On Bankruptcy and Mediation
By Donald L. Swanson Eons ago, as measured by the short history of bankruptcy mediation, we are representing a creditor in a contentious Chapter 11 case. The case has many creditors, a wide range of constituencies and a chaotic existence. Efforts to bring order are having limited success. So someone suggests mediation. Most parties think... Continue Reading →
By: Donald L. Swanson The primary issue in the Nortel Networks bankruptcy is this: How should the remainder of a $7.3 billion fund be allocated among creditors? $2 billion or-so of this fund has already been used to pay professional fees in the fight. The U.S. portion of the Nortel Networks case is in the... Continue Reading →
By: Donald L. Swanson Celebrity brushes with the law always add spice to otherwise hum-drum subjects. Who would have ever predicted, for example, that someone like Anna Nicole Smith (fka Vickie Lynn Marshall) could cause havoc within the bankruptcy system? Then there is Willie Nelson and his IRS battles. Or how about John Fogerty’s long... Continue Reading →
By: Donald L. Swanson The distressed debtor is the Republic of Argentina. Ok .. . so not everyone gets to handle a case of this magnitude. But, as for $8 billion in cash settlement payments and $100 billion in total defaults . . . it's merely a matter of locating the decimal point in a... Continue Reading →
By: Donald L. Swanson If the City of Chicago were to file bankruptcy, the Bankruptcy Court in Chicago would find itself in a bit of a pickle. It's not a between-a-rock-and-a-hard-place type of pickle. It's more of a between-a-rock-and-an-I-don't-want-to-go-there pickle. First of all, let's note that prospects for a City of Chicago bankruptcy filing are... Continue Reading →
Detroit’s use of multiple mediators and hundreds of mediation sessions is not surprising. How else could a Court deal with billions of dollars of debt and a multitude of creditors of a City that must keep operating and must meet the daily needs of its hundreds of thousands of inhabitants.
Mandatory mediation requirements are built into labor contracts, in accordance with requirements of Federal statutes.
By Donald L. Swanson “Mediator” and “proactive” are, usually, oxymoronic terms. A mediator’s role is usually passive: to help parties deal with disputes they bring to the mediator. Detroit bankruptcy mediation rejects mediator passivity. One of the early—and monumental—judicial actions in the Detroit bankruptcy is this: the referral of a sweeping array of issues to... Continue Reading →
By Donald L. Swanson The Wall Street Journal reports that the Gallup (New Mexico) Diocese filed today (Monday, March 21, 2016) a mediated plan of reorganization in its bankruptcy proceeding. Here are some blurbs from the Wall Street Journal report: The Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup, N.M., unveiled today "a $22 million reorganization plan, the bulk of... Continue Reading →
By Donald L. Swanson 40 people are in the room at the first mediation session about Detroit’s two pension plans. There aren’t enough chairs in the room to go around, so the mediator, Eugene Driker, stands for the entire four-hour meeting. This is an unusual mediation: Its issues and disputes are newly joined, so the... Continue Reading →
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