Mid Cap
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June 25, 2024
AI Video Startup StoryFile Gets OK For Ch. 11 Loan
Artificial intelligence video company StoryFile on Tuesday got final approval from a New York bankruptcy judge to take out a $900,000 loan to fund its bankruptcy case.
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June 24, 2024
Ch. 11 Fee Cases Remanded After 'Very Practical' Decision
Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has decided refunds aren't owed to debtors who overpaid the U.S. Trustee's Office under a previous fee structure, it sent three similar cases that were pending before it back to the lower courts to give them a crack at applying the ruling.
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June 24, 2024
Justices End Irish Landowner's Fight Against $23M Clawback
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge by Irish businessman Sean Dunne and his ex-wife Gayle Killilea to a Chapter 7 trustee's roughly $23 million avoidance action win, leaving intact a Connecticut jury verdict and a Second Circuit rejection of the onetime couple's claims.
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June 24, 2024
Giuliani Trustee Sought, Eletson Has 3 Plans Up For Vote
Rudy Giuliani's creditors urged a bankruptcy court to appoint a trustee to oversee his finances, while the creditors of shipping company Eletson Holdings will be asked to choose between three competing Chapter 11 plans, and nearly all of biotechnology firm NanoString's creditors will be paid in full.
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June 24, 2024
Alex Jones Trustee Asks To Halt Actions Against Media Co.
The trustee in Alex Jones' Chapter 7 liquidation urged a Texas bankruptcy court to broaden that case's litigation freeze to cover the company that runs Jones' online show, arguing that doing so would help him conduct a smoother wind-down of the right-wing media personality's estate by protecting its assets.
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June 24, 2024
Texas Trucking Co. Files Ch. 7 With Over $100M In Debt
Transportation company U.S. Logistics Solutions Inc. entered Chapter 7 in a Texas bankruptcy court, dragging over $100 million in liabilities it will seek to address through liquidation.
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June 24, 2024
Biotech Co. Hits Ch. 11 With Plans For Sale And 'Reboot'
Virginia-based synthetic biology products maker Solar Biotech Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware with plans to sell its assets, saying a difficult capital market, the loss of a major client and the pandemic drained its cash and caused it to furlough employees.
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June 24, 2024
Justices Send 3 US Trustee Fee Cases Back To Lower Courts
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday vacated three appellate court decisions ordering refunds to debtors who had overpaid U.S. Trustee's Office fees under a previous fee structure and remanded the cases for further adjudication after resolving the issue earlier this month.
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June 24, 2024
Justices To Review If Ch. 7 Trustee Can Recover Tax Payments
The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it would review a Tenth Circuit decision that found that the Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee of a defunct Utah company could recover $145,000 in tax payments from the IRS.
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June 21, 2024
After Surfside Collapse, Safety Reform And A 'Condo Crisis'
In the three years since 98 lives were lost in the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, Florida, several states have worked on legislation to address building safety. But their efforts to back the pledge of "never again" are stirring up concerns that they are fostering a whole new quandary for millions of condo owners.
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June 21, 2024
Real Estate Recap: Distressed Deals, Housing Hurdles, Infill
Catch up on this week's key state developments from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including tips for guiding distressed office deals, the latest intel from Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies, and how one U.S. city has been a magnet for federal funding of brownfield projects.
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June 21, 2024
Conn. Steel Co. Files Ch. 11 After Contractor Dispute
A $2.29 million judgment and the sunsetting of the $7.5 million limit for a bankruptcy provision aimed at small businesses prompted a Connecticut steel company to hit Chapter 11 this week, an attorney for the debtor said at a hearing Friday.
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June 21, 2024
Mountain Sports Kicks Off $55M Ch. 11 Case
A Delaware bankruptcy judge on Friday approved a slate of first-day motions for Mountain Sports LLC, the parent company of two sports retail chains, as it prepares to wind down its business.
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June 21, 2024
Alex Jones Can't Appeal Bankruptcy Order On Debt To Victims
A Texas federal judge has rejected Alex Jones' bid to appeal a bankruptcy court order that said he couldn't use his Chapter 11 case to avoid paying damages to the families of Sandy Hook victims, ruling that the legal substance of the right-wing radio host's proposed challenge had already been considered by the Fifth Circuit.
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June 21, 2024
Girardi Wants To Block Evidence Of Ex-Clients' Injuries At Trial
At the upcoming fraud trial of disgraced attorney Tom Girardi, his defense attorneys want to exclude any mention of the horrific injuries suffered by the clients he allegedly stole from, while prosecutors want to introduce evidence that he allegedly spent $25 million to fund the lavish lifestyle of his celebrity ex-wife.
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June 21, 2024
Meet The Attorneys In Skin Cancer Test Co. DermTech's Ch. 11
A team of lawyers from Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC is guiding melanoma screening provider DermTech Inc. through its Chapter 11 case in Delaware.
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June 21, 2024
Paul Hastings Bankruptcy Ace Joins Greenberg Traurig
Greenberg Traurig LLP added a Houston-based veteran bankruptcy attorney from Paul Hastings as a new shareholder.
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June 21, 2024
Axiom Stays £65M Action As Directors Claim Bankruptcy
A London judge ruled on Friday that shuttered firm Axiom Ince can stay its almost £65 million ($82 million) claim against its ex-director and several of his companies for allegedly misappropriating client funds, saying the main defendant has been declared bankrupt.
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June 20, 2024
Crypto Co. Hector DAO's Ch. 15 Stems From Hacks, Lawsuit
The recent crypto downturn, hacks and ensuing investor litigation prompted the British Virgin Islands-based cryptocurrency exchange Hector DAO to file for Chapter 15 in New Jersey, as it seeks to pause the lawsuit and other threatened claims.
