The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday asked a federal judge in Los Angeles to approve a $1.2 million judgment against broker defendants in litigation concerning the Woodbridge Group of Companies Ponzi scheme, citing the Supreme Court's June decision that the regulator can seek disgorgement in federal court.
Bankrupt talc producer Imerys Talc America agreed Friday to make changes to its Chapter 11 plan documents, telling a Delaware judge that it would add information about a $130 million settlement with former owner Cyprus Mines Corp. over legacy asbestos liabilities.
Several current and former executives of mall owner CBL & Associates will get a 90-day reprieve from a federal stockholder lawsuit, after a Texas bankruptcy court judge extended the stay on litigation during CBL's Chapter 11 reorganization.
Newly emerged from bankruptcy, space-based internet provider OneWeb said Friday it's now raised $1.4 billion in financing thanks to new investments from SoftBank and Hughes.
A Nevada entrepreneur charged with looting $17 million from NS8 Inc., a cyberfraud protection company he founded, is considering a possible plea deal amid ongoing investigations by prosecutors and in bankruptcy court, a Manhattan federal judge heard Friday.
A Pittsburgh-area restaurant that has been operating in defiance of Pennsylvania's COVID-19-related mask mandate asked a federal bankruptcy judge Thursday to extend a stay on the Allegheny County Health Department's effort to shut it down, citing its appeal to the U.S. District Court.
Facing a financial probe and attorney general's suit in New York seeking to dissolve the group, the National Rifle Association sought Chapter 11 protection in Texas on Friday and said it would move its charter to that state, toting along more than $100 million in debt.
This past week in London has seen China's Huawei facing a patent fight, oil trading giant Mercuria sue a petroleum company and a spread-better file a claim against real estate tycoon Robert Tchenguiz. Here, Law360 looks at those and other new claims in the U.K.
A consultant for global drug giant Mallinckrodt PLC told a Delaware judge Thursday that movement toward a Chapter 11 plan has "virtually come to a standstill" as a dispute rages on over whether the drugmaker should reimburse fees for certain restructuring professionals.
Bankrupt satellite communications firm Speedcast International Ltd. told a Texas bankruptcy judge late Thursday that it had reached a settlement with creditor Black Diamond Commercial Finance that will allow its Chapter 11 plan to move toward confirmation next week on an uncontested basis.
A major creditor of Ebony Media is asking a Texas bankruptcy judge to put the company back up for auction after the publisher's buyer asked to shave $1.4 million off its $14 million sale price over the failure to secure a photo licensing deal.
A New York bankruptcy judge on Thursday set the claims deadline in the Chapter 11 case of Long Island's Roman Catholic diocese for August, accepting arguments it should sync up with the state statute of limitations on childhood sexual abuse suits.
The Fifth Circuit won't let a Taiwanese shipping magnate escape a $79 million judgment, ruling that the failure of his then-attorneys from Robins Kaplan LLP to appear at a hearing in Texas federal court to defend him wasn't extraordinary enough to warrant lifting the judgment.
Women's apparel company Christopher & Banks Corp. said Thursday the COVID-19 pandemic has driven it to Chapter 11, and that it plans to close most of its brick-and-mortar stores but will continue its e-commerce operations.
The U.S. Supreme Court reversed a series of lower court rulings Thursday in finding that the City of Chicago did not violate the automatic stay included in the bankruptcy code when it refused to return impounded vehicles owned by four Chapter 13 debtors.
The brother of Tom Girardi said Wednesday that the celebrity attorney is "incompetent and unable to act for himself," telling a California bankruptcy court that he should be appointed his 81-year-old brother's guardian so he can assist with his mounting legal woes.
A Florida state appeals court Wednesday issued an en banc decision overturning its prior precedent and finding debtors' appeals are stayed by their bankruptcy filings, calling its prior decision an "outlier" on both the state and federal level.
The bankrupt owner of a Washington, D.C., hotel received interim approval for its Chapter 11 loan on Wednesday in Delaware, but the case is primed for an existential challenge by Marriott Hotel Services Management, which operated the facility prior to a COVID-19-related shutdown last year.
Exxon Mobil Corp. units are trying to block confirmation of a Chapter 11 plan for debt-laden oil exploration company Fieldwood Energy LLC that the Exxon companies say would unfairly put them on the hook for the expensive cleanup of plugging old oil and gas wells.
Lenders providing post-petition financing to Indiana coal producer White Stallion Energy LLC objected Wednesday to the debtor's motion to establish procedures for the payment of its professionals' fees and expenses, telling a Delaware judge that there is no money available at the moment for those payments.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed into law a bipartisan bill extending 25 temporary judgeships on the bankruptcy bench, including in Delaware, and changing the bankruptcy fee system.
