On Bankruptcy and Mediation
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 A sale in bankruptcy of assets owned by Nortel Networks Inc. results in a $7.3 billion (yes, that's $7,300,000,000) pot of gold for creditors. Guess what: creditors can't agree on how to divide the pot. So what do creditors do instead? They spend $2 billion from the pot of gold on... 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 →
By Donald L. Swanson Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes declares in his Detroit plan confirmation opinion (Doc. 8257) that the mediated settlements: --Are “an extraordinary accomplishment in bankruptcy”; and --Create “an ideal model for future municipal debt restructurings.” With the benefit of hindsight, we can all agree with Judge Rhodes on both points. But why not... 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 "War and Peace: Recent Trends and Developments in Bankruptcy Litigation and Mediation" --That's the title of the "Committee Education Session, Mediation / Bankruptcy Litigation," at the American Bankruptcy Institute's Annual Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C., next Month -- April 14-17, 2016. We look forward to seeing everyone there! Click here to... Continue Reading →
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