Mid Cap
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October 09, 2024
Girardi Seeks New Fraud Trial Over Memory Issues
Disbarred attorney Tom Girardi has called on a California federal court to overturn his conviction for misappropriating $15 million in client settlement funds, arguing he was not competent to stand trial due to memory problems that left him unable to remember witnesses or even his own attorneys.
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October 09, 2024
US Trustee Objects To Milbank Representing Edgio In Ch. 11
Milbank LLP should be removed as counsel for digital content delivery platform Edgio Inc. in its Chapter 11, the U.S. Trustee's Office told a Delaware federal judge, arguing the firm is conflicted because of its ongoing work representing Edgio directors and officers in various securities suits.
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October 09, 2024
Medical Device Service Co. Hits Ch. 11 After Fight With Rival
The parent company of medical device sale and service business Avante Health Solutions filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware court, saying prepetition litigation with competitors drained significant resources that led to a default on its secured debt obligations.
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October 08, 2024
Judge Puts US Trustee's Depo On Ice In Judge Romance Suit
A Houston judge Tuesday put Jackson Walker's deposition of the U.S. Trustee for the Texas divisions of the bankruptcy watchdog on hold while he considers whether a Justice Department guideline applies to the ongoing dispute surrounding a former Texas bankruptcy judge's secret relationship with an ex-partner of the firm.
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October 08, 2024
Ex-Girardi Keese CFO Inks Plea Deal Over Firm Embezzlement
Girardi Keese's former Chief Financial Officer Christopher K. Kamon reached a plea agreement Tuesday with Los Angeles federal prosecutors, who allege he spearheaded a "side fraud" that bilked millions of dollars from the embattled law firm's accounts behind disbarred attorney Tom Girardi's back.
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October 08, 2024
Meet The Attorneys Directing Dental Laser Co. Biolase's Ch. 11
Biolase Inc., which makes laser systems used by dentists, has retained teams from Potter Anderson & Corroon LLP and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP as it plans for a swift sale during its Chapter 11 case.
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October 08, 2024
1st Circ. Warned Not To 'Speculate' In Union Debt Ceiling Suit
A lawyer for a governmental workers' union challenging the constitutionality of the federal debt limit told a First Circuit panel on Tuesday that a January default is a virtual certainty under existing law, and urged the judges to avoid trying to predict whether President Joe Biden and a lame-duck Congress might extend the ceiling.
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October 08, 2024
Wiggin Adds Restructuring Practice Chair In NY
Wiggin and Dana LLP said Tuesday that it has hired a partner to chair the firm's newly organized restructuring practice in New York, as well as a new special counsel for that group.
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October 08, 2024
Texas Class Wants Funding Firms To Face Hurricane Ad Suit
A Texas magistrate judge was wrong to recommend dropping litigation funding companies from a suit alleging a law firm deceptively advertised to hurricane victims, with a proposed class of storm victims arguing the funders must have been aware of the scheme when they loaned the firm $20 million.
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October 07, 2024
Music Label Says 2 Live Crew Songs Were Works For Hire
The owner of music label Lil' Joe Records took the stand Monday as he began to make the case that the members of hip-hop group 2 Live Crew were employees, not independent contractors, when they produced their hits and therefore cannot claw back their rights to the recordings.
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October 07, 2024
FTX Wins Plan Approval, Diamond Sports Drops MLB Deals
FTX will start repaying customers using up to $16.5 billion in assets that the fallen cryptocurrency company has recovered since filing for bankruptcy in November 2022, after a Delaware bankruptcy judge blessed FTX's reorganization plan at a hearing Monday.
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October 07, 2024
Aircraft Co. Says Insurers Owe $222M For Lost Jets In Russia
An aircraft lessor said its insurers and underwriters are on the hook for more than $222 million in losses stemming from two aircraft that have been stranded in Russia since its invasion of Ukraine, telling a Connecticut state court the total loss of the aircraft warrants coverage.
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October 07, 2024
Vendor Says Rue21 Skipped $2M In Bills For Clothing
A Los Angeles-based clothing supplier has sued Rue21, saying the fashion retailer stiffed it on $300,000 worth of invoices and is on the hook for $1.7 million to another vendor.
