Business Law

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (the Court) allowed former chapter 7 debtors to deduct from their taxes the interest credited as paid to the lender from the proceeds of a short sale, overruling a determination by the Internal Revenue Service that they were not entitled to the interest deduction. Read more

The Court denied plaintiff franchisor Kahala Franchising, LLC’s (“Kahala”) motion for preliminary injunction against defendant holdover Pinkberry frozen yogurt franchisee Real Faith, LLC (“Real Faith”) primarily on the basis that Real Faith overcame Kahala’s rebuttable presumption of irreparable harm. Read more

The Court of Special Appeals of Maryland (the Court), interpreting its version of UCC § 3-309, recently held that an entity that lost a note in its possession may assign that lost note, along with the right to enforce it, so long as the initial entity was entitled to enforce the note when it lost possession. Jones v. Ward, 2022 WL 556977, ___ A. ___ (Md. Court of Special Appeals, 2/24/22). Read more

Daniel C. was born with severe disabilities after his congenital abnormalities were not detected during his mother’s pregnancy until after viability. The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) paid for his medical care through the Medi-Cal program. Read more

Gary Kline was implanted with an artificial hip joint manufactured by Zimmer, Inc. The surgery was unsuccessful. Kline underwent further procedures and therapy for the next eight years. He then sued Zimmer on a products defect theory. Read more

Bankruptcy Judge Montali applied California law to find that a “settlement agreement” extending the term of a business purpose mortgage loan was usurious, and that a late charge, applied to a balloon payment was unenforceable as liquidated damages. Read more

In a published order denying a petition for writ of mandamus to compel a district court to grant a stay pending appeal of a bankruptcy sale order, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (the Court) ruled that a chapter 11 trustee could sell real property free and clear of leasehold interests which were junior to the rights of a mortgagee which could have foreclosed out those interests in a state court proceeding, but for the bankruptcy. Read more

The Consumer Financial Services Committee met on May 18, by Zoom, and discussed consumer law developments. We plan to send updates about our meetings that ALSO communicate new consumer regulations, policies and issues. Read more

The Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the “Court”) recently granted a Subchapter V debtor’s motion to extend the 90-day deadline in section 1189(b) to file a plan, expounding upon the standard for extension in the statute compared to that in general business cases. Read more

The following regulatory information may be of interest to attorneys practicing insurance law. This information is current as of May 17, 2022. Read more