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Bankruptcy, Insolvency and Creditors’ Rights
SCOTUS Closes Statutory Gap in Bellingham
Yesterday, the Supreme Court issued a long-awaited ruling in Executive Benefits Ins. Agency v. Arkison, 573 U.S. __ (2014) (sometimes called "Bellingham" for the name of the debtor in the main bankruptcy case).Bellingham is a...
Double Whammy: Sixth Circuit Upholds Absolute Priority Rule in Individual Chapter 11
What's the difference between an individual Chapter 11 and a Chapter 13?In light of the Sixth Circuit's recent Ice House America, LLC v. Cardin, there are now two major differences:Difference #1: Chapter 11 has an...
Credit-Bidding Updates: Fisker and Free Lance-Star
While the bankruptcy blogosphere patiently awaits a ruling in Bellingham, I thought I would drop in for a few brief updates on the most popular topic of 2014: credit bidding. I have previously written here...
Top 5: Exotic Collateral
I don't know if it is coincidence, but since moving to Kentucky in 2007, I have worked on cases involving much more interesting collateral than earlier in my career. In fact, I'm only one collateral-category...
Top 5: Bankruptcy References in Pop Culture
In no particular order, here are my Top 5 favorite references (overt or implied) to bankruptcy law in pop culture: 1. Michael Scott "Declares" Bankruptcy Filing a petition might be easy, but it's not this...
Fisker'd!!!11 - Free Lance-Star Court Caps Credit Bid
I (along with every other bankruptcy blogger) wrote extensively on the Fisker decisions from Delaware limiting a secured creditor's right to credit bid. My original post is "Note-Buyer Beware: Credit Bidding After Fisker," and some...
EDKY: FDCPA Does Not Apply to Proof of Claim
A couple of weeks ago, Bankruptcy Judge Wise wrote an opinion holding that the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act was inapplicable to representations made in bankruptcy proofs of claim. In Mallard v. Wynn-Singer, the claimant...
Where Did They Get That Payoff?
As the saying goes: "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth." But, should you question the source of the horse? Most lenders with non-performing loans welcome a lump-sum settlement no matter the origins of...