The producer of "Silver Linings Playbook" told the Third Circuit that the buyer of Harvey Weinstein's film and television assets owes him profits made before the disgraced movie distributor's Chapter 11 petition, arguing that a lower court wrongly found the buyer was free and clear of the obligation.
Brown Rudnick LLP is continuing to expand its litigation practice, recently announcing the addition of an experienced partner from Spar & Bernstein PC who had established that firm's corporate business, sports and entertainment practice.
A Texas bankruptcy judge confirmed the Chapter 11 plan of oil and gas driller Chesapeake Energy on Wednesday, agreeing with the debtor's $5.13 billion valuation and handing over the equity of the company to senior lenders owed more than $7 billion.
A Colorado bankruptcy judge threw out United Cannabis Corp.'s Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Tuesday, siding with the U.S. Trustee who argued the company's connection to illegal marijuana is too close to use the bankruptcy process.
Some recent litigation developments demonstrate efforts by law firms and their clients to search for opportunities in the COVID-19 economic fallout, while others — such as the rise of contingency fee arrangements — reflect acceleration of tendencies that were already underway, says William Weisman at Therium Capital.
Two recent decisions from a New York state court and a Nevada federal court reaffirm the importance of lenders paying off superpriority liens, which may extinguish their mortgages or deeds of trust if not swiftly addressed, say Michael O'Donnell and Michael Crowley at Riker Danzig.
In the face of rising client demands due to the pandemic and the changing regulatory environment, and with remote work continuing for the foreseeable future, lawyers should invest in their well-being by establishing inspiring yet realistic goals for 2021 — one month at a time, says Krista Larson at Morgan Lewis.
"Confidential" and other search terms commonly used to locate privileged documents during e-discovery are pretty ineffective, so practitioners should consider including specific types of keywords that are demonstrably better at targeting privilege, say Robert Keeling at Sidley and Rishi Chhatwal at AT&T.
Lawyers working remotely during the pandemic while physically outside the jurisdictions in which they are licensed will find some comfort in a recent American Bar Association opinion sanctioning such practice, but there is ambiguity regarding the contours of what's allowed, say attorneys at Harris Wiltshire.
Whether geared toward a global audience or a particular client, a law firm's articles, blog posts and client alerts should strive to be original by harnessing a few editorial tools and following the right distribution sequence, say Steven Andersen and Tal Donahue at Infinite Global.
Derek Adams at Potomac Law, and Ellen London and Steven Deolus at Alto Litigation, examine the evolution of the Paycheck Protection Program, the impact of constant changes to eligibility and reporting rules, and enforcement developments to expect this year.
Perspectives
Judges should take into consideration the several points of law enforcement and prosecutorial discretion — from traffic stops to charging decisions and sentencing recommendations — that often lead to race-based disparate treatment before a criminal defendant even reaches the courthouse, say Judge Juan Villaseñor and Laurel Quinto at Colorado's Eighth Judicial District Court.
PG&E's plan to sell its Pleasant Creek natural gas storage field will allow the utility to avoid decommissioning and remediation costs, and it aligns with regulators' desire to see the company move in a climate-friendly direction — but buyers may be leery of such assets for the same reasons, say Vidhya Prabhakaran and Patrick Ferguson at Davis Wright.
Lawyers should remember that the basics of interpersonal relationships have not changed despite the completely virtual environment caused by the pandemic, and should leverage the new year as an excuse to connect with clients in several ways, say Megan Senese and Courtney Hudson at Pillsbury.
Companies must prepare to navigate a storm of antitrust forces on the horizon, with the potential for more aggressive antitrust enforcement under the Biden administration, including agency focus on acquisitions of nascent competitors, the life sciences industry and monetary remedies, say attorneys at Cooley.
For law firms planning overhauls in their information technology infrastructures in light of hard lessons learned from pandemic-era transition to remote work, there are five ways to ensure even the biggest tech upgrade has minimal impact on client service, says Brad Paubel at Lexicon.
A New York federal court's recent decision in Nine West LBO Securities Litigation — holding that directors may have breached their fiduciary duty by failing to evaluate a leveraged buyout's future insolvency risk — is unlikely to have a chilling effect on LBOs, upend how they are conducted or increase director liability risk, say attorneys at Fried Frank.
Careful construction of an amicus brief's essential elements — including the table of contents, which determines whether a brief gets studied or skimmed — and the order in which they are crafted are key to maximizing a party's hoped-for impact on a case before the U.S. Supreme Court or other appellate courts, say Mark Chopko and Karl Myers at Stradley Ronon.
Changes in the way people work and communicate — which the pandemic has accelerated — will continue to bring new e-discovery challenges and shifts in data recovery this year, says Brian Schrader at Business Intelligence Associates.