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October 07, 2024
Heart Monitor, Trucking Firms Lead MidCap Filings This Week
Several midcap companies filed for bankruptcy protection within the past week, spanning industries that include the medical device and transportation spaces.
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October 07, 2024
Judge Agrees To OK Tender Greens' $28M Credit Bid Sale
One Table Restaurant Brands LLC, the Los Angeles-based operator of casual restaurant chain Tender Greens and Mexican eatery Tocaya, received a Delaware bankruptcy judge's interim approval Monday to sell its assets to a private equity-backed stalking horse bidder for a $28 million credit bid.
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October 04, 2024
Private Utility Blasts Pa. City's Ch. 9 Plan As Asset Grab
Private utility entity Aqua Pennsylvania asked a Pennsylvania bankruptcy judge to reject the City of Chester's proposed Chapter 9 plan, saying the city is trying to "commandeer" water and sewer assets in which Aqua has an interest.
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October 04, 2024
MLB's Storied History Runs Through The Bankruptcy Court
With the value of professional sports teams skyrocketing over the last decade, it's hard to imagine a Major League Baseball club having to file for bankruptcy. But it's happened at least five times since 1970 for a variety of reasons, and the teams that have taken advantage of the bankruptcy courts have charted much different paths post-insolvency.
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October 04, 2024
EB-5 Partner Accuses NC Atty Of Aiding Investor Coup
A company created to protect an investment project supporting green card applications for Chinese nationals accused a North Carolina attorney in state court of helping shareholders try to place the company into receivership and take control of a $30 million fund.
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October 04, 2024
Ex-Judge Jones Says Judicial Acts Bar Atty Romance Claims
Former bankruptcy judge David R. Jones said judicial immunity bars claims over his undisclosed romantic relationship with a former Jackson Walker LLP attorney because the purported harm to the onetime head of a now-shuttered barge company stemmed from official acts.
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October 04, 2024
Ex-Skadden Partner Leaves Retirement, Joins AY Strauss
Commercial real estate boutique A.Y. Strauss announced Thursday that it had hired a former Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP litigator who is returning to the legal field after retiring in 2020.
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October 03, 2024
Biden Admin's Latest Debt Relief Plan Blocked In Missouri
A Missouri federal judge Thursday blocked the Biden administration's latest student debt relief proposal, finding that the six Republican-led states leading the challenge will likely show the plan is unlawful, just a day after a Georgia federal judge knocked the Peach State out and punted the case to St. Louis.
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October 03, 2024
Bankruptcy Doesn't Pause Tipster's Case, Tax Court Says
A tax tipster's bankruptcy filing doesn't pause his U.S. Tax Court case challenging the Internal Revenue Service's denial of his request for a whistleblower award, the Tax Court ruled Thursday, saying the award case doesn't concern his tax liability.
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October 03, 2024
2 Years After Crypto Collapse, Silvergate Seeks Coda In Ch. 11
Cryptocurrency-focused bank Silvergate's parent company recently filed for Chapter 11 protection, roughly two years since it weathered a crypto market crash, avoiding a failure and seeking to wind down its operations on its own terms.
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October 03, 2024
Allred Feud With Ex-Tenant Over 'Large Rodent' Puzzles Judge
Gloria Allred's long-running dispute with a former tenant — who said he fled rats in her Manhattan apartment eight years ago — spilled into New York federal court Monday, leaving the judge to wonder aloud why the celebrity attorney was still suing the man over a $25,000 claim as he sought bankruptcy protection.
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October 03, 2024
Sham Law Firm Employee Gets 5 Years For Foreclosure Fraud
A Virginia man was sentenced to five years in prison and hit with a $159,000 fine for what a D.C. federal judge called Thursday the "horrendous" crime of using a Manassas law firm to defraud homeowners facing foreclosure.
Expert Analysis
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Rite Aid's Reasons For Ch. 11 Go Beyond Opioid Suits
Despite opioid-related lawsuits being the perceived reason that pushed Rite Aid into bankruptcy, the company's recent Chapter 11 filing reveals its tenuous position in the pharmaceutical retail market, and only time will tell whether bankruptcy will right-size the company, says Daniel Gielchinsky at DGIM Law.
