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Bankruptcy
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December 02, 2024
Miss America CEO Files $500M Suit Alleging Bankruptcy Fraud
The producer of the Miss America pageant and its related entities have filed a $500 million racketeering suit in Florida accusing developer Glenn Straub of fraudulently pushing the organization into bankruptcy in an effort to take over its assets.
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December 02, 2024
Jackson Walker 'Extinguished' Privilege Over Judge Romance
An Oregon federal judge has said Holland & Knight LLP lawyers must turn over documents regarding their advice to Jackson Walker LLP on how to handle the "debacle" of a former firm partner's intimate relationship with a former bankruptcy judge, finding Jackson Walker has "utterly extinguished" any claim to attorney-client privilege.
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December 02, 2024
Bankrupt Dental Co. To Repay Customers $4.8M, NY AG Says
Dental telehealth company SmileDirectClub has agreed to pay $4.8 million in refunds to customers who were improperly charged after the company went bankrupt and shut down in 2023, according to a settlement announced Monday by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
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December 02, 2024
Pool Co. Says Rival CEO Fled To China To Duck Paying $16M
A bankrupt Chinese pool parts supplier has been accused by an American competitor of going to great lengths to skirt a $16 million false advertising and unfair business practices judgment in continued violation of court orders, including allegedly funneling assets and allowing its owner to flee to China.
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November 27, 2024
Special Master In Citgo Sale Suit Goes Back To Drawing Board
The special master overseeing the sale of Citgo's parent company in a proceeding aimed at satisfying billions of dollars in Venezuelan debt has agreed to abandon his proposed sales plan after it became clear how little support it had garnered from creditors, he told a Delaware judge on Tuesday.
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November 27, 2024
Developer Settles Landslide Claims From Ryan Homes, Town
The bankrupt developer of a housing project that was beset by landslides has settled with a construction company and a Western Pennsylvania township in exchange for finishing some of its remaining cleanup work and giving the township the remaining lots, burying a six-year dispute.
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November 27, 2024
Miss America Ch. 11 Dismissal Hearing To Wait For Event
A hearing on a motion to dismiss the Chapter 11 case of an entity tied to the Miss America pageant will wait until after the competition wraps up in January, a Florida bankruptcy judge ruled Wednesday, allowing for discovery among two parties disputing the proper ownership of the organization.
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November 27, 2024
Compass NJ Tapped To Sell $33M Miles Guo Mansion In Ch. 11
The trustee handling the Chapter 11 of exiled Chinese businessman and convicted fraudster Miles Guo asked the Connecticut bankruptcy court to let him hire four agents with residential real estate firm Compass to sell a historic 58-room mansion in Mahwah, New Jersey.
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November 27, 2024
Up Next At The High Court: Transgender Care, Holocaust Art
The U.S. Supreme Court will return to the bench Monday for its December arguments session, which will include blockbuster questions about the constitutionality of state laws banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors and whether Hungary can be held liable for property stolen during World War II.
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November 27, 2024
Tech Co. Afiniti Gets Ch. 15 Recognition Of Bermuda Reorg
A Delaware bankruptcy judge said she would recognize the Bermuda insolvency proceedings of software company Afiniti Ltd. as it seeks to restructure more than $500 million in debt.
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November 26, 2024
Mexican Lender Seeks US Recognition Of UK Reorg
The England and Wales-based subsidiary of a Mexican industrial equipment leasing and financing group has asked a New York bankruptcy court to grant Chapter 15 recognition of insolvency proceedings it launched in the U.K. to deal with about $351 million of debt.
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November 26, 2024
Customers Sue Fintech Partner Banks After Processor Failure
Five banks holding funds for customers of fintech platforms face proposed class action claims of gross mismanagement after "significant ledger irregularities" totaling $85 million were discovered in the wake of an intermediary software company's bankruptcy.
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November 26, 2024
Beasley Allen Escapes Sanctions For J&J Deposition No Show
A Texas bankruptcy judge on Tuesday laid ground rules for documents and communications to be shared in a messy discovery phase of the Chapter 11 of Red River Talc, Johnson & Johnson's latest liability spinoff, while also saying he wouldn't sanction a Beasley Allen attorney who didn't appear at a deposition last week.
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November 26, 2024
Bankrupt Canadian Bus Co. Seeks US Recognition For Sale
A Canadian charter bus company that provides buses for Los Angeles airports is asking a California bankruptcy judge to grant U.S. recognition to its efforts to sell the company in a Canadian insolvency proceeding.
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November 26, 2024
Paul Hastings Seeks GenapSys CEO Depo In Malpractice Suit
Paul Hastings LLP has called on a California court to compel the founder and former CEO of GenapSys to sit for a deposition in a legal malpractice suit alleging that the firm improperly drafted board documents that invited an expensive lawsuit and led to the genetic sequencing company's "demise and liquidation."
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November 26, 2024
X Corp. Says InfoWars Social Media Accounts Can't Be Sold
The parent company that owns X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, told a Texas bankruptcy judge that the Chapter 7 trustee in the case of right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones can't sell X accounts tied to Jones and his InfoWars business because they are the property of the social media company.
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November 26, 2024
Pa. Nursing Home Eying Sale Seeks Fraud Sentencing Delay
The parent company for a troubled Western Pennsylvania nursing home asked a federal court to postpone a sentencing for defrauding state and federal healthcare programs so the company can keep trying to sell the facility, or at least relocate its residents over a longer period of time.
