Case Updates

Plaintiffs could not be compelled to arbitrate representative claims for civil penalties under the Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 because the state, which owns the claims, was not a party to the arbitration agreements and did not ratify them, nor did the plaintiffs agree to arbitrate the claims after they became representatives of the state. Read more

A creditor’s failure to include a debtor’s middle name on its financing statements was strong indication under Georgia’s interpretation of the UCC that the liens were invalid and thus they could not be used to support a motion for relief from stay in a Chapter 12 bankruptcy case filed in the Middle District of Georgia Bankruptcy Court (the “Court”). Read more

In Severin Mobile Towing, Inc. v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., 2021 WL 2351648 (Cal. Ct. App. June 9, 2021) the California Court of Appeal reversed a trial court ruling under Article 3 of the Uniform Commercial Code which exonerated a bank from liability for accepting for deposit to an employee’s account a series of checks payable to his employer, but indorsed simply with an illegible scrawl which appeared to be the employee’s initials. Read more

In Windstream Holdings, Inc. v. Charter Communications, Inc. (In re Windstream Holdings, Inc.), 627 B.R. 32 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 2021) (“Windstream III”), the bankruptcy court awarded $19.1 million in civil contempt sanctions against Charter Communications, Inc. (“Charter Communications”) and Charter Communications Operating, LLC (“Operating”) (collectively, “Charter”) for violating the automatic stay in the chapter 11 cases of debtors Windstream Holdings, Inc. (“Windstream Holdings”) and 204 affiliates (collectively, the “Windstream Debtors” or “Windstream”). Read more

In a ruling contrary to Ninth Circuit law, a California Court of Appeal recently held that the automatic stay in a bankruptcy proceeding did not prevent a judgment creditor from renewing a judgment while the case was pending, but Bankruptcy Code section 108(c) extended the time to renew until 30 days after the stay was terminated. Read more

The Delaware Court of Chancery (the “Court”) recently ruled that in appropriate circumstances reverse veil piercing was an available remedy for a judgment creditor who could not collect directly from the judgment debtor, in this particular instance allowing collection activities against subsidiaries of the corporate judgment debtor. Read more

In shareholder suits against directors for breach of fiduciary duty, the shareholder must rebut the business judgment rule and demonstrate the breach involved intentional misconduct, fraud, or a knowing violation of law. Read more

Bankruptcy court did not abuse its discretion in denying an individual chapter 11 debtor's motion to voluntarily convert to chapter 7. Read more

An individual was eligible to be a debtor in a SBRA Subchapter V chapter 11 case despite the fact that he was a wage earning employee of a company that was unrelated to the debtor's failed corporate business on the petition date. Read more

In a preference action against an insurance company financier, the financier's lien on unearned premiums was perfected under Louisiana law and was sufficient to defeat a preference if the financier was fully perfected on the date of each transfer, even if not fully secured on the petition date. Read more