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John Pottow
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The Chimerical Medicare Bar on Bankruptcy Jurisdiction
Statutory interpretation enthusiasts: prepare to nerd out on an issue on which the Court has a cert petition pending. The question involves the federal jurisdictional bar to Medicare challenges. Let’s start with the text: “No action against the United States,... Continue reading
Posted May 31, 2017 at Credit Slips
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Jevic CVSG Recommends Granting Cert
The brief is not up on the SG's webpage yet, but they are recommending granting the petition and reversing the Third Circuit. Hat tip to Professor Lipson or Attorneys Goldblatt et al.? I think this now places granting odds at... Continue reading
Posted May 25, 2016 at Credit Slips
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Nortel Avoids (First) Appeal -- U.S. Edition
After extensive briefing and hearings, the U.S. District Court presiding over the appeal (foreign readers: general trial judges in the U.S. federal court system sit in an appellate capacity over the specialized bankruptcy courts) from the U.S. Nortel proceedings punted... Continue reading
Posted May 22, 2016 at Credit Slips
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Nortel Survives (First?) Appeal -- Canadian Edition
Unlike the bankruptcy judges in Nortel, who synchronized their trials in a landmark case of cross-border insolvency cooperation, the appellate judges run at their own speed, so results will trickle in here and there. The Canadians got through their appeal... Continue reading
Posted May 7, 2016 at Credit Slips
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Puerto Rico: Reading the SCOTUS Tea Leaves
I, too, join the cohort of surprised observers from this week's argument. For me, the biggest takeaway is not so much that the Justices were engaging in textual sport, it's that they wanted to engage in those gymnastics. That is,... Continue reading
Posted Mar 25, 2016 at Credit Slips
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And Now for Something Nutty on Puerto Rico
I know nothing about the statutes delegating "home rule" authority to the Commonwealth, but do they have any reversionary clauses? For example, if there's crisis, war, etc., can the federal government revest in any power? Leaving aside the political unpalatability,... Continue reading
Posted Mar 16, 2016 at Credit Slips
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PR: Let's start with financing...
OK, so I start from the premise that holdouts don't want to restructure debt but others do. Thus, the goal should be incentivize restructuring in a way that beats up on holdouts. Could the Feds say they'll offer financing (e.g.,... Continue reading
Posted Mar 1, 2016 at Credit Slips
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A World Without Harvey
Here's an early obit. It's hard for me to imagine a chapter 11 world without Harvey Miller. Although the adjective is over-used, I think it would be difficult to argue the man was not transformative to bankruptcy law. He was... Continue reading
Posted Apr 27, 2015 at Credit Slips
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This Morning, I Woke Up With This Feeling
I feel compelled to share this sad but not unexpected filing. I hope he will not run into any trouble under section 523(a)(9). Continue reading
Posted Feb 12, 2015 at Credit Slips
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Warren & Westbrook: Two More Authors = Six More Pages?
Posted Aug 4, 2014 at Credit Slips
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Puerto Rico To Get Chapter 9?
Long overdue, in my opinion, HR 5305 has been introduced by Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi. The one-sentence law would allow the territory of Puerto Rico to join the definition of "State" and hence provide access to chapter 9 for its... Continue reading
Posted Aug 1, 2014 at Credit Slips
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Forget Argentina: How Do You Collect from Russia?
Never let it be said that the wheels of international justice spin quickly, but, with the pace of a Siberian jail sentence, the Permanent Court of Arbitration finally handed down its merits award in the Yukos litigation. (For those of... Continue reading
Posted Jul 29, 2014 at Credit Slips
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Stern II, now time for Stern III
Thanks to Stephen for posting the Bellingham/Arkison/Executive Benefits opinion, which I will for simplicity think of as Stern II, as it's the second installment of what will necessarily be a trilogy of Supreme Court cases on the question. True, the... Continue reading
Posted Jun 10, 2014 at Credit Slips
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New Law on Exemption Surcharging
Get it? Anyway, Law v. Siegel is now out, with a 9-0 opinion that shouldn't surprise anyone. It finally gave Justice Scalia a chance to write a strongly textualist bankruptcy opinion for the Court, getting him out of the gulag... Continue reading
Posted Mar 4, 2014 at Credit Slips
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Detroit's Plan Submission -- Now What?
Much excitement in our nerdly circles is arising about Detroit's plan of adjustment, just filed yesterday. This has gotten me thinking about what's next (other than the obvious ongoing cajolling/negotiations). Three ruminations thereon: 1. The future: the media are focused... Continue reading
Posted Feb 22, 2014 at Credit Slips
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Debtor Audits, RIP
Hot of the presses that the EOUST has (again) suspended its "required" debtor audits due to budgetary constraints. Initially they were supposed to do 1 in every 250, and that number fell in recent years to one in every 1,500... Continue reading
Posted Apr 3, 2013 at Credit Slips
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Who Says Earnings Management's Just for CEOs?
A story from the sports world. Continue reading
Posted Feb 14, 2013 at Credit Slips
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Stern Warnings from the Ninth Circuit
The Ninth Circuit handed down Executive Benefits Insurance v. Arkinson today. [I want to call it "Bellingham Insurance," or "EBIA," but I leave to the Blogosphere to decide.] It jumped in as a circuit court opining that bankruptcy judges lack... Continue reading
Posted Dec 4, 2012 at Credit Slips
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Bankruptcy and Politics: Junior Senator from Massachusetts Edition
Politics is not my strong suit -- this, ironically, from the faculty sponsor of both the Democratic and Republican student associations at Michigan Law. (No, I am not confused; I was asked presumably because each group wanted a political independent,... Continue reading
Posted Nov 11, 2012 at Credit Slips
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Ultimate Skin in the Game?
Much chatter has been made of Ocwen's acquisition of ResCap at the bankruptcy auction (although not as much as the acquirer of its loan portfolio), but I'm much more intrigued by its pickup of Wilbur Ross's Homeward Residential. I get... Continue reading
Posted Nov 5, 2012 at Credit Slips
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Ad Hocracy
A storyline in the AMR bankruptcy is exposing how confusing it's becoming (at least to me) to keep track of negotiating groups in chapter 11. (Here's a good recent story from WSJ.) Gone are the days of the simple Creditors... Continue reading
Posted Oct 20, 2012 at Credit Slips
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Layaway Fees Waived
We've posted before about Layaway's resurgence after the Great Recession. A new development: gearing up for the holiday season, many major retailers are waiving their layaway fees, and consumers are responding positively. Here's KMart's. Also, embargos on various popular products... Continue reading
Posted Oct 7, 2012 at Credit Slips
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Elizabeth Warren & LTV Steel
A bankruptcy case from the 1990s called LTV Steel has amazingly enough become an issue in the U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts. A bankruptcy case! Just this week, Senator Scott Brown’s campaign released a web ad insinuating that Elizabeth Warren,... Continue reading
Posted Oct 4, 2012 at Credit Slips
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It's Official: Borders Long Goodbye Over
They officially announced that with no-one showing up to the auction and with their stalking horse backing out (bucking them off?), they will acquiese to the "winning" bid of the liquidators. Surely part of this sad fall -- sadder still... Continue reading
Posted Jul 18, 2011 at Credit Slips
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Bob, how do you feel this squares with criminal law's interpretive rule of lenity?
From the Sixth Circuit with Love (for Creditors)
Last Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit released an opinion in a case called Carroll v. Baud. The decision, which generally ended badly for the consumer bankruptcy filers involved in the case, involved technical interpretive issues caused by the drafting mess that was the 20...
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