Business Law

Summary: A district court in Illinois has held that although the interest rate in a commercial note was tied to the original lender’s internal index, an assignee of that note acquired the failed lender’s power to set the index. [Knezovic vs. Urban Partnership Bank, 2018 Westlaw 3022680 (N.D. Ill.).] Read more

Summary: A district court in New Jersey has held that the transfer of title to real property to a tax sale certificate holder constituted an avoidable preferential transfer, and the Supreme Court's holding in BFP was distinguishable because it dealt with fraudulent transfers, rather than preferences. [In re Hackler, 2018 Westlaw 1440326 (D. N.J.).] Read more

On December 21, 2018, the Court of Appeal of California, Sixth Appellate District, affirmed in Drulias v. 1st Century Bancshares, Inc., 2018 Cal. App. LEXIS 1202, a trial court ruling that a forum-selection bylaw adopted by a Delaware corporation headquartered in California without stockholder approval was enforceable in California. Read more

The Fifth Circuit has held that when a bankruptcy estate is subject to mass tort claims, the estate has an equitable interest in the insurance proceeds, thus precluding extrajudicial settlements by the tort victims. [In re OGA Charters, LLC, 2018 Westlaw 4057525 (5th Cir.).] Read more

The Tenth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel has held that although a deed of trust had been recorded while the debtor had no record title to the property in question, a hypothetical purchaser of the debtor's property would have been on inquiry notice of the deed of trust, due to the debtor's quitclaim executed in favor of her family trust. [In re Cates, 2018 Westlaw 4042816 (10th Cir. BAP).] Read more

On Monday December 11, 2018,the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of the Army (Army) proposed a revised definition of “waters of the United States” that clarifies federal authority under the Clean Water Act. Read more

The following is a judicial profile of the Hon. Laura S. Taylor, Chief Bankruptcy Judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of California. Gary Rudolph, a member of the Insolvency Law Committee, met with Judge Taylor to discuss her personal and professional background and her experience so far as a member of the bankruptcy bench. In the Beginning Judge Taylor has known since high school that she wanted to be a lawyer because it blended her interest in… Read more

The following is a profile of Kathleen J. (Kathy) Campbell, Executive Officer/Clerk of Court for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California (the “bankruptcy court”). Ms. Campbell met members of the Insolvency Law Committee in her Roybal Courthouse office and discussed her personal and professional background, the bankruptcy court’s operations and pending issues and observations. Ms. Campbell was appointed to her current bankruptcy court position in 2010. The Central District of California is home to the… Read more

The following is a profile of the Honorable Maureen Tighe – the seventh in a series of profiles of Ninth Circuit bankruptcy judges. Judge Tighe and members of the Insolvency Law Committee met in her chambers and discussed her personal and professional background, observations from the bench, and issues of interest. Judge Tighe was appointed to the bench in November 2003. Prior to her appointment, she was the United States Trustee for the Central District of California between 1998 and… Read more

The Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies Committee and the Opinions Committee of the State Bar Business Law Section have published their report, Third-Party Closing Opinions: Limited Liability Companies and Partnerships (the “Report”). Read more