KFH Capital Investment Co. and Kuwait Finance House Real Estate Co., which sued Mansur Investment and owner Harold Garrison in the United Kingdom for breach of contract, fraud and negligent misrepresentation, according to court papers. The KFH entities aren’t eligible to seek such “drastic measures” because they’re not creditors of, nor do they have claims against, both debtors, according to the fund managers. They are motivated by “some other unstated purpose,” not their chapter 11 rights or distributions in the case, the fund managers said in the court filings.

Siga Technologies Inc. filed for chapter 11 protection today and said that the filing was to preserve its ability to supply its antiviral smallpox drug to the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile, Reuters reported today. Siga listed total assets of $209.5 million and liabilities of $197.9 million in its chapter 11 filing. The case is In re: Siga Technologies Inc., U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, No: 14-12623.

The bankrupt Revel casino hotel in Atlantic City will go to auction on Sept. 24, a judge ruled yesterday, after the only bidder clashed with creditors who wanted to slow the rushed sale, Reuters reported yesterday. Bankruptcy Judge Gloria Burns also set Sept. 23 as the deadline for competing bids to top the $90 million offered by Florida developer Glenn Straub and his Polo North Country Club Inc. Revel cost $2.4 billion to construct. Revel also got approval to pay Straub a $3 million break-up fee if his is not the winning bid at the auction. The auction was set for two weeks after Straub's proposal was made public, and creditors complained that potential buyers needed more time to put together competing bids. The hearing was marked by threats of litigation if the auction was postponed, complaints that Straub was being secretive about his plans for the massive complex and the appearance of a potential competing bidder.