Business Law

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

In Faulkner v. Broadway Festivals, Inc. (In re Reagor-Dykes Motors, L.P.), ___ B.R. ___, 2022 WL 120199 (No. 20-0503) (Bank. N.D. Tex. January 12, 2022) (“Reagor-Dykes”), in a thoughtful decision on various aspects of preference law under Bankruptcy Code (the “Code”) § 547, the Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas (the “Court”) denied the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment against defendant Broadway Festivals, Inc. (“Broadway”) on a preference claim by finding that Broadway established an ordinary course defense based on a single similar transaction with the debtor, even though the timing of the payments at issue in the two transactions was substantially different. Read more

United Talent Agency sued its property insurer seeking coverage for losses due to cancelled events and loss of use of its property during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals (the Court) recently ruled that a judgment debtor who was mailed a copy of a garnishment summons which was served on his bank did not have standing to pursue a claim under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) because the mere receipt of a copy of the summons did not cause a concrete and particularized injury as required by Article III of the Constitution. Ojogwu v Rodenburg Law Firm, 2022 WL 433034 (8th Cir. 2/14/22). Read more

The Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the 9th Circuit upheld the order of Eastern District Bankruptcy Judge Rene Lastreto, II, which granted a summary judgment of non- dischargeability based on a stipulated Judgment over the objection of the Debtor, who argued the stipulation did not contain sufficient stipulated facts to establish issue preclusion. Read more

On May 13, 2022, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Maureen Duffy-Lewis issued a bench trial verdict in a widely-watched case—Crest et al. v. Padilla, C.A. No. 19STCV27561 Cal. Super. Ct. (Crest I). Read more

Our next Zoom meeting will be on Wednesday, May 18th at 11:00 AM PT, and thereafter monthly on the third Wednesday of the month at 11:00 a.m. Read more

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (the Court), in a case arising from the failure to perform by the successful online bidder at a bankruptcy auction, reversed the district court’s admission of online documents which provided a monetary limit for the bidder’s liability. Deciding evidentiary issues which had not been adequately addressed by precedent in the circuit, the Court found the documents had not been properly authenticated and were not excepted from the hearsay rul Read more

In an unpublished disposition, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (the Court) affirmed bankruptcy court and district court rulings that a debtor’s beneficial interest in real property owned by an irrevocable trust was a sufficient equitable interest to support an automatic homestead exemption under California law. Read more