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June 20, 2024
Cancer Test Company DermTech Gets 1st Day Approvals
Bankrupt California-based dermatologic test maker DermTech Inc. won approval on Thursday for a series of first-day Chapter 11 motions, including to continue paying providers of electricity, internet and other utilities that power its molecular laboratory.
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June 20, 2024
Spinal Implant Maker Can Liquidate Under Ch. 11 Plan
A Delaware bankruptcy judge agreed Thursday to approve the Chapter 11 liquidation and wind-down plan of biotechnology developer InVivo, which reported it landed a buyer for its spinal cord implant technology following an unsuccessful bankruptcy auction.
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June 20, 2024
Ex-ITT Students Net $12M Win In Predatory Lending Scheme
A California federal judge has ordered loan servicer Vervent Inc. to pay $12 million to ex-students of bankrupt for-profit college ITT Education Services Inc. for Vervent's role in an alleged predatory lending scheme for ITT's benefit, finding it was appropriate to triple a $4 million jury award.
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June 20, 2024
Boies Schiller Tapped To Represent Ex-Judge In Romance Suit
A former Texas bankruptcy judge has brought on Boies Schiller Flexner LLP attorneys to defend him against a racketeering lawsuit from a barge business over his undisclosed romantic relationship with a then-Jackson Walker LLP attorney involved in the company's bankruptcy case.
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June 20, 2024
US Trustee Says Bittrex Still Owes Sanctioned Creditors
The U.S. Trustee asked a Delaware judge not to close the Chapter 11 case of crypto exchange Bittrex Inc., arguing that the estate must first get government permission to settle up with creditors in countries under U.S. sanctions.
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June 18, 2024
Judge Skeptical Of Houston Developer's $2M DIP Bid In Ch. 11
The insolvent developer of an almost-finished apartment building in Houston hit a hiccup Tuesday during its first-day hearing in a Texas bankruptcy court, where a judge indicated the company did not present enough evidence to support a nearly $2 million debtor-in-possession package from an affiliate of its subordinate lender.
Expert Analysis
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Asserting 'Presence-Of-Counsel' Defense In Securities Trials
As illustrated by the fraud trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, defense attorneys in securities trials might consider arguing that counsel had some involvement in the conduct at issue — if the more formal advice-of-counsel defense is unavailable and circumstances allow for a privilege waiver, say Joseph Dever and Matthew Elkin at Cozen O'Connor.
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Crypto Has Democratized Trading In Bankruptcy Claims
Following the pandemic, there has been a wave of cryptocurrency bankruptcies and a related increase in access to information, allowing nontraditional bankruptcy investors to purchase claims and democratizing a once closed segment of alternative investing, says Joseph Sarachek at Strategic Liquidity.
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The Case For Post-Bar Clerk Training Programs At Law Firms
In today's competitive legal hiring market, an intentionally designed training program for law school graduates awaiting bar admission can be an effective way of creating a pipeline of qualified candidates, says Brent Daub at Gilson Daub.
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5 Key Tips For Attorneys In The Subchapter V Arena
Subchapter V cases present unique challenges for the nondebtor parties-in-interest, and habits developed by attorneys in typical Chapter 11 cases do not necessarily translate, meaning creditors and their counsel should quickly take a proactive role in their cases to protect their interests, which can be done by attending the 341 meeting, analyzing the plan, and more, says Kelly Singer at Squire Patton.
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Attorneys Have An Ethical Duty To Protect The Judiciary
The tenor of public disagreement and debate has become increasingly hostile against judges, and though the legislative branch is trying to ameliorate this safety gap, lawyers have a moral imperative and professional requirement to stand with judges in defusing attacks against them and their rulings, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.
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Why The Debt Maturity Wall Is Still A Figment, For Now
While the phenomenon of the debt maturity wall — a growing wall of staggered corporate debt maturities — has been considered a looming problem since the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis, it’s unlikely to have significant consequences before 2025 due to factors such as quantitative easing and evolved lending practices, says Michael Eisenband at FTI Consulting.
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AI Can Help Lawyers Overcome The Programming Barrier
Legal professionals without programming expertise can use generative artificial intelligence to harness the power of automation and other technology solutions to streamline their work, without the steep learning curve traditionally associated with coding, says George Zalepa at Greenberg Traurig.
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10 Essential Bankruptcy Litigation Tips For In-House Counsel
Bankruptcy litigation is a complex and multifaceted area of law that poses unique challenges for in-house counsel, and there are several tools at legal professionals' disposal, like appraisals and understanding jurisdictions, to stay well-informed and protect their companies' interests, says Alison Ashmore at Dykema.
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Preparing Law Students For A New, AI-Assisted Legal World
As artificial intelligence rapidly transforms the legal landscape, law schools must integrate technology and curricula that address AI’s innate challenges — from ethics to data security — to help students stay ahead of the curve, say Daniel Garrie at Law & Forensics, Ryan Abbott at JAMS and Karen Silverman at Cantellus Group.
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Sellers Seeking Best Deal Should Focus On Terms And Price
Rising interest rates and a decline in the automotive mergers and acquisitions market mean that a failed deal carries greater stakes, and sellers therefore should pursue not only the optimum price but also the optimum terms to safeguard their agreement, says Joseph Aboyoun at Fox Rothschild.
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General Counsel Need Data Literacy To Keep Up With AI
With the rise of accessible and powerful generative artificial intelligence solutions, it is imperative for general counsel to understand the use and application of data for myriad important activities, from evaluating the e-discovery process to monitoring compliance analytics and more, says Colin Levy at Malbek.
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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.