By Charles W. Azano (Mintz Levin).
Jurisprudence varies on whether bankruptcy courts have the power to consolidate a bankruptcy debtor with a non-debtor. Even those courts that have permitted consolidation have done so with trepidation, calling the remedy “extreme” or “extraordinary,” and that the power is to be used “cautiously” or “sparingly.”
Two courts recently addressed whether it is possible for a non-debtor to be consolidated into the bankruptcy of an affiliated debtor, or whether such attempts are dead-on-arrival. First, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors v. Archdiocese of Saint Paul & Minneapolis (In re Archdiocese of Saint Paul & Minneapolis), held that because Section 303(a) of the Bankruptcy Code protected non-profit entities from involuntary bankruptcy filings, non-profit non-debtors could not be substantively consolidated into a debtor’s bankruptcy. Second, the United States Bankruptcy Court of the Northern District of Illinois, in Audette v. Jasemir (In re Concepts Am., Inc.), went even further and held that substantive consolidation of a non-debtor was barred under all circumstances in the Seventh Circuit. While both cases determined that the remedy of substantive consolidation was not available, they also each suggested that state law alter ego or piercing claims may provide the creditor an alternative remedy. This may just be a coincidence, or it may be a trend. In either event, it is fair to ask if there is a growing judicial preference for state law claims when a non-debtor is involved.
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