All items from Business Bankruptcy Blog

Seventh Circuit Bankruptcy Ruling Is Big Win For Trademark Licensees

On July 9, 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued its decision in Sunbeam Products, Inc. v. Chicago American Manufacturing, LLC, and in doing so handed a major victory to trademark licensees whose licenses are rejected in bankruptcy by trademark owners. A copy of the opinion is available through this link. However, before discussing the details of the opinion, it's important to put it in context first. And for that, we need to journey back to the 1980s.



From Business Bankruptcy Blog
Posted 44 weeks 5 days ago

Supreme Court Bids Adieu To Plans Denying Secured Creditors The Right To Credit Bid

On May 29, 2012, only a little more than a month after the April 23, 2012 oral argument in the case, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in RadLAX Gateway Hotel, LLC, et al. v. Amalgamated Bank on the question of "credit bidding." You can get a copy of the opinion by following the link in this sentence. (You are also welcome to follow my Twitter feed @BobEisenbach for updates; I tweeted a link to the opinion the afternoon it was issued.)



From Business Bankruptcy Blog
Posted 50 weeks 5 days ago

Forced Into Bankruptcy: The Involuntary Bankruptcy Process

When a company is facing financial distress, the question often comes up whether creditors can "force" the company into bankruptcy. Although the answer is more complicated than it may seem, this post aims to sort out what being "forced into bankruptcy" really means (hint: there are two different ways this can happen) and why it matters to companies and creditors.
Forced But Voluntary Bankruptcy. When a company is "forced" into bankruptcy, often what actually has happened is that the company filed a voluntary bankruptcy petition under Chapter 11 (reorganization) or Chapter 7 (liquidation) of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in response to creditor actions. For example, a secured lender may have declared a default under its loan documents and commenced foreclosure proceedings, or an unsecured creditor may have filed a lawsuit or obtained a judgment against the company. In response, the company filed bankruptcy.



From Business Bankruptcy Blog
Posted 51 weeks 5 days ago

Winter 2012 Edition Of Bankruptcy Resource Now Available

The Winter 2012 edition of the Absolute Priority newsletter, published by the Bankruptcy & Restructuring group at Cooley LLP, of which I am a member, has recently been released. The newsletter gives updates on current developments and trends in the bankruptcy and workout area. Follow the links in this sentence to access a copy of the newsletter. You can also subscribe to the blog to learn when future editions of the Absolute Priority newsletter are published, as well as to get updates on other bankruptcy and insolvency topics.
The latest edition of Absolute Priority covers a range of cutting edge topics, including:



From Business Bankruptcy Blog
Posted 1 year 13 weeks ago

Amendments To Federal Bankruptcy Rules, Official Forms, And Federal Rules Of Evidence Are Now In Effect

Bankruptcy Rule Amendments. As reported in a post last month, this year's amendments to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure have now taken effect today, December 1, 2011.

Amended Official Bankruptcy Forms. In addition to the national bankruptcy rules, revisions have been made to a number of the official bankruptcy forms. This sentence contains a link to a set of these updated official forms.



From Business Bankruptcy Blog
Posted 1 year 24 weeks ago

Amendments To The Federal Bankruptcy Rules, Including Rule 2019, To Take Effect December 1, 2011

Almost every year, changes are made to the set of rules that govern how bankruptcy cases are managed -- the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure. The changes address issues identified by an Advisory Committee made up of federal judges, bankruptcy attorneys, and others. There are seven amendments to the national bankruptcy rules this year. Some affect bankruptcy cases involving individuals but major revisions have been made to Rule 2019, which governs disclosures by ad hoc committees and groups of creditors or equity security holders in Chapter 11 business bankruptcy cases and in Chapter 9 municipality cases. All of the new amendments will take effect on December 1, 2011, barring unlikely action by Congress.
Read All About It. A copy of the Advisory Committee's report, together with a redline of the new rule amendments, is available by following the link in this sentence. The report also includes the Advisory Committee's notes on each new or amended rule.



From Business Bankruptcy Blog
Posted 1 year 26 weeks ago

Delaware Supreme Court Affirms Ruling Protecting Managers Of Insolvent LLCs

Creditor Derivative Claims Against Fiduciaries Of Insolvent Corporate Entities. In a 2007 decision in North American Catholic Educational Programming, Inc. v. Gheewalla, et al., 930 A.2d 92 (Del. 2007), the Delaware Supreme Court held that directors of an insolvent Delaware corporation could be sued derivatively by creditors for breaches of fiduciary duty. For a discussion of the case, you may find this earlier post of interest: "Delaware Supreme Court Addresses, For The First Time, Whether Creditors Can Sue Directors For Breach Of Fiduciary Duty When The Corporation Is Insolvent Or In The Zone Of Insolvency." 



From Business Bankruptcy Blog
Posted 1 year 35 weeks ago

Summer 2011 Edition Of Bankruptcy Resource Now Available

The Summer 2011 edition of the Absolute Priority newsletter, published by the Bankruptcy & Restructuring group at Cooley LLP, of which I am a member, has just been released. The newsletter gives updates on current developments and trends in the bankruptcy and workout area. Follow the links in this sentence to access a copy of the newsletter. You can also subscribe to the blog to learn when future editions of the Absolute Priority newsletter are published, as well as to get updates on other bankruptcy and insolvency topics.
The latest edition of Absolute Priority covers a range of cutting edge topics, including:



From Business Bankruptcy Blog
Posted 1 year 37 weeks ago

First Published Court Of Appeals Opinion Issued Answering Whether Trademark Licenses Are Assignable In Bankruptcy

It's been a long wait, but we finally have a published decision from a U.S. Court of Appeals answering whether a trademark license is assignable in bankruptcy without the licensor's consent. On July 26, 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued an opinion in In re: XMH Corp., written by Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner, and a copy of the opinion is available by following the link in this sentence. Until now, the closest we had come to a Court of Appeals decision on this issue was an unpublished affirmance by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit of the district court's decision in In re N.C.P. Marketing Group, Inc., 337 B.R. 230 (D. Nev. 2005).



From Business Bankruptcy Blog
Posted 1 year 41 weeks ago

Bankruptcy Judge's Free Online Research Binder Now Updated

I have posted in the past about the helpful research binder that former Judge Randall J. Newsome of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California had made available on the Bankruptcy Court's website. Although Judge Newsome has retired from the bench, fortunately Judge Charles Novack, also of the U.S.



From Business Bankruptcy Blog
Posted 1 year 47 weeks ago