Large Cap
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February 28, 2025
Under The Radar: Bankruptcy News You May Have Missed
The licensing arm of Universal Studios objected to a Party City asset sale, bondholders urged a judge to lift a stay on outside litigation in the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority's restructuring case, and a satellite service provider asked a court to dismiss an adversary suit brought by debtor Ligado Networks. These are some of the bankruptcy stories you may have missed in the last week.
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February 28, 2025
Red River Recap: Testimony Over J&J Spin-Off Ch. 11 Ends
Testimony wrapped up Thursday in a two-week trial in Houston over whether to confirm the $10 billion Chapter 11 plan of a Johnson & Johnson talc liability spin off or dismiss the "Texas two-step" bankruptcy. Here's a recap of the eight days of testimony.
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February 27, 2025
US Trustee, Creditors Blast GOL Linhas' Plan Disclosure
GOL Linhas noteholders and the U.S. Trustee's Office are asking a New York bankruptcy judge to reject the Brazilian airline's Chapter 11 plan disclosures, saying they lack information on items ranging from claims releases to the company's post-bankruptcy equity value.
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February 27, 2025
Turbulence May Be Ahead For Spirit Airlines Post-Chapter 11
Spirit Airlines is set to soar out of bankruptcy as of its plan confirmation on Feb. 20, but it is unclear whether the ultra-low-cost carrier will be able to maintain cruising altitude for the long haul, experts told Law360.
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February 27, 2025
AI Crypto Company Joins Call For New Infowars Auction
An artificial-intelligence cryptocurrency business has joined the backup bidder for Alex Jones' Infowars platform in asking a Texas bankruptcy judge to restart an asset auction, saying it would like its bid to be considered.
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February 27, 2025
Yellow Corp. Beats Teamsters In WARN Act Row
A Delaware bankruptcy judge has ruled that trucking company Yellow Corp. is not liable for its failure to provide 60 days notice of layoffs to 22,000 union workers who lost their jobs as the company descended into Chapter 11, finding that Yellow was a "liquidating fiduciary" at the time and intended to comply with the WARN Act.
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February 27, 2025
Selendy Gay Names New Managing Partner, COO
Litigation boutique Selendy Gay PLLC announced Thursday that it has appointed bankruptcy and insolvency lawyer Kelley Cornish as managing partner and landed the top legal head of Cinch Home Services as its new chief operating officer.
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February 27, 2025
Jones Day Gets OK For $52M In NY Diocese Ch. 11 Fees
A New York bankruptcy judge Thursday gave final approval to Jones Day's request for nearly $52 million in compensation for shepherding Long Island's Roman Catholic diocese through its Chapter 11 case, overruling arguments it spent too much time objecting to claims.
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February 26, 2025
For Large Firms, A Day In Ch. 11 Can Be Costlier Than Ever
Large companies are paying more to restructure debt both during bankruptcy and in the months leading up to a Chapter 11 filing, with the typical cost of a day in court ballooning in recent years, according to a new paper by Harvard Law School Professor Jared A. Ellias.
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February 26, 2025
Jailed Ex-FTX Exec's Lawyers Can't Drop From Ch. 11 Suit
Attorneys from Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads LLP representing former FTX Trading executive Ryan Salame cannot yet withdraw as his counsel in an adversary case seeking the return of $99 million in company funds after a Delaware bankruptcy judge said Wednesday he needed more information about the firm's difficulties in communicating with their incarcerated client.
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February 26, 2025
Willkie Wins Sanctions, But Fees Cut, In Old Asbestos Ch. 11
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP has won sanctions against plaintiffs in the 1982 bankruptcy case of Johns Manville Corp., but the firm's fee award was drastically slashed after a New York judge found that lawyers had not provided enough details about their work.
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February 26, 2025
Joann To Wind Down Operations After Judge Approves Plan
A Delaware bankruptcy judge on Wednesday approved renowned fabric and crafts retailer Joann Inc. to wind down its operations after a "global consensus" was reached among the debtor, lender and creditors committee, allowing the 80-year-old chain to hold going-out-of-business sales.
