Owoc v. Liquidating Trustee on Behalf of Liquidating Trust, — F.4th —-, 2026 WL 2294569 (11th Cir. August 10, 2026) (click for .pdf). The issue on appeal was whether a corporate debtor’s Subchapter S election constitutes property of the bankruptcy estate. Pursuant to a Chapter 11 plan, the debtor corporation’s reconstituted board removed the sole… Continue Reading
I am straying off the strict topic of Bankruptcy law and into an area of general litigation and attorney ethics that has come up in one of my pending cases. When it is OK for a lawyer to pay, or offer to pay, a witness in a pending case? The common sense answer that probably… Continue Reading
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals issues a reminder to debtors’ counsel that they can protect themselves with beneficial (boilerplate) terms in a Chapter 11 Plan. In In re SC SJ Holdings, LLC, 2024 WL 1328233 (3rd. Cir. March 28, 2024), the Debtor was the owner of a hotel that was operated by Accor Management… Continue Reading
In Jay Alix, as assignee of AlixPartners, LLP v. McKinsey & Co., Inc., 2022 WL 163800 (2nd Cir., January 19, 2022) (click here for .pdf), two major competitors in the niche market of Bankruptcy advising to estates with a billion dollars or more of assets were in court against each other over lucrative consulting assignments.… Continue Reading
Apologies in advance for the lengthy post and quotes, but my goal was to provide a meaningful summary of the change-of-course for the Eleventh Circuit and scaling back the application of the Rooker-Feldman Doctrine. The Rooker-Feldman Doctrine, in general, is a “narrow jurisdictional doctrine” that “simply establishes that a party who loses a case in… Continue Reading
Bitcoin – currency, the equivalent of U.S. dollars, or a commodity more similar to a product or stock? (What is Bitcoin?). If a Trustee sues to avoid and recover a transfer of Bitcoin, is the claim amount for the value of the transfer at the time of the transfer, or increased (or decreased) value at… Continue Reading
The Chapter 7 Trustee of Raving Brands, Inc. filed on August 16, 2012 an adversary proceeding against several former owners, officers and directors of the Debtor, as well as several affiliated companies, alleging, inter alia, that the parties engaged in a widespread effort to deceive the public, its franchisees, the press, courts and its creditors.… Continue Reading
In CML V, LLC v. Bax, No. 735, 2010 (Del. Supr. Sept. 2, 2011) (click here for .pdf of opinion), the Delaware Supreme Court addressed the questions of whether a creditor can file a derivative action against a limited liability company. Plaintiff CML asserted the following derivative claims against the present and former members of… Continue Reading
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has issued the first published Circuit Court opinion on the question of whether trademarks are assignable in a Bankruptcy case. The opinion, authored by Judge Posner, is in the case of In re XMH Corp., Nos. 10-2596, 10-2597, 10-2598, 10-2599, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 15372 (7th Cir. July 26, 2011) (click… Continue Reading
The State of Georgia is among the national leaders in banks closed by state and federal agencies. So far in 2011, six Georgia banks have been closed, with the latest two being Habersham Bank and Citizens Bank of Effingham. Since late 2008, when the banking crisis hit, a total of fifty seven Georgia banks have… Continue Reading
Francis G.X. Pileggi, Esq. has compiled a summary of key corporate and commercial decisions in Delaware for the year 2008. You can view the summary (as well as links to key decisions of prior years) by going to his Delaware Corporate and Commercial Litigation Blog. The summary was published in Delaware Law Weekly.… Continue Reading
Bridgeport Holdings Inc. Liquidating Trust v. Boyer (In re Bridgeport Holdings, Inc.), 2008 WL 2235330 (Bankr. D. Del. May 30, 2008). Summary: Liquidating trust brought adversary proceeding against Chapter 11 debtors’ former officers and directors and restructuring professional appointed to position of chief operating officer (COO), asserting claims for breach of fiduciary duty and lack… Continue Reading
