Mid Cap

  • February 10, 2025

    W. Virginia Coal Miner Hits Ch. 11 With $79M Debt, Sale Plans

    West Virginia coal miner White Forest Resources filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware with nearly $79 million in debt, saying after struggling with production and shipping issues it plans to sell one of its two mines before the end of April.

  • February 07, 2025

    3 Firms Seek To Co-Lead Suits Over Banks' Synapse Ties

    Attorneys from three firms are seeking to represent fintech customers in consolidated class claims in Colorado federal court against several banks over $85 million in funds that went missing after the failure of fintech-to-bank middleman company Synapse Financial.

  • February 07, 2025

    For These Victims, Death Came Before Bankruptcy Resolution

    Thousands of people have died with no compensation in recent years as big institutions shield themselves in bankruptcy court from claims related to opioids, fraud, asbestos and sexual abuse, plaintiffs' lawyers say. Critics say it's an inherent part of a bankruptcy court system that helps insiders and hurts creditors.

  • February 07, 2025

    Ex-NFL Star Romanowski's Bankruptcy Converted To Ch. 7

    Former NFL player Bill Romanowski and wife Julie had their Chapter 11 bankruptcy case converted to a Chapter 7 on Friday, after a California judge called a filing from the couple seeking the case's dismissal full of "hyperbole" and said a trustee is needed to examine the pair's assets and liabilities.

  • February 07, 2025

    Trailer Cos. Sue KAL Freight Over Alleged Theft Of Vehicles

    Two manufacturers of truck trailers have sued bankrupt trucking company KAL Freight Inc. in Texas bankruptcy court, saying the company ran a scheme to improperly take ownership of hundreds of trailers without paying for them.

  • February 07, 2025

    Under The Radar: Bankruptcy News You May Have Missed

    A onetime financial adviser to UpHealth is opposing the debtor's Chapter 11 plan, Hearthside Food Solutions' official committee of unsecured creditors has balked at the company's executive bonus proposal in bankruptcy, and one-time investors in defunct real estate investment firm RealtyShares willingly dismissed a suit against the firm's former directors, litigation that had outlived the firm's Chapter 7 by more than a year.

  • February 07, 2025

    Syracuse Diocese Wants Rep For Unknown Abuse Claimants

    The Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse asked a New York bankruptcy judge to appoint a representative for currently unknown sexual abuse claimants and to extend the deadline for the representative to vote on the diocese's Chapter 11 plan until the end of March.

  • February 07, 2025

    NAFTA Case Useful In Bid To DQ Quinn Emanuel, Judge Says

    A Florida federal judge has ruled that a Mexican oil company can use information on dismissed NAFTA arbitration and other documents in a bid to disqualify former counsel Quinn Emanuel, saying the evidence is relevant to underlying litigation over alleged funds transfers.

  • February 07, 2025

    4th Circ. Says LeClairRyan Founder May Duck Tax Liability

    Defunct law firm LeClairRyan PLLC's operating agreement did not bar founder Gary LeClair from jumping ship in time to potentially dodge massive tax bills tied to the firm's collapse, the Fourth Circuit ruled Friday.

  • February 07, 2025

    Aztec Fund To Sell 3 Office Buildings To Settle Ch. 11 Dispute

    Private equity investment group Aztec Fund told a Texas bankruptcy judge Friday it will sell three office buildings and aim to liquidate through Chapter 11 to resolve a dispute over the insolvency case with Bank of America.

  • February 06, 2025

    Earthlink Investors' Attys Score $28M In Merger Suit

    The attorneys who helped Earthlink investors score an $85 million settlement with the company after they said they were tricked into approving a $1.1 billion merger with a failing telecommunications company will be walking away with almost $28 million for their trouble.

  • February 06, 2025

    First Mode Gets OK For Ch. 11 Plan Ballot, $15M Sale

    Bankrupt electric-engine developer First Mode Holdings Inc. can seek votes for its Chapter 11 plan after a Delaware bankruptcy judge on Thursday overruled an objection from its unsecured creditors over the ballot's third-party releases.

