By Richard Levin of Jenner & Block
The bankruptcy courts and their appellate courts continue to explore issues of interest to practitioners and academics. This quarterly summary of recent developments in bankruptcy law covers cases reported during the second quarter of 2016.
Cases of note include the Supreme Court’s invalidation of Puerto Rico’s homegrown restructuring statute and its surprising conclusion that an individual debtor’s debt to his corporation’s creditor might be nondischargeable for “obtain[ing] money or property” by “actual fraud” where the corporation transferred away property in an actual fraudulent transfer.
The Second Circuit upset GM’s 2009 bankruptcy sale by granting some ignition switch plaintiffs an exemption from the free and clear ruling because they didn’t have a chance to participate in sale process negotiations. The debate over whether the Code’s financial contracts safe harbor preempts creditors’ claims under state fraudulent transfer laws continues with a Delaware decision ruling against preemption.
A Delaware bankruptcy court (following a recent Illinois decision) invalidated an LLC agreement provision that allowed a creditor to veto a bankruptcy filing. In a boost for litigation funding, a Florida bankruptcy court found that communications with the funder might be subject to the common interest privilege.
And in a decision that should send shudders down the spine of every consumer bankruptcy lawyer, the Ninth Circuit BAP held that a chapter 7 trustee may reject a debtor’s prepaid retainer agreement with his lawyer to defend dischargeability litigation and recover “unused” fees.
The full memo is available here.
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We at the Bankruptcy Roundtable will take a break from posting for the next few weeks in August and hope that you too will be able to get away from your desk at work. We’ll be back after Labor Day.