From the Delaware Bankruptcy Blog, comes the case of Miller v. McCown De Leeuw & Co., Inc. (In re Brown Schools), No. 05-10841, Adv. No. 06-50861 (Bankr. D. Del. April 24, 2008). Duty of care violations more closely resemble causes of action for deepening insolvency because the alleged injury in both is the result of… Continue Reading
From the Delaware Litigation Blog comes the case of Nelson v. Emerson, 2008 WL 1961150 (Del. Ch., May 6, 2008) (the opinion is linked from the Delaware Litigation Blog), where the one major secured creditor alleged the directors of the corporation breached their fiduciary duty to the creditor by filing a Chapter 11 petition and… Continue Reading
By: Scott B. Riddle, Esq. Vibratech, Inc. v. Frost, et al., 2008 WL 1704091 (Ga. App. March 27, 2008). Although this Georgia Court of Appeals opinion involves a bankruptcy issue, it is more important for the discussion and holding on personal jurisdiction. This case indicates that a defendant can be hauled into Georgia Courts based on… Continue Reading
Francis Pileggi, in this post, discusses the Delaware Bankruptcy Court’s opinion in the case of Miller v. McDonald (In re World Health Alternatives, Inc.), 2008 WL 1002035 ( Bankr., Del. April 9, 2008) (pdf opinion here). In this opinion on a motion to dismiss claims against an officer of a company, the Bankruptcy Court relied on decisions of the Delaware… Continue Reading
I have written about the waning popularity of deepening insolvency (and here) as a cause of action. Bob Eisenbach refers to a new article by his colleagues in the Bankruptcy & Restructuring group at Cooley Godward Kronish LLP, Michael Klein and Ronald Sussman. The article is entitled "Tide Has Turned On Deepening Insolvency – Courts Now Rejecting… Continue Reading
In the corporate litigation field, the Delaware Supreme Court has held that directors of Delaware corporations, who are not shareholders of the corporation, cannot assert derivative claims against fellow directors. While this issue may not arise often, it is important as many corporations are governed by Delaware law, and other states follow Delaware law. The… Continue Reading
Francis Pileggi has written a summary of the key Delaware Chancery Court and Supreme Court cases of 2007. Obviously, these cases are important to corporate litigation lawyers in other states, including Georgia. You can access the summary from the Delaware Corporate and Commercial Litigation Blog.… Continue Reading
By: Scott B. Riddle, Esq. This is not a bankruptcy case, but it will be applicable in many large bankruptcy cases involving allegations of fraud by shareholders or investors. On January 15, 2008, the United States Supreme Court entered an important decision in Stoneridge Investment Partners v. Scientific-Atlanta (06-43) (click here to download the opinion). There… Continue Reading
The Harvard Law Corporate Governance Blog Blog summarizes a Delaware Chancery case that might apply to lawsuits nationwide involving businesses incorporated in Delaware. Note that the decision is based upon the Corporate Code, applicable to Delaware corporations, and not jurisdictional discovery rules – Chancery Orders Production of Records for Periods Prior to Stock Ownership, by Francis G.X. Pileggi, Fox Rothschild… Continue Reading
By: Scott B. Riddle, Esq. In the last week, since the Delaware Supreme Court’s opinion in North American Catholic Educational Programming Foundation, Inc. v. Gheewalla, several lawyers and scholars have posted discussion about the case and holding: Bob Eisenbach, Esq. at the Business Bankruptcy Blog. Francis Pileggi, Esq. at the Delaware Litigation Blog. Professor Stephen Bainbridge. Professor Larry… Continue Reading
By: Scott B. Riddle, Esq. I have previously posted (follow the link to the Delaware Litigation Blog) on the subject of whether creditors have a direct action against directors of a corporaton that has entered the zone of insolvency. Chief Justice Steele’s comments were prophetic. Yesterday, in an opinion that will likely have a far reaching… Continue Reading
By: Scott B. Riddle, Esq. Francis Pileggi at the Delaware Litigation Blog has posted a summary of comments made by Delaware Supreme Court Chief Justice Myron Steele at the Spring meeting of the American Bar Association, concerning developments in Delaware corporate law and recent Delaware Supreme Court cases. Francis credits Mark Saltzburg with the summary of the speech. … Continue Reading