  • February 06, 2025

    Old Eletson Seeks Pause In Ch. 11 Plan Enforcement

    Former shareholders and executives of Greek shipping group Eletson Holdings Inc. asked a New York bankruptcy judge for more time to comply with last month's order directing them to assist in updating the reorganized company's address of record with the Liberian International Ship & Corporate Registry.

  • February 06, 2025

    Girardi's Mental Evaluation At NC Prison Extended By 15 Days

    A California federal judge Thursday ordered Tom Girardi's psychiatric evaluation at a North Carolina federal prison to be extended by 15 days, and she also lectured Girardi's public defender while saying she "could not have imagined" why it took 17 days to get his client's medical records sent to the facility.

  • February 06, 2025

    NJ Flooring Co. Owner Can't Shake Biz Sales Tax Liabilities

    A shuttered flooring company's sole shareholder is responsible for the company's sales and use tax liabilities that were outstanding after bankruptcy, a New Jersey state appeals court ruled, holding that the statute of limitations for issuing assessments didn't block the state from pursuing the taxes.

  • February 06, 2025

    Russia Sanctions, COVID Landed Plastic Suppliers In Ch. 11

    Ohio-based compostable film producer Plastic Suppliers Inc., which has filed for Chapter 11 protection in New Jersey, says it was driven to bankruptcy by a confluence of factors, including a severe blow to its revenues delivered in part by U.S. sanctions on Russia.

  • February 05, 2025

    'Pay-To-Pay' Fees Are Unfair Debt Practice, 11th Circ. Rules

    The Eleventh Circuit said a mortgage servicing company illegally charged borrowers fees for online and phone payments, upholding a Florida federal court's decision that it improperly collected so-called pay-to-pay convenience fees that were not expressly allowed by underlying loan agreements.

  • February 05, 2025

    US Trustee Blasts Releases In First Mode Ch. 11 Disclosures

    The Office of the U.S. Trustee asked a Delaware bankruptcy judge to reject the Chapter 11 plan disclosure from bankrupt electric-engine developer First Mode Holdings Inc., arguing that it provides too little information on the third-party releases, uses a confusing ballot, and imposes involuntary third-party releases.

  • February 05, 2025

    Wave Of Defaults Looms For Fed's Main Street Loans

    Some businesses that took out big loans backed by American taxpayers during the COVID-19 pandemic have gone bankrupt, and the stage is set for a wall of similar debt to start crashing later this year when large payments come due.

  • February 05, 2025

    Judge Nixes Jones' Ch. 7 Deal With Sandy Hook Families

    A deal proposed by the Chapter 7 trustee in the bankruptcy case of right-wing conspiracy peddler Alex Jones that would have resolved the nearly $1.5 billion in claims held by the families of Sandy Hook school shooting victims failed to gain court approval Wednesday when a Texas judge said he couldn't grant the requested relief.

  • February 05, 2025

    Meet The Attys Helping Liberated Brands Through Ch. 11

    Outdoor apparel retailer Liberated Brands LLC has assembled a team of attorneys from Klehr Harrison Harvey Branzburg LLP and Kirkland & Ellis LLP to guide the company through a Chapter 11 case aimed at winding down and selling parts of its business.

  • February 05, 2025

    Girardi Keese Trustee Sues NY Atty Who Funded Girardi

    The bankruptcy trustee for disgraced California attorney Tom Girardi's defunct law firm is suing to prevent New York attorney Joseph DiNardo from discharging $7.5 million in his own bankruptcy, claiming DiNardo received the money by helping Girardi defraud his own clients.

  • February 05, 2025

    Lowenstein Sandler Aims To Combine Dueling Dispensary Suits

    Lowenstein Sandler LLP has moved in New Jersey state court to consolidate its $800,000 legal fee case against a cannabis dispensary with a malpractice suit that the dispensary recently filed against it and handle the cases in Essex County.

  • February 04, 2025

    Catching Up With New Bankruptcy Case Action

    A company that sells Volcom, RVCA and Billabong-branded clothes is seeking Chapter 11 protection after losing its key brand licensing agreements. Meanwhile, the owner of one of the world's largest cobalt processing plants entered bankruptcy with hopes of restructuring under a lender-backed plan.

