Business Law

On December 16, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit published an opinion holding that a collector’s use of an outside mailer was not similar enough to the publicity requirement under the tort of public disclosure of private facts, and therefore the consumer lacked standing to bring a claim for improper communication with third parties under section 1692c(b) of the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692-1692p (FDCPA).  Shields v. Professional Bureau of Collections of Maryland, Inc., 55 F.4th 823 (10th Cir. 2022). Read more

On June 1, 2023, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Morales-Garcia v. Better Produce, Inc., No. 22-55119 (9th Cir. June 1, 2023) affirmed the Central District of California’s ruling in favor of two strawberry marketers holding that the marketers were not “client employers” liable for laborers’ unpaid wages despite the fact that the farmworkers were working on the marketers’ farmlands, which were subleased to the growers. Read more

Ruling on an objection filed by a chapter 11 plan administrator to landlords’ claims after lease termination, the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the Court) rejected prior district practice and calculated the amounts due under the rent cap of 11 U.S.C. § 502(b)(6) using the Time Approach rather than the Rent Approach.  In re Cortlandt Liquidating LLC, 648 B.R. 137 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 2023). Read more

Exchange Act Rule 10b5–1(c) (17 CFR §240.10b5–1(c)) creates an affirmative defense from insider trading liability for purchases and sales in accordance with preplanned trading plans complying with Rule 10b5–1(c). The rule provides a defense for corporate insiders and companies to buy and sell company stock as long as the trading plan was adopted in good faith, before the company or the insiders became aware of any material nonpublic information. The rule was amended in 2023 to update the conditions that must be met for the affirmative defense to apply. See §3.24A. Read more

This month, we are delighted to highlight the achievements of Business Law Section member, Aaron E. de Leest. Read more

With June now upon, us summer is in full swing at CLA and there is much going on with the Business Law Section! Read more

The United States Supreme Court, relying on textual interpretation, the principles of common-law fraud, precedent from the 1800s, and legislative intent, held that the debt incurred because of the fraud of a spouse or partner is imputed to the other partner and therefore is non-dischargeable in that person’s bankruptcy under the provisions of 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2)(A).  Read more

The plaintiff obtained two loans secured by his home. Plaintiff stopped making payments.  In March 2014, one lender foreclosed on a loan. Read more

In Rios, the Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin held that the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) had an “interest in property” through its federal tax liens on the Chapter 13 Debtors’ (“Debtors”) Social Security benefits. Read more

On May 8, 2023, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (CDFPI) released a report related to its supervision of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).  Read more