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February 26, 2025
Party City Approved To Sell IP, Assets For $20.6M In Ch. 11
A Texas bankruptcy judge on Wednesday blessed retailer Party City's bid to sell its brand name and other intellectual property to an affiliate of pop culture merchandiser Ad Populum for $20.6 million, rejecting a challenge to the deal by franchise owners that claimed the buyer was ill-equipped to take on contracts with their stores.
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February 26, 2025
Judge Sets Deadline For Terraform Crypto Loss Claims
A Delaware bankruptcy judge Wednesday approved a request by the Chapter 11 plan administrator of defunct cryptocurrency software developer Terraform Labs to set an April 30 deadline for any claims of losses from Terraform's collapsed stablecoin.
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February 26, 2025
Judge To OK Sale-Leaseback Of Big Lots HQ In Ch. 11
A Delaware bankruptcy judge Wednesday agreed to allow discount retail chain Big Lots to sell its Ohio headquarters to hospital operator OhioHealth Corp. for $36 million and lease it back from the buyer until it wraps up its operations.
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February 25, 2025
Epiq Explains Ballot Flip In J&J Talc Unit's $10B Ch. 11 Plan
A Texas bankruptcy judge Tuesday heard how a claims agent accepted a ballot that flipped some 11,000 already cast votes on the Chapter 11 plan of Johnson & Johnson's talc liability unit.
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February 25, 2025
Alex Jones Asks To Maintain Stay On Sandy Hook Payment
Infowars founder Alex Jones told the Connecticut Appellate Court that he shouldn't be forced to pay the judgment that Sandy Hook families won in their long-running defamation case as he awaits a review by the state's Supreme Court, saying the plaintiffs are wrong that he discarded underlying constitutional arguments.
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February 25, 2025
How Joann's Bankruptcy Led To The Closure Of All Its Stores
Over the weekend, Joann Inc., the renowned fabric and crafts retailer, announced plans to close all 800 of its stores nationwide and wind down operations, after failing to draw bids from any potential buyers who planned to keep the stores open.
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February 25, 2025
NY AG Probe Latest Headache For Crumbling Property Empire
Following New York's passage of a tenant-friendly rent law in 2019, a spate of distressed Emerald Equity Group LLC properties are facing foreclosure or bankruptcy. Now, scrutiny by the state Attorney General's Office has added a new layer to the landlord's ongoing struggles.
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February 25, 2025
Purdue Gets Time To Document New $7.4B Ch. 11 Settlement
Counsel for bankrupt drugmaker Purdue Pharma received approval Tuesday for an extension of a mediation window during which litigation against nondebtors is paused after telling a New York judge that it has reached definitive terms on a new $7.4 billion settlement of opioid claims and needs time to finalize documentation surrounding the deal.
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February 24, 2025
Ex-Judge Hopes To Avoid Testimony In Atty Romance Probe
Former Texas bankruptcy judge David R. Jones said Monday that he's been talking with the U.S. Trustee with the aim of avoiding "live trial testimony" in the probe of his undisclosed romantic relationship with a former Jackson Walker LLP partner, arguing that he's already given a deposition.
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February 24, 2025
Claimant Attys Explain J&J Ch. 11 Plan Vote Switch
An attorney whose firm represented about 11,000 talc injury claimants told a Texas bankruptcy judge Monday about the process by which he cast ballots for his clients in favor of the $10 billion Chapter 11 plan settlement proposed by Johnson & Johnson's talc unit.
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February 24, 2025
La. Environmental Suits Not Discharged In Texaco's Old Ch. 11
A New York bankruptcy judge has allowed Texaco to reopen its 37-year-old bankruptcy case to adjudicate environmental cleanup lawsuits worth up to $100 million filed by Louisiana government entities but declined to discharge the suits, finding they were carved out of the confirmed Chapter 11 plan.
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February 24, 2025
Seyfarth Hires Veteran Bankruptcy Atty For Chicago Office
Seyfarth Shaw LLP hired a veteran bankruptcy and commercial litigation attorney as a partner for the restructuring and insolvency team in its Chicago office, the firm has announced.
