Business Law

In a 6-3 decision, the United States Supreme Court in Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid ruled in favor of California agriculture businesses who challenged a decades old California regulation allowing union organizers onto the farm to organize workers. Read more

Medical records pertaining to substance abuse treatment are protected from discovery by the patients’ right to privacy. Read more

A Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern District of New York recently held that a litigation finance company did not hold an effective assignment of a debtor’s interest in settlement proceeds that did not exist on the petition date nor did it have a secured claim, even in funds subject to debtor’s exemption. Read more

Triangular arrangement which allowed for set-off of money the debtor owed to a company's affiliate against what the parent company owed the debtor was not allowed under Bankruptcy Code section 553 because the necessary mutuality was lacking, even though the set-off was allowed under applicable state law. Read more

The United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Louisiana recently ruled in a preference action against an insurance premium financier that (1) the financier’s lien on unearned premiums was perfected under Louisiana law and (2), resolving a split in authority in favor of the financier, it was sufficient to defeat a preference if the financier was fully secured on the date of each transfer, even if not fully secured on the petition date. Read more

Local bankruptcy rules permitting the grant of extensions of time to file objections to claimed exemptions and to file nondischargeability complaints contradicted the requirement of showing "cause" under the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure and, therefore, the local rules were required to be eliminated. Read more

The United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Washington upheld several different release and exculpation clauses in confirming a Chapter 11 plan over the objection of the United States Trustee. Read more

This piece focuses on a pitfall that can surprise taxpayers who receive rollover equity. Read more

Court awarded attorneys' fees to Chapter 11 debtor which prevailed on a motion to assume a commercial real property lease. Read more

Court denied enforcement of a clause limiting Amazon's liability under its service agreement, ruling that when the agreement was executed damages were not ascertainable and, thus, enforcing the clause would violate public policy. Read more