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Business Reorganization

Delaware Bankruptcy Court Creates Vendor-Friendly Forum by Preserving Reclamation Rights in the Face of DIP Lenders’ Liens

By: Dean Katsionis

St. John’s Law Student

American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review Staff

Section 546(c) of the Bankruptcy Code preserves a vendor’s right to reclaim goods sold to an insolvent debtor within forty-five days of the debtor’s bankruptcy filing.[1] Courts have had to address whether a post-petition lender’s subsequently perfected security interest defeats the vendor’s reclamation rights when a post-petition loan is used to repay the debtor’s prepetition secured loan, which are generally subject to reclamation rights.[2] In In re Reichold Holdings US, Inc., the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware overruled a liquidating trustee’s objection to a vendor’s reclamation claim, holding that the vendor’s reclamation rights arose before a post-petition DIP lender’s liens attached, and as such, those liens were subject to the prior reclamation rights of the vendor.[3]

Court Invalidates the Use of Blocking Directors as Against Public Policy

By: Samantha Guido

St. John’s Law Student

American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review Staff

The use of a blocking director is a common practice by creditors looking to mitigate the risk of a debtor’s bankruptcy filing.[1] In In re Lake Michigan Beach Pottawattamie Resort LLC,[2] the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois held that a blocking director provision was invalid because it impermissibly eliminated the fiduciary duty owed by the creditor to the debtor.[3] In interpreting Michigan corporate governance law, the court reasoned that the use of blocking directors is generally permissible. The provision in this case, however, contracted away the fiduciary duty on the part of the blocking director, and that is impermissible.[4] The debtor granted a mortgage and assignment of rents to BCL – Bridge Funding (“BCL”) to secure a loan and a line of credit given by BCL to the debtor.[5] The debtor defaulted on his payment and created a Third Amendment establishing BCL as a “Special Member” with the right to approve or disapprove any material action by the debtor.[6] The provision requires the debtor to obtain BCL’s consent, which can be withheld for any reason, before filing for bankruptcy.[7] The agreement also contained a waiver of the fiduciary duty owed by the special member to the debtor by stating that BCL was not obligated to consider any interests but their own and has no obligation to give any consideration to the debtor’s interests.[8] When the debtor filed for bankruptcy, four out of five creditors voted in favor of the filing, with BCL withholding its vote.[9] BCL, in its motion to dismiss the debtor’s chapter 11 case, argued that the debtor was not authorized to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy because the debtor did not have the consent of the blocking director.[10]

Bankruptcy Courts Lack Authority to Involuntarily Substantively Consolidate Debtor with Nonprofit Non-Debtor

By: Eileen Ornousky

St. John’s Law Student

American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review Staff

Although bankruptcy courts have broad equitable powers, including the power to substantively consolidate debtors, these powers cannot be used to circumvent other sections of the Bankruptcy Code. Substantive consolidation pools separate legal entities’ assets and liabilities and allows each entity’s liability to be satisfied out of the common pool of assets.[1] In In re Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis,[2] the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Minnesota held that it lacked the authority to substantively consolidate the debtor Archdiocese with over 200 Catholic nonprofit, non-debtor entities.[3] Additionally, the Court stated that even if it had the authority to do so, the Archdiocese and the other entities were not sufficiently interrelated to warrant consolidation.[4]

Publication Notice Satisfies Due Process for Unknown Future Asbestos Claimants

By: Colleen Angus-Yamada

St. John’s Law Student

American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review Staff

Almost thirty years after the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York confirmed the Chapter 11 plans of Johns-Manville Corporation (“Manville”) and Manville Forest Products (“MFP”), pursuant to which creditors were enjoined from pursuing asbestos claims against them, a plaintiff sought to recover from Graphic Packaging International (“Graphic”), a purported successor of MFP. In In re Johns-Manville Corp.,[1] the Bankruptcy Court enjoined Ms. Berry from pursuing asbestos claims arising from her exposure to asbestos on her husband’s work clothes.[2] According to the Bankruptcy Court, because Graphic is a successor of MPF, a bankruptcy debtor and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Manville, Ms. Berry must first pursue her asbestos claims against the Manville Personal Injury Trust (the “Trust”) in accordance with the Chapter 11 Plan (the “Manville Plan”).[3]

Courts Override Underlying Contractual Obligations in the Chapter 11 Surrender and Abandon of Aircraft Equipment and Vessels

