Mid Cap
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October 04, 2024
Private Utility Blasts Pa. City's Ch. 9 Plan As Asset Grab
Private utility entity Aqua Pennsylvania asked a Pennsylvania bankruptcy judge to reject the City of Chester's proposed Chapter 9 plan, saying the city is trying to "commandeer" water and sewer assets in which Aqua has an interest.
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October 04, 2024
EB-5 Partner Accuses NC Atty Of Aiding Investor Coup
A company created to protect an investment project supporting green card applications for Chinese nationals accused a North Carolina attorney in state court of helping shareholders try to place the company into receivership and take control of a $30 million fund.
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October 04, 2024
Ex-Judge Jones Says Judicial Acts Bar Atty Romance Claims
Former bankruptcy judge David R. Jones said judicial immunity bars claims over his undisclosed romantic relationship with a former Jackson Walker LLP attorney because the purported harm to the onetime head of a now-shuttered barge company stemmed from official acts.
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October 04, 2024
Ex-Skadden Partner Leaves Retirement, Joins AY Strauss
Commercial real estate boutique A.Y. Strauss announced Thursday that it had hired a former Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP litigator who is returning to the legal field after retiring in 2020.
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October 03, 2024
Biden Admin's Latest Debt Relief Plan Blocked In Missouri
A Missouri federal judge Thursday blocked the Biden administration's latest student debt relief proposal, finding that the six Republican-led states leading the challenge will likely show the plan is unlawful, just a day after a Georgia federal judge knocked the Peach State out and punted the case to St. Louis.
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October 03, 2024
Bankruptcy Doesn't Pause Tipster's Case, Tax Court Says
A tax tipster's bankruptcy filing doesn't pause his U.S. Tax Court case challenging the Internal Revenue Service's denial of his request for a whistleblower award, the Tax Court ruled Thursday, saying the award case doesn't concern his tax liability.
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October 03, 2024
Allred Feud With Ex-Tenant Over 'Large Rodent' Puzzles Judge
Gloria Allred's long-running dispute with a former tenant — who said he fled rats in her Manhattan apartment eight years ago — spilled into New York federal court Monday, leaving the judge to wonder aloud why the celebrity attorney was still suing the man over a $25,000 claim as he sought bankruptcy protection.
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October 03, 2024
Sham Law Firm Employee Gets 5 Years For Foreclosure Fraud
A Virginia man was sentenced to five years in prison and hit with a $159,000 fine for what a D.C. federal judge called Thursday the "horrendous" crime of using a Manassas law firm to defraud homeowners facing foreclosure.
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October 03, 2024
Giuliani's Fla. Condo Is Not Off Limits, Ga. Poll Workers Say
Two Georgia women who Rudy Giuliani accused of committing ballot fraud in the 2020 presidential election say his $3.5 million Florida condominium should be sold to help cover their $148 million defamation win against him, arguing he never established a "homestead" there before they brought a lien.
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October 03, 2024
Dental Laser Co. Can Tap $5M DIP For Swift Ch. 11 Sale Plans
Biolase Inc., which makes laser systems used by dentists, received a Delaware bankruptcy judge's approval Thursday to access $1.4 million of an up to $5 million debtor-in-possession package as it plans for a quick sale in Chapter 11.
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October 03, 2024
Climate Data Co. BAWT Loses Bid For Rapid Ch. 11 Exit
BAWT Enterprises LLC, the parent company of climate-data firm Athenium Analytics, on Thursday failed to persuade a Delaware bankruptcy judge to let it seek confirmation of a Chapter 11 restructuring just 15 days after opening its case, with a dissenting creditor's protests gumming up the speedy exit plan.
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October 03, 2024
Ch. 7 Invalidates $4M Worker Retention Credit Suit, Gov't Says
A road construction company can't sue the Internal Revenue Service for a tax refund for pandemic-era worker credits because its claims stemmed from Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings, the federal government told a Florida federal court.
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October 02, 2024
Giuliani Asks DC Circ. To Ax Poll Workers' $148M Judgment
Rudy Giuliani urged the D.C. Circuit Wednesday to throw out the $148 million damages awarded to two Georgia poll workers the former New York City mayor falsely accused of committing ballot fraud during the 2020 presidential election, saying they didn't establish he published the misinformation with actual malice.
