Since the obvious intent of Congress is to help small businesses in financial stress and to abbreviate their Chapter 11 process, courts will try to avoid roadblocks when they can.
Unanswered Questions: Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019
A Strategy for Reorganizing Medium-Size Businesses With Too Much Debt For The Small Business Reorganization Act
The absolute priority rule is still an impediment to reorganizing medium-size businesses in Chapter 11.
The Farm Economy: A Problem For Us All
That’s all well and good for us well-fed folk, who frequent grocery stores stocked with vast arrays of food choices. But such luxuries are not universal—even here in these United States.
Don’t Guess Wrong on Finality for Appeal: Comparing U.S. Supreme Court Opinions (Rytzen and Bullard)
By: Donald L Swanson “An erroneous identification of a final order as interlocutory may cause a party to miss the appellate deadline.” --U.S. Supreme Court in Rytzen Group, Inc. v Jackson Masonry, LLC (decided 1/14/2020) Rarely has a Supreme Court bankruptcy ruling had a more-expansive effect that its most recent pronouncement. The quotation above shows why—because... Continue Reading →
Merit Management’s Footnote 2 and Justice Breyer’s Point Prevail in Second Circuit (In re Tribune)
By Donald L. Swanson “The parties here do not contend that either the debtor or petitioner in this case qualified as a “financial institution” by virtue of its status as a “customer” under §101(22)(A). . . . We therefore do not address what impact, if any, §101(22)(A) would have in the application of the §546(e) safe... Continue Reading →
Stressed Family Businesses: Chapter 11 Reorganization Must Work For Them
By: Donald L. Swanson Family businesses who need to reorganize have a tough go in bankruptcy. There are lots of impediments, both legal (e.g., absolute priority rule) and economic (Chapter 11 is expensive). The Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 will help, but it only applies to businesses with less than $2.7 million of debt. An Extraneous... Continue Reading →
Distinguishing Domestic Support Obligations from Property Settlement Debts: Comparative Opinions
By: Donald L Swanson Domestic support obligations (e.g., alimony and child support) cannot be discharged in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Property settlement debts, by contrast, may be discharged in Chapter 13. Question and an Illustration Answer Question: What distinguishes a domestic support obligation from a property settlement debt in Chapter 13? Two recent opinions out of South... Continue Reading →
Are US Trustee’s Increased Quarterly Fees Constitutional?
By: Donald L Swanson The Office of the US Trustee administers the bankruptcy system in these United States. To fund its efforts, the US Trustee receives quarterly fees from Chapter 11 debtors, which fees are a major (and often a problematic) expense for debtor’s to pay. Back in October 2017, Congress increased the amounts of such... Continue Reading →
What To Do When No One Supports A Rule The U.S. Supreme Court Wants to Decide: Rodriguez v. FDIC
By: Donald L Swanson What should the U.S. Supreme Court Justices do when, (i) they grant certiorari to resolve a circuit split on whether a rule of law is valid, but (ii) no party to the appeal argues in favor of that rule? That’s exactly the circumstances in Rodriguez v. FDIC, Supreme Court Case No. 18-1269... Continue Reading →
For Forty Years, the U.S. Supreme Court Has Shunned the Constitution’s Bankruptcies Clause!
It's as if they don't want to mention the Bankruptcies Clause because, in doing so, they'd have to give it weight and authority.
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