In a long-awaited opinion, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently reversed its ruling in Pro-Snax Distributors, Inc., 157 F.3d 414, 426 (5th Cir. 1998), providing that a bankruptcy professional can only collect fees for services provided to a bankrupt debtor that “resulted in an identifiable, tangible, and material benefit to the bankruptcy estate.” See Baron & Newburger, P.C. […]
Read MoreWhile not expressly authorized by the Bankruptcy Code, it is generally well-established that a bankruptcy court, as a court of equity, is not bound by a party’s characterization of a transaction and, instead, may recharacterize the nature of the transaction, acknowledging the economic realities involved. The prime example occurs in instances where an insider purports to loan money to a […]
Read MoreIn Law v. Siegel, 571 U.S. ___ (2014) (slip opinion), the Supreme Court of the United States invalidated a bankruptcy court’s use of its inherent authority to tax (surcharge) a debtor’s exempt property with legal expenses incurred by a chapter 7 trustee during a bankruptcy case. In doing so, the Supreme Court reminded us that a […]
Read MoreIn In re AMRCO, Inc., Case No. 13-11086 (Bankr. W.D. Tex. July 26, 2013), the Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Texas recently invalidated a pre-bankruptcy foreclosure sale that concluded minutes before a chapter 11 petition was filed, based on the Deed of Trust‘s Trustee’s failure to strictly comply with the foreclosure requirements under the […]
Read MoreFollowing the saga of asbestos-related bankruptcy cases, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that Garlock Sealing Technologies, LLC lacked standing to object to the confirmation of the chapter 11 plan of W.R. Grace & Co., because Garlock could not demonstrate it had an existing or imminent claim against Grace. See In re W.R. Grace & Co., No. […]
Read MoreA Delaware Bankruptcy Court recently ruled that a debtor cannot assume only certain portions of a real property lease covering several, separate properties; instead the debtor must assume the entire lease (cum onere) or reject the entire lease. See In re Contract Research, Inc., 12-11004 (Bankr. D. Del. May 1, 2013) (KJC). This case is a good example […]
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