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October 02, 2024
Meet The Attys Handling Burlington Diocese Ch. 11 In Vermont
A team of Fredrikson & Byron PA attorneys and an experienced bankruptcy lawyer based in Vermont are guiding the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington, Vermont, through its Chapter 11 case in the state, as the church seeks to deal with sexual abuse claims.
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October 02, 2024
Dental Laser Maker Biolase Hits Ch. 11 With $33M In Debt
Biolase, a manufacturer of lasers used in dental procedures, is seeking bankruptcy protection in Delaware, and has disclosed roughly $33 million in debt and a $14 million stalking horse offer for its assets, citing financial challenges that it said stemmed from slow market adoption of new technology and economic headwinds.
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October 02, 2024
Quinn Emanuel Can't Ignore Past Oro Negro Ties, Oil Co. Says
Oro Negro Drilling Pte. Ltd. said former counsel Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP must produce confidential information in a discovery bid to disqualify its attorneys in Mexican proceedings.
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October 02, 2024
Conn. Receiver Gains Access To Apt. Co-Op's BofA Accounts
Bank of America agreed to provide a court-appointed receiver with access to a distressed housing cooperative's bank accounts Wednesday amid efforts by the municipalities of Bridgeport and Stratford, Connecticut, to obtain a court order.
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October 02, 2024
Fort Worth Senior Home Hits Ch. 11 With Prepackaged Plan
The owner of a Fort Worth, Texas, retirement home filed for Chapter 11 with a prepackaged plan that would refinance its $112 million of municipal bond obligations.
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October 01, 2024
Fla. Judge Sends 2 Live Crew Rights Dispute To Jury
A Florida federal judge has trimmed trademark and copyright infringement claims from a suit by music label Lil' Joe Records against members of the hip-hop group 2 Live Crew but said he would send the issue of whether the termination of the label's rights to the songs was effective to a jury next week.
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October 01, 2024
Vermont Diocese Files Bankruptcy, Facing Sex-Abuse Claims
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington, Vermont, has become the latest U.S. Catholic diocese to file for Chapter 11 protection due to sexual abuse claims, saying it is the fairest way to deal with legal claims it is facing after a state statute of limitations was removed.
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October 01, 2024
Bitcoin DIP Loans Spark Intrigue For Bankruptcy Lawyers
The Chapter 11 case of bitcoin miner Rhodium included a rarely seen option to take out a debtor-in-possession loan denominated in digital currency, a development that has left lawyers divided over whether the novel approach could provide much-needed flexibility or an unacceptable level of risk for future bankrupt borrowers.
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October 01, 2024
Most TA Dispatch Claims Fall In Chancery Celadon Suit
Alabama trucking and transport management company TA Dispatch LLC saw three of its four claims tossed Tuesday from its Delaware Court of Chancery suit seeking millions in damages from directors and officers of a transport and logistics company that went bankrupt shortly after selling TA Dispatch severely hobbled assets.
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October 01, 2024
High Court Urged To Let Stand IRS Win In Bankruptcy Case
The U.S. Supreme Court should let stand a decision that late-filed returns prevented a taxpayer from discharging his federal tax debt in bankruptcy, the government argued, saying the taxpayer has inaccurately claimed that issues at the heart of his case have created a significant circuit split.
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October 01, 2024
Client's Late Arrival, Bankruptcy Complicate Age Bias Suit
The co-owner for a bankrupt Pittsburgh hotel almost lost his lawyer Tuesday, arriving late and introducing himself to the attorney for the first time in person at a hearing on the attorney's motion to withdraw from defending him against an ex-employee's age bias claim.
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October 01, 2024
McElroy Deutsch Must Face 'Malicious' Claim From Fired Exec
A former business development director from McElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter LLP has been given the go-ahead from a New Jersey state judge to bring a malicious-prosecution claim against the firm in litigation over her and her husband's alleged multimillion-dollar embezzlement from the firm.
MLB's Storied History Runs Through The Bankruptcy Court
With the value of professional sports teams skyrocketing over the last decade, it's hard to imagine a Major League Baseball club having to file for bankruptcy. But it's happened at least five times since 1970 for a variety of reasons, and the teams that have taken advantage of the bankruptcy courts have charted much different paths post-insolvency.
2 Years After Crypto Collapse, Silvergate Seeks Coda In Ch. 11
Cryptocurrency-focused bank Silvergate's parent company recently filed for Chapter 11 protection, roughly two years since it weathered a crypto market crash, avoiding a failure and seeking to wind down its operations on its own terms.
