Business Law

In Thakkar v. Good Gateway, LLC, 2022 WL 552743 (Nos. 20-4792 and 20-4800) (N.D. Ga. January 12, 2022) (“Thakkar”), the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia (the “Court”) rule that because he did not have a direct pecuniary interest in the matter, an LLC member of the debtors lacked standing to appeal the Bankruptcy Court’s ruling denying the debtors’ motions against a creditor for sanctions for allegedly violating the automatic stay and a mediation order in their bankruptcy cases. Read more

On June 21, 2022, President Joseph Biden signed S.3823 into law. The law, which is effective immediately, makes the following material changes to the Bankruptcy Code. Read more

State-law formula for allocating tort settlement funds between past and future medical expenses not preempted by the Medicaid Act. Read more

The following is a case update written by Robert G. Harris (rob@bindermalter.com), a partner in the Silicon Valley bankruptcy boutique, Binder & Malter, LLP, analyzing a recent decision of interest. Read more

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