Chapter 11

How Much Control Do Bankrupt Dodgers Have Over Baseball Decisions?   Not long ago, the Los Angeles Dodgers filed for bankruptcy.  This move was controversial, and concerned many baseball fans.   As sports fans are well aware, good players demand high salaries.  But can the Dodgers renegotiate salaries, and make other financial decisions, while going through [...]

Almost every year, changes are made to the set of rules that govern how bankruptcy cases are managed -- the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure. The changes address issues identified by an Advisory Committee made up of federal judges, bankruptcy attorneys, and others. There are seven amendments to the national bankruptcy rules this year.

Last week’s Chapter 11 filing by NewPage Corporation, a company with assets and liabilities in the billions of dollars, stands as a relative rarity in the current restructuring environment. Running contrary to the “new normal” in larger restructurings, NewPage filed for bankruptcy protection without a pre-arranged or pre-negotiated exit solution, such as a back-stopped rights offering or a stalking

The Summer 2011 edition of the Absolute Priority newsletter, published by the Bankruptcy & Restructuring group at Cooley LLP, of which I am a member, has just been released. The newsletter gives updates on current developments and trends in the bankruptcy and workout area.

It's been a long wait, but we finally have a published decision from a U.S. Court of Appeals answering whether a trademark license is assignable in bankruptcy without the licensor's consent. On July 26, 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued an opinion in In re: XMH Corp., written by Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner, and a copy of the opinion is available by following the link in this sentence.