  • February 04, 2025

    Liberated Brands Gets OK To Tap $25M In Ch. 11 Financing

    A Delaware bankruptcy judge on Tuesday agreed to give interim approval for outdoors and athletic clothing retailer Liberated Brands LLC to access $25 million of its $35 million debtor-in-possession financing.

Expert Analysis

  • Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents

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    Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.

  • Del. Ruling Shows Tension Between 363 Sale And Labor Law

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    The Delaware federal court's ruling in the Braeburn Alloy Steel case highlights the often overlooked collision between an unstayed order authorizing an asset sale free and clear of successor liability under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code and federal labor law imposing successor liability on the buyer, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • How Clients May Use AI To Monitor Attorneys

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Artificial intelligence tools will increasingly enable clients to monitor and evaluate their counsel’s activities, so attorneys must clearly define the terms of engagement and likewise take advantage of the efficiencies offered by AI, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.

  • Del. Insurance Co. Liquidation Reveals Recovery Strategies

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    Arrowood's recent liquidation in the Delaware Chancery Court offers a positive development for policyholders and claimants, providing access to guaranty association protections amid the company's demise, say Timothy Law and Ann Kramer at Reed Smith.

  • The Pop Culture Docket: Judge D'Emic On Moby Grape

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    The 1968 Moby Grape song "Murder in My Heart for the Judge" tells the tale of a fictional defendant treated with scorn by the judge, illustrating how much the legal system has evolved in the past 50 years, largely due to problem-solving courts and the principles of procedural justice, says Kings County Supreme Court Administrative Judge Matthew D'Emic.

  • Navigating Asset Tracing Challenges In Bankruptcy

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    A Virginia court’s recent ruling in Health Diagnostic Laboratory Inc.'s bankruptcy highlights the heightened demand for asset tracing and the strategic use of the lowest intermediate balance rule in recovering funds from commingled accounts, says Daniel Lowenthal at Patterson Belknap.

  • Lender Agreements And Unitranche Facilities: A Fresh Look

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    Unitranche facilities — which offer blended interest rates in a single loan document — are gaining prevalence, and lenders and borrowers should understand their advantages, as well as concerns over the enforceability of a unitranche-style agreement among lenders in bankruptcy, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

  • What Banks Should Know About FDIC Assessment Rule

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    Max Bonici at Venable answers questions banking organizations may have about the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s recent approval of a rule implementing a special assessment on banks to recoup costs associated with protecting uninsured depositors after the bank failures earlier this year, and highlights other considerations for uninsured deposits.

  • Performing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The discipline of performing live music has directly and positively influenced my effectiveness as a litigator — serving as a reminder that practice, intuition and team building are all important elements of a successful law practice, says Jeff Wakolbinger at Bryan Cave.

  • Bankruptcy Must Be On The Table As A Student Loan Solution

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    Amid the ongoing discourse on student loan forgiveness, borrowers must have a deeper understanding of U.S. Departments of Justice and Education guidance regarding how the government will agree to discharge loans in bankruptcy, or miss a life-changing opportunity currently available to regain control over their financial condition, say Jonathan Carson and Eric Kurtzman at Stretto.

  • Breaking Down High Court's New Code Of Conduct

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    The U.S. Supreme Court recently adopted its first-ever code of conduct, and counsel will need to work closely with clients in navigating its provisions, from gift-giving to recusal bids, say Phillip Gordon and Mateo Forero at Holtzman Vogel.

  • Rockport Ch. 11 Highlights Global Settlement Considerations

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    A Delaware bankruptcy court’s recent rejection of Rockport’s proposed settlement serves as a reminder that there is a risk that a global settlement executed outside of a plan may be rejected as a sub rosa plan, but shouldn’t dissuade parties from seeking relief when applicable case law supports approval, says Kyle Arendsen at Squire Patton.

  • How Purdue High Court Case Will Shape Ch. 11 Mass Injury

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent arguments in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma, addressing the authority of bankruptcy courts to approve nonconsensual third-party releases in Chapter 11 settlement plans, highlight the case's wide-ranging implications for how mass injury cases get resolved in bankruptcy proceedings, says George Singer at Holland & Hart.

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