On Bankruptcy and Mediation
🎶 California dreamin' 🎶 (photo by Marilyn Swanson) By: Donald L Swanson California’s assignment for benefit of creditors laws (“ABC”) are unusual. Back in the late 1800s, California enacted an ABC statutory scheme, but California also allowed ABCs under the common law. Today, however, ABCs in California are under the common law, exclusively, with statutory wrinkles... Continue Reading →
Potential Liability? (Photo by Marilyn Swanson) By: Donald L Swanson What standards govern the potential liability of a credit reporting agency for inaccurate credit reports about debts discharged in bankruptcy? That’s the question addressed in Riddick v. Chex Systems, Inc., Case No. 2:24-cv-700 in U.S. District Court for Eastern Virginia (decided October 10, 2025). What follows... Continue Reading →
Caesars (photo by Marilyn Swanson) By: Donald L Swanson Mediating bankruptcy reorganization disputes is dramatically different from mediating commercial lawsuit disputes. I’ll try to explain. Mediating Commercial Lawsuit Disputes Commercial litigation tends to go through these broad phases: pleadings; discovery; dispositive motions; mediation; trial; and appeal. Mediation in commercial lawsuits tends to be a one-and-done affair:... Continue Reading →
Honest and unfortunate (photo by Marilyn Swanson) By: Donald L Swanson Nondischargeability for “willful and malicious injury by the debtor to another entity or to the property of another entity,” under § 523(a)(6), cannot be based on a principal-agent theory of vicarious liability. That’s the holding of M.O. v. Rosario (In re Rosario), Case No. CC-24-1163... Continue Reading →
Caesars (photo by Marilyn Swanson) By: Donald L Swanson In re Caesars Entertainment is one of the major-and-successful bankruptcy cases in the history of these United States. The Caesars bankruptcy was filed on January 15, 2015, in the Northern Illinois Bankruptcy Court with $18 billion of debt. It achieved a confirmed plan two years later (on... Continue Reading →
Indicating? (Photo by Marilyn Swanson) By: Donald L Swanson How does the “indicative rulings” process work when a settlement occurs while a bankruptcy dispute is pending on appeal before a U.S. circuit court of appeals? In such circumstance: the parties’ dispute has previously been resolved by a bankruptcy court order; then, the bankruptcy court order has... Continue Reading →
Engaged in commercial or business activities (photo by Marilyn Swanson) By: Donald L Swanson The Bankruptcy Court in In re Stevens, 667 B.R. 428 (Bankry. S.D.W. Va. 2025), addresses the question of Debtors’ eligibility for Subchapter V relief under the “engaged in commercial or business activities” standard. In doing so, the In re Stevens court compiles... Continue Reading →
Indicating? (Photo by Marilyn Swanson) By: Donald L Swanson Here is an opinion illustrating how the “indicative rulings” process in Fed.R.Bankr.P. 8008 can work: Millenkamp Cattle, Inc. v. East Valley Development, LLC (In re Millenkamp Cattle, Inc.), Adv. No. 25-8003, Idaho Bankruptcy Court (decided August 19, 2025). Facts Before filing bankruptcy, Debtor enters into two contracts... Continue Reading →
Uniformity (photo by Marilyn Swanson) By: Donald L Swanson A long-standing tension exists between provisions of the Bankruptcy Code and provisions of the Federal Arbitration Act (9 U.S.C. § 1 et seq., “FAA”). The question in such tension is this: must disputes over essential bankruptcy functions be addressed in arbitration, instead of bankruptcy court, under pre-petition... Continue Reading →
Indicating? (Photo by Marilyn Swanson) By: Donald L Swanson Here’s an opinion illustrating how the indicative ruling process works under Rule 62.1 (when there is no bankruptcy case involved): Vroom, Inc. v. Sidekick Tech., LLC, Case No. 21-cv-6737 (U.S. District Court for New Jersey; decided January 6, 2026). What follows is an attempt at summarizing the... Continue Reading →
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