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November 26, 2024
Giuliani's New Atty Faults Previous Counsel As NY Trial Nears
A Manhattan federal judge declined Tuesday to delay a January trial over whether Rudy Giuliani must turn over his Florida condo and World Series rings to fund a $148 million defamation judgment, after the former New York City mayor's new lawyer criticized outgoing counsel.
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November 25, 2024
Judge Eyes Dec. Hearing To Sort Out Onion's Bid For Infowars
A Texas judge asked the Chapter 7 trustee in right-wing fabulist Alex Jones' bankruptcy to preserve the status quo until a sale hearing sometime in December that will determine whether the parent company of satirical news publisher The Onion was correctly chosen as the winning bidder in the auction for Jones' Infowars program.
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November 25, 2024
Tuna Price-Fixing MDL Lead Attys Awarded $86M In Fees
A California federal judge has agreed to award a combined total of $86 million in fees and costs to lead counsel representing two classes of canned tuna buyers who reached settlements in recent months with StarKist, Dongwon Industries and Lion Capital in a decadelong price-fixing case.
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November 25, 2024
Lampert, Sears Stockholders Set Appraisal Share Faceoff
Delaware's Court of Chancery has teed up an argument on how to handle class member claims of former Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores Inc. stockholders whose share appraisal demand was torpedoed by the company's bankruptcy in 2022.
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November 25, 2024
Spirit's Cayman Units To Hit Ch. 11 As Airline Eyes Swift Reorg
Four Spirit Airlines subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands were expected to file for bankruptcy protection Monday and ask a New York federal court to join the company's main Chapter 11 case, a move that Spirit says will help keep the debtor on course to confirm a reorganization plan.
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November 25, 2024
Pitney Bowes E-Commerce Arm Confirms Ch. 11 Wind-Down
A Texas bankruptcy judge on Monday gave DRF Logistics, the former online delivery arm of shipping and logistics group Pitney Bowes, the all clear to move forward on plans to wind down in Chapter 11 with a recently inked global settlement with the committee of unsecured creditors.
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November 25, 2024
Sanctions Sought Against Reed Smith In Eletson Ch. 11
Creditors of bankrupt gas tanker operator Eletson Holdings Monday called for "harsh sanctions" against company directors and officers and their attorneys at Reed Smith, saying they are peddling bogus legal theories to stall the company's reorganization.
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November 22, 2024
Retirement Contributions Found Not Disposable In Ch. 13
A split Ninth Circuit on Friday held that voluntary contributions to employer-managed retirement plans are not disposable income under Chapter 13 bankruptcy, reversing a lower court's decision that required a debtor to include $484 in monthly retirement contributions in her disposable income.
Expert Analysis
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Considerations For Cooperation Contracts In Loan Trades
Significant challenges to settling trades can arise when lenders of syndicated bank loans enter into defense-oriented cooperation agreements, which are growing in popularity, but working through these issues on the front end of a trade can save hours down the road, says Robert Waldner at Crowell & Moring.
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Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age
As law firms begin to use generative artificial intelligence to complete lower-level legal tasks, they’ll need to consider new ways to train summer associates and early-career attorneys, keeping in mind the five stages of skill acquisition, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing
When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Series
Playing Chess Makes Me A Better Lawyer
There are many ways that chess skills translate directly into lawyer skills, but for me, the bigger career lessons go beyond the direct parallels — playing chess has shown me the value of seeing gradual improvement in and focusing deep concentration on a nonwork endeavor, says attorney Steven Fink.
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9th Circ. Clarifies ERISA Preemption For Healthcare Industry
The Ninth Circuit's recent ruling in Bristol SL Holdings v. Cigna notably clarifies the broad scope of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act's preemption of certain state law causes of action, standing to benefit payors and health plan administrators, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians
Although litigation won’t earn anyone an Olympic medal in Paris this summer, it can be worthy of the same lasting honor if attorneys exercise focused restraint — seeking both their clients’ interests and those of the court — instead of merely pursuing every advantage short of sanctionable conduct, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
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Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent
As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.
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NY Combined Hearing Guidelines Can Shorten Ch. 11 Timeline
The Southern District of New York’s recently adopted guidelines on combining the processes for Chapter 11 plan confirmation and disclosure statement approval may shorten the Chapter 11 timeline for companies and reduce associated costs, say Robert Drain and Moshe Jacob at Skadden.
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Opinion
Bankruptcy Judges Can Justly Resolve Mass Tort Cases
Johnson & Johnson’s recent announcement of a prepackaged reorganization plan for its talc unit highlights that Chapter 11 is a continually evolving living statute that can address new types of problems with reorganization, value and job preservation, and just treatment for creditors, says Kenneth Rosen at Ken Rosen Advisors PC.
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Series
Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Atop the list of ways fishing makes me a better lawyer is the relief it offers from the chronic stress of a demanding caseload, but it has also improved my listening skills and patience, and has served as an exceptional setting for building earnest relationships, says Steven DeGeorge at Robinson Bradshaw.
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A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence
The legal profession has long been plagued by high rates of mental health issues, in part due to attorneys’ early training and broader societal stereotypes — but developing one’s emotional intelligence is one way to foster positive change, collectively and individually, says attorney Esperanza Franco.
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To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef
To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?
Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.
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Perspectives
Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys
As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.
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5th Circ. Bond Claim Ruling Shows Creditors Must Be Vigilant
In Raymond James & Associates v. Jalbert, the Fifth Circuit recently held that the bankruptcy debtor's indemnification obligations were discharged by the confirmed plan because the indemnified party failed to speak up, demonstrating that creditors must proactively protect their rights, says Joshua Lesser at Bradley Arant.