Mid Cap

  • July 05, 2024

    Mercon Coffee Says Ch. 11 Releases Aren't Insider Incentives

    Bankrupt coffee supplier Mercon Coffee Group defended employee releases in its Chapter 11 liquidation plan, telling a New York bankruptcy court that Section 503(c) of the Bankruptcy Code limits payment of administrative expenses to insiders, not release of claims.

  • July 05, 2024

    Summer Kicks Off With Run Of New Bankruptcy Filings

    The first weeks of summer have seen a steady run of bankruptcy filings, with debtors entering insolvency courts from the toy, clothing and entertainment industries.

  • July 05, 2024

    Court To Weigh Scope Of Ex-Judge's Atty Romance Testimony

    A Texas bankruptcy judge said he must determine the scope of a deposition over a former judge's concealed romantic relationship with an ex-Jackson Walker LLP attorney, reversing course on a stipulation and ruling he has "exclusive authority" to "authorize and set limits regarding the nature of the testimony."

  • July 05, 2024

    The Firms That Won Big At The Supreme Court

    This U.S. Supreme Court term featured high-stakes oral arguments on issues including gerrymandering, abortion and federal agency authority, and a hot bench ever more willing to engage in a lengthy back-and-forth with advocates. Here's a look at the law firms that argued the most cases and how they fared.

  • July 05, 2024

    US Trustee Calls Rue21 Exculpations Excessive

    The U.S. Trustee's Office has told a Delaware bankruptcy judge that teen apparel retailer rue21 is trying to protect too many parties from potential legal liability as it seeks to wind down its Chapter 11 case.

  • July 03, 2024

    Insurer Seeks To Cover D&O Defenses In DMK Pharma Ch. 11

    An insurance company asked a Delaware bankruptcy court Wednesday to let it pay defense expenses under a $5 million directors and officers policy for bankrupt biotechnology company DMK Pharmaceuticals Corp., which is facing an investor lawsuit and two federal agency investigations, arguing the policy proceeds aren't part of DMK's Chapter 11 estate.

  • July 03, 2024

    Takeoff Seeks To Alter Ch. 11 Loan To Avoid Liquidation

    Bankrupt grocery automation company Takeoff Technologies was unable to reach a deal with creditors to transfer a software license and instead plans to remove the transfer from its debtor-in-possession loan, in a bid to avoid a conversion to a Chapter 7 liquidation.

  • July 03, 2024

    Purdue Ruling Threatens To Limit Broader Bankruptcy Powers

    The U.S. Supreme Court's narrow read of a bankruptcy statute in its decision to reject nonconsensual third-party releases in the Purdue Pharma case could curb courts' power to authorize a range of Chapter 11 requests that aren't explicitly allowed under the law.

  • July 03, 2024

    Giuliani Creditors Say Conversion Motion 'Just Games'

    A New York bankruptcy judge will hear arguments next week over whether to convert Rudy Giuliani's Chapter 11 to a liquidation, a move his creditors denounced as gamesmanship with the bankruptcy system.

  • July 03, 2024

    Steward Health Downfall Prompts Calls For Tighter Regs

    The magnitude of the financial troubles plaguing bankrupt hospital operator Steward Health Care has turned the Chapter 11 case into a flash point that should prompt a regulatory overhaul, according to a new report released by advocacy group Private Equity Stakeholder Project.

  • July 02, 2024

    Purdue Sets Stage For Boy Scouts Equitable Mootness Fight

    After the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling last week in the Purdue Pharma case, the Boy Scouts' bankruptcy plan is back in focus before a federal appeals court, potentially reigniting a heated debate over equitable mootness, a doctrine courts have long used as grounds to avoid reopening and tinkering with already-consummated bankruptcy plans.

  • July 02, 2024

    Sens. Urge Synapse Partners To Free Up Customer Funds

    A group of Democratic senators led by banking committee chair Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, called on the owners and banking partners of bankrupt fintech intermediary Synapse Financial Technologies to restore customers' access to their deposits.

  • July 02, 2024

    Toys R Us Failure Started Toymaker Basic Fun On Ch. 11 Road

    Basic Fun, a company that picked up such iconic toy brands as Lincoln Logs, Tinker Toys and Uncle Milton Ant Farm in distress sales, was itself started on the road to its Chapter 11 filing by the bankruptcy of toy retail giant Toys R Us, according to court filings.

  • July 02, 2024

    Ex-Bankruptcy Judge Will Be Deposed Over Atty Romance

    The former Texas bankruptcy judge whose secret relationship with a Jackson Walker LLP attorney ignited a major judicial ethics scandal has agreed to sit for a seven-hour deposition to answer questions about the episode.