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Navigating Discovery Of Generative AI Information
As generative artificial intelligence tools become increasingly ubiquitous, companies must make sure to preserve generative AI data when there is reasonable expectation of litigation, and to include transcripts in litigation hold notices, as they may be relevant to discovery requests, say Nick Peterson and Corey Hauser at Wiley.
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Finding Focus: Strategies For Attorneys With ADHD
Given the prevalence of ADHD among attorneys, it is imperative that the legal community gain a better understanding of how ADHD affects well-being, and that resources and strategies exist for attorneys with this disability to manage their symptoms and achieve success, say Casey Dixon at Dixon Life Coaching and Krista Larson at Stinson.
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A Look At DOJ's New Nationwide Investment Fraud Approach
Investment fraud charges are increasingly being brought in unlikely venues across the country, and the rationale behind the U.S. Department of Justice's approach could well be the heightened legal standards in connection with prosecuting investment fraud, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.
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Decoding The Digital Asset Landscape In Bankruptcy
Recent cases show the explosion of cryptocurrency as an asset class has created new challenges for debtors-in-possession, bankruptcy trustees, and federal and state receivers, and fiduciaries will have to consider a number of legal and practical considerations when determining how to manage these assets in insolvency, say David Castleman at Otterbourg and Anthony Facciano at Stretto.
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How Fla. Bankruptcy Ruling May Affect Equity Owners
A Florida bankruptcy court’s recent ruling in Vital Pharmaceuticals — which rejected the Third Circuit’s Majestic Star decision that determined a bankrupt corporation’s flow-through status was not protected by the automatic stay — may significantly affect how equity owners can mitigate the impact of flow-through structures in bankruptcy, say Eric Behl-Remijan and Natasha Hwangpo at Ropes & Gray.
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Calif. Ruling May Open Bankruptcy Trustees To Tort Liability
In Martin v. Gladstone, a recent California appellate court decision, the application of tort concepts to bankruptcy trustees could pose a new concern for trustees and federal receivers when controlling and maintaining commercial property, says Jarrett Osborne-Revis at Buchalter.
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Co. Directors Must Beware Dangers Of Reverse Factoring
New accounting requirements governing the disclosure of so-called reverse-factoring programs have revealed billions of dollars worth of hidden liabilities on companies’ ledgers, and directors of corporate boards should review their companies’ books for this hidden danger, say Garland Kelley at Looper Goodwine, Amin Al-Sarraf at Locke Lord and Jill Basinger at Discovery Land.
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Attorneys, Law Schools Must Adapt To New Era Of Evidence
Technological advancements mean more direct evidence is being created than ever before, and attorneys as well as law schools must modify their methods to account for new challenges in how this evidence is collected and used to try cases, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Why 7th Circ. Libel Ruling Is Crucial For The Media
As more defamation plaintiffs attorneys argue that allowing a published statement to remain online after additional evidence of falsity emerges equates to actual malice, the Seventh Circuit's recent National Police Association v. Gannett opinion should be lauded by the media and online publishers as a favorable decision, say attorneys at Vedder Price.
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Tips For Litigating Against Pro Se Parties In Complex Disputes
Litigating against self-represented parties in complex cases can pose unique challenges for attorneys, but for the most part, it requires the same skills that are useful in other cases — from documenting everything to understanding one’s ethical duties, says Bryan Ketroser at Alto Litigation.
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3 Cases Show Tensions Between Arbitration And Insolvency
The intersection of international arbitration and insolvency may influence the formulation of litigation strategy on a global scale, and several recent cases illustrate the need for counsel to understand how courts are varying in their approaches, say attorneys at Skadden.
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Air Ambulance Ch. 11s Show Dispute Program Must Resume
Air Methods’ recent bankruptcy filing highlights the urgent need to reopen the No Surprises Act’s independent dispute resolution program for air ambulances, whose shutdown benefits insurance companies and hurts providers, says Adam Schramek at Norton Rose.