Second Circuit Rules That Bankruptcy Courts May Award Appellate Legal Fees As Sanction For Contempt

Courts disagree whether a bankruptcy court, in exercising its broad equitable powers, has the authority to award appellate legal fees as a sanction for contempt. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently weighed in on this issue as an apparent matter of first impression. In Law Offices of Francis J. Reilly, Esq. v. Selene Finance, L.P. (In re DiBattista), 33 F.4th 698 (2d Cir. 2022), the Second Circuit held that a bankruptcy […]

By | September 20th, 2022 ||

Restructuring Plans And Chapter 11: A Transatlantic Perspective

When the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (CIGA) introduced the restructuring plan in England, comparisons with plans of reorganization under chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (U.S. Bankruptcy Code) were inevitable.

A rundown of the similarities between the two processes is easy: both are court-sanctioned and based on classes, with the ability to compromise claims and/or interests held by secured creditors, unsecured creditors and equity holders (including through cross-class cram down). In […]

By | September 15th, 2022 ||

Non-Debtor Parents Beware: Bankruptcy Court Denies Extending MDL Injunction

On August 26, Indiana Bankruptcy Court Judge Jeffrey J. Graham issued an order in the bankruptcy cases of Aearo Technologies (“Aearo” and, together with its affiliate debtors, the “Debtors”), denying the Debtors’ motion for a preliminary injunction protecting non-debtor parent 3M Company (“3M”) against a slew of litigation related to hearing-protection devices that were allegedly defective and resulted in hearing loss and related injuries. The ruling highlights the risks inherent to the “Texas two-step” […]

By | September 11th, 2022 ||