A Look At Grocery Co. Takeoff's Ch. 11 Winddown Plan
After five months in Chapter 11, grocery automation firm Takeoff Technologies has proposed a restructuring plan that incorporates a $37 million global settlement and an asset sale strategy that would allow certain lenders to credit-bid on the company's assets with proceeds going to fund the company's winddown.
Expert Analysis
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Mental Health First Aid: A Brief Primer For Attorneys
Amid a growing body of research finding that attorneys face higher rates of mental illness than the general population, firms should consider setting up mental health first aid training programs to help lawyers assess mental health challenges in their colleagues and intervene with compassion, say psychologists Shawn Healy and Tracey Meyers.
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AI May Limit Key Learning Opportunities For Young Attorneys
The thing that’s so powerful about artificial intelligence is also what’s most scary about it — its ability to detect patterns may curtail young attorneys’ chance to practice the lower-level work of managing cases, preventing them from ever honing the pattern recognition skills that undergird creative lawyering, says Sarah Murray at Trialcraft.
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Considering Possible PR Risks Of Certain Legal Tactics
Disney and American Airlines recently abandoned certain litigation tactics in two lawsuits after fierce public backlash, illustrating why corporate counsel should consider the reputational implications of any legal strategy and partner with their communications teams to preempt public relations concerns, says Chris Gidez at G7 Reputation Advisory.
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It's No Longer Enough For Firms To Be Trusted Advisers
Amid fierce competition for business, the transactional “trusted adviser” paradigm from which most firms operate is no longer sufficient — they should instead aim to become trusted partners with their most valuable clients, says Stuart Maister at Strategic Narrative.
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Expect More Restaurant Ch. 11s As COVID Debt Comes Due
The wave of restaurant bankruptcies is likely to continue in the coming months as companies face the looming repayment of COVID-19 pandemic-era government loans, an uncertain economy and increased interest rates, says Isaac Marcushamer at DGIM Law.
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Mitigating Risk In Net Asset Value Facility Bankruptcies
In times of economic turbulence, parties to bankruptcy proceedings that involve net asset value facilities can mitigate risk by understanding the purpose of the automatic stay, complications it can create for NAV facility lenders and options for relief, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.
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Tax Traps In Acquisitions Of Financially Distressed Targets
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Parties to the acquisition of an insolvent or bankrupt company face myriad tax considerations, including limitations on using the distressed company's tax benefits, cancellation of indebtedness income, tax lien issues and potential tax reorganizations.
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7 Steps To Take Before Responding To Claim Objections
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
When counsel is notified of an objection to the proof of claim in a bankruptcy case, they should contact the client and begin discussing the cost and benefit of responding.
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Tips For Handling Single Asset Real Estate Bankruptcy Cases
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Bankruptcy counsel should consider several strategies when representing either a debtor or lender in single asset real estate debtor Chapter 11 cases, which generally arise when a debtor is forced to file for relief to stop an impending foreclosure sale.
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How Methods Are Evolving In Textualist Interpretations
Textualists at the U.S. Supreme Court are increasingly considering new methods such as corpus linguistics and surveys to evaluate what a statute's text communicates to an ordinary reader, while lower courts even mull large language models like ChatGPT as supplements, says Kevin Tobia at Georgetown Law.
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Why Attorneys Should Consider Community Leadership Roles
Volunteering and nonprofit board service are complementary to, but distinct from, traditional pro bono work, and taking on these community leadership roles can produce dividends for lawyers, their firms and the nonprofit causes they support, says Katie Beacham at Kilpatrick.
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Ch. 11 Ruling Shows Early Attempt To Tackle Purdue Fallout
A Delaware bankruptcy court’s recent ruling in Parlement Technologies’ Chapter 11 case, which denied a bid by Parler’s former owner to extend its bankruptcy stay to nondebtors, illustrates early efforts to grapple with the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Purdue Pharma for a recurring bankruptcy issue, say Daniel Lowenthal and Jonah Wacholder at Patterson Belknap.
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9 Liability Management Tips As Debt Maturity Cliff Looms
As the debt maturity cliff swiftly approaches in this challenging environment, attorneys at Winston & Strawn highlight the top considerations for boards of directors and finance professionals to think about when structuring and executing liability management transactions, including reviewing capital structure, evaluating debt covenants, and more.