  • July 02, 2024

    Toymaker Basic Fun Says It's Close To Deal With Lenders

    Counsel for toymaker Basic Fun told a Delaware bankruptcy judge on Tuesday the company is close to an agreement with secured creditors on a plan to restructure $65.7 million in funded debt and emerge from Chapter 11.

  • July 02, 2024

    Giuliani Disbarred In New York Over Election Falsehoods

    A New York appellate court Tuesday barred Rudolph Giuliani from practicing law in New York, citing ample evidence that the former New York City mayor made repeated false statements about the 2020 presidential election.

  • July 01, 2024

    Giuliani Wants Bankruptcy Converted To Allow For Liquidation

    Rudy Giuliani on Monday asked a New York federal bankruptcy judge to convert his voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy to a Chapter 7 proceeding, which would allow him to liquidate his assets to pay his debts.

  • July 01, 2024

    NJ Hospital Dodges $14.7M In Damages Over Audits

    An accounting firm for the former operator of Hoboken University Medical Center has dodged more than $14.7 million in malpractice liability damages even though a New Jersey federal jury found it had violated professional accounting standards in audits of the financially struggling hospital.

  • July 01, 2024

    How We Got To Purdue: From Johns Manville To The Sacklers

    The U.S. Supreme Court upended years of bankruptcy practice last week when it definitively barred nonconsensual releases of nondebtors in the Chapter 11 case of Purdue Pharma, saying no authority exists to extinguish claims that creditors of a bankrupt entity may have against related entities that themselves did not file for bankruptcy.

  • July 01, 2024

    Takeoff Ch. 11 Loan Delayed As Creditors Seek Liquidation

    A Delaware bankruptcy judge indicated Monday that he wouldn't give final approval to the debtor-in-possession loan in Takeoff Technologies' Chapter 11 bankruptcy in its current form, giving the grocery automation business more time to negotiate a solution and avoid conversion of its case to a Chapter 7 liquidation.

  • July 01, 2024

    Purdue Ruling Fallout, Rite Aid Confirms Ch. 11 Plan

     A long-awaited decision by the U.S. Supreme Court struck down nonconsensual third-party releases in the bankruptcy of Purdue Pharma LP, sending the bankruptcy bar toward a rethinking of the entire process of resolving mass torts through bankruptcy; pharmacy chain Rite Aid confirmed its Chapter 11 plan; and FTX Trading got court approval for its disclosure statement.

  • July 01, 2024

    Optio Rx Scores Final Green Light On $10M DIP Deal

    A Delaware bankruptcy judge on Monday gave Illinois-based specialty pharmacy chain Optio Rx final approval for a $10 million debtor-in-possession financing package to fund its Chapter 11 case after hearing issues regarding it had been resolved.

  • July 01, 2024

    Justices Told Clarity Needed On Ch. 11 Exculpations

    Highland Capital and parties opposed to the venture capital firm's Chapter 11 plan asked the U.S. Supreme Court to clear up how the high court's recent rejection of third-party claims releases in the Purdue Pharma reorganization applies to Chapter 11 exculpations.

  • July 01, 2024

    Talc Victims Can't Block J&J From Filing For Ch. 11 Outside NJ

    A New Jersey federal judge has denied a bid for a restraining order from a group of patients suing Johnson & Johnson over claims they were injured by its talc products, saying their concern that the company would try to file for bankruptcy outside the Garden State is based on speculation and not ripe for litigation.

  • July 01, 2024

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Two multimillion-dollar settlement approvals, a $25 million fee-shifting demand, and a biotech merger spoiled by murder: This was just the beginning of the drama last week in the nation's preeminent court of equity. Shareholders in satellite companies filed new cases, a cannabis company headed toward trial, and there were new developments in old disputes involving Tesla and Truth Social.

Expert Analysis

  • Preparing Law Students For A New, AI-Assisted Legal World

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    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.

  • Sellers Seeking Best Deal Should Focus On Terms And Price

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    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.

  • General Counsel Need Data Literacy To Keep Up With AI

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    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.

  • Rite Aid's Reasons For Ch. 11 Go Beyond Opioid Suits

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    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.

  • Navigating Discovery Of Generative AI Information

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    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.

  • Finding Focus: Strategies For Attorneys With ADHD

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    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.

  • A Look At DOJ's New Nationwide Investment Fraud Approach

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    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.

  • Decoding The Digital Asset Landscape In Bankruptcy

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    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.

  • How Fla. Bankruptcy Ruling May Affect Equity Owners

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    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.

  • Calif. Ruling May Open Bankruptcy Trustees To Tort Liability

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    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.

  • Co. Directors Must Beware Dangers Of Reverse Factoring

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    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.

  • Attorneys, Law Schools Must Adapt To New Era Of Evidence

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    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.

  • Why 7th Circ. Libel Ruling Is Crucial For The Media

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    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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