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February 24, 2025
Wellpath Delays Chapter 11 Exit To Buy Time For Creditor Deal
Wellpath will delay confirmation of its Chapter 11 plan by two weeks to buy time to work through objections to the reorganization of its prison healthcare business, attorneys told a Texas bankruptcy judge Monday.
Expert Analysis
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High Court Made Profound Mistake In Tossing Purdue Deal
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to throw out Purdue Pharma's Chapter 11 plan jeopardizes a multistate agreement that would provide approximately $7 billion in much-needed relief to help fight the opioid epidemic, with states now likely doomed to spend years chasing individual defendants across the globe, says Swain Wood at Morningstar.
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What FTX Case Taught Us About Digital Asset Recoverability
FTX's Chapter 11 plan has drawn lots of attention, but the focus should be on the anticipated outcome for investors, which counters several myths about digital currencies, innovation and recoverability, says Kyla Curley at StoneTurn.
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A Midyear Forecast: Tailwinds Expected For Atty Hourly Rates
Hourly rates for partners, associates and support staff continued to rise in the first half of this year, and this growth shows no signs of slowing for the rest of 2024 and into next year, driven in part by the return of mergers and acquisitions and the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, says Chuck Chandler at Valeo Partners.
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Synapse Bankruptcy Has Ripple Effects For Fintech Industry
Synapse Financial Technologies’ recent bankruptcy filing marks a significant moment in the fintech industry's evolution, highlighting that stringent compliance and risk management in fintech partnerships are essential to mitigate risk and protect consumers, say Joann Needleman and Ryan Blumberg at Clark Hill.
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Discount Window Reform Needed To Curb Modern Bank Runs
We learned during the spring 2023 failures that bank runs can happen extraordinarily fast in light of modern technology, especially when banks have a greater concentration of large deposits, demonstrating that the antiquated but effective discount window needs to be overhauled before the next crisis, says Cris Cicala at Stinson.
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2 Options For Sackler Family After High Court Purdue Ruling
After the U.S. Supreme Court recently blocked Purdue Pharma's plan to shield the family that owns the company from bankruptcy lawsuits, the Sacklers face the choice to either continue litigation, or return to the bargaining table for a settlement that doesn't eliminate creditor claims, says Gregory Germain at Syracuse University.
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Revisiting Scalia's 'What's It To You?' After Kaiser Ruling
While the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser allows insurers to be considered "parties in interest" in Chapter 11 cases, they still need to show they would face an injury in fact, answering the late Justice Antonin Scalia's "what's it to you?" question, say Brent Weisenberg and Jeff Prol at Lowenstein Sandler.
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Florida Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2
The second quarter of 2024 brought two notable bills that will affect Florida's banking and finance community across many issues, including virtual currency abandonment, cancellation of financial services on the basis of political opinions, and the exemption amount of motor vehicles, say Joshua Prever and Andrew Balthazor at Holland & Knight.
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How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts
As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.
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Purdue Ch. 11 Ruling Reinforces Importance Of D&O Coverage
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma, holding that a Chapter 11 reorganization cannot discharge claims against a nondebtor without affected claimants' consent, will open new litigation pathways surrounding corporate insolvency and increase the importance of robust directors and officers insurance, says Evan Bolla at Harris St. Laurent.
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Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem
The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.
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Parsing Justices' Toss Of Purdue's Controversial Ch. 11 Plan
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent nixing of OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma's Chapter 11 proposal prevents the Sackler family from settling thousands of civil opioid lawsuits without the consent of all of the plaintiffs, and holds profound implications for bankruptcy cases, say attorneys at MoloLamken.
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No Matter The Purdue Ruling, Mass Tort Reform Is Needed
The U.S. Supreme Court will soon issue its opinion in the bankruptcy of Purdue Pharma LP, and regardless of the outcome, it’s clear legal and policy reforms are needed to address the next mass tort, says William Organek at Baruch College.