Corporate Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy Court Calls

05/16/12

In connection with some ongoing research, I have noticed that U.S. bankruptcy courts have different approaches to informing the public about matters being taken up in open court. Many provide PDFs of court calls on their websites up to several weeks in advance (recognizing that matters settle, are postponed, or can change for other reasons). But on other bankruptcy court websites, it is difficult to find out what's happening on any given day. Might the informed readership of this blog offer reasons that courts refrain from making that information available on their websites?

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What say?

05/07/12

Gretchen Morgenson, in Mortgage Unit Troubles Ally Financial explains that:

Although repurchase claimants would be considered general unsecured creditors in a ResCap bankruptcy, the put-back demands would very likely be somewhat senior to those of other unsecured creditors because of their contractual nature.

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Sit Back and RadLAX

04/18/12

I'm having trouble getting excited over RadLAX going before SCOTUS.

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RadLAX

04/17/12

Former guest slipster Ronald Mann has a nice post up at SCOTUSblog about RadLAX Gateway Hotel, LLC v.

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I'm Confused

03/13/12

What, exactly, is so gosh-darn newsworthy and exciting about the fact that distressed debt investors exist, and want to buy claims in MF Global? 

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Conferring

02/17/12

Today I'm off to the Wharton Restructuring and Turnaround Conference, which looks to be a great, high level discussion of all things chapter 11ish. But it is surely a sign of the times that the keynote speaker is a banking lawyer.

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Kodak Dumps the Oscar Theater, Proving that Contract Rejection is like No Fault Divorce: There is No Defense

02/16/12

Just under a month ago, Eastman Kodak filed for chapter 11 and now it is doing what many chapter 11 debtors do, trying to decide which of its contractual obligations it’ll honor and which it won’t. Back in 2000, Kodak signed a $74 million deal to get its name displayed atop the fancy Los Angeles theater that hosts the Oscars.

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And the Wind Blows Wild Again

01/24/12

I wade into the chapter 11 professional fee debate again, this time in the context of the UST's proposed guidlines for attorneys fees in big cases.

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Bankruptcy, Backwards

01/16/12

Credit Slips Own Anna Gelpern has a great new article in the Yale Law Journal that very much deserves a plug. It's called "Bankruptcy, Backwards:  The Problem of Quasi-Sovereign Debt." The article deals with the problems of financial distress for quasi-sovereigns, like US states or even to some degree EU member states.

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Twinkies at Risk

01/13/12

At least it’s not Tastykakes, right Philadelphians? But seriously, historians with a sweet tooth should be feeling a little uneasy after Hostess’ chapter 11 last week, precipitated by runaway pension and medical benefits claims and a tough economy. Tough is right. If people are too broke to buy Twinkies, things really have reached an all-time low.Interstate Bakeries, which owns Hostess brands, claims to have over $950 million in pension claims.

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