By: Lisa Strejlau

St. John’s Law Student

American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review Staff

In Chapter 11 airline cases, a court will typically balance the interests of debtors and creditors in determining the method, timing and condition of collateral returns and whether or not the parties must comply with the underlying contractual obligations. In In re Republic Airways Holdings, Inc.,[1] the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York held that a debtor is not required to comply with underlying contractual requirements for the return of aircraft and engines as collateral.[2] After filing for Chapter 11, Republic Airways Holdings, Inc. (“Republic”) sought to surrender or abandon certain aircrafts and engines subject to liens of Citibank, pursuant to an agreement to secure Republic’s obligations with respect to a credit and guaranty agreement.[3] Republic moved for an order authorizing them to (i) transfer title to and abandon certain aircrafts and engines and reject a related aircraft lease, and (ii) to fulfill their obligations under a certain engine purchase agreement and directing Citibank to cooperate with the closing of that agreement.[4]

Smoke & Mirrors: Bankruptcy Relief Remains Elusive for Marijuana Businesses and Their Creditors

By: Todd Kingston Plummer

St. John’s Law Student

American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review Staff

In In re Medpoint Management , the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Arizona held that cause existed under Section 707(a) of the United States Bankruptcy Code (“Bankruptcy Code”) to dismiss an involuntary chapter 7 petition filed against a bankrupt medical marijuana distributor.[1] Although Arizona permits its Department of Health Services to register dispensaries “operated on a not-for-profit basis” for the legal sale of marijuana,[2] the drug remains a Schedule I substance under the federal government’s Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”).[3] Because Arizona law requires dispensaries to maintain a nonprofit nature, there has been a “proliferation of dispensary-management entities which serve as repositories of dispensary revenues.”[4] When Medpoint Management LLC, a marijuana dispensary, defaulted on several loans and obligations, a group of creditors filed an involuntary chapter 7 petition against Medpoint.[5] The petitioning creditors’ claims against Medpoint included unpaid amounts under two promissory notes, unpaid fees arising under two distinct consulting agreements, and over $500,000 in outstanding loans.[6] Medpoint moved to dismiss arguing that the “unclean hands doctrine” prevents not only any marijuana-related business but also any of their creditors from seeking relief from the federal bankruptcy courts.[7] At a hearing on Medpoint’s motion, the United States Trustee voiced staunch concern regarding a trustee’s ability to administer a bankruptcy estate consisting of substances that are illegal under federal law: “So, you’re going to ask a trustee to look at a management contract for illegal activities, essentially. So what is that trustee going to do?”[8] The court agreed with Medpoint and the United States Trustee and dismissed the involuntary petition.[9]

It’s OK to Be Selfish: In re Monticello and Courts’ Continuing Deference to Creditors’ Interests

By: Corey Trail

St. John’s Law Student

American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review Staff

In In re Monticello Real Estate Investments, LLC, a bankruptcy court held that a creditor did not act in bad faith when it purchased unsecured debt from another creditor in order to have the votes necessary to veto a debtor’s reorganization plan. In Monticello, the debtor was a realty investor that took out a $1.185 million loan to finance the purchase of an office center. After the debtor failed to satisfy the loan by its five year maturity date, the bank and the debtor entered into two loan modifications that extended the maturity date of the loan. The debtor soon failed to adhere to the loan modifications and the bank began foreclosure proceedings. In response, the debtor filed a chapter 11 bankruptcy petition and requested authority to use cash collateral. The court granted the debtor’s request and instructed the parties to submit an agreed upon order authorizing the use of cash collateral that set forth a tentative agreement to restructure the bank’s debt. As part of the agreement, the bank required the debtor to sign two promissory notes that it claimed contained “standard loan documents.” However, the debtor rejected the standard loan forms and responded with a modified loan agreement, which the bank rejected. The debtor filed the new agreement (“the Plan”) without the required new loan documents. The court issued a second cash collateral order, which was again dependent on the execution of new loan documents. Subsequently, the court scheduled a hearing to confirm the Plan. Both the bank and a credit card company filed claims against the debtor. In order to ensure that the debtor’s Plan was not able to acquire the requisite amount of votes, the bank purchased the claim from the credit card company to obtain enough votes to block the Plan’s confirmation. The bank explained that had the Plan been confirmed, the FDIC would negatively rate the debt. The debtor moved to have the bank’s ballots designated pursuant to 11 U.S.C. section 1126(e), stating that the bank’s desire to dictate the terms of the new loan documents, the cessation of negotiation on the new terms before the expiration deadline, and the purchasing of other claims exhibited a lack of good faith required by the statute. The court however, disagreed, finding that because the execution of a new loan agreement on the bank’s terms was crucial to protecting the bank’s interests, the purchase of other claims to ensure that the Plan would not receive the necessary votes was not in bad faith.

When a Priority is Not a Priority

By: Lindsay Lersner


St. John’s Law Student


American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review Staff


The culmination of a chapter 11 case is typically a plan that provides for payment to creditors in accordance with the priority scheme in Section 507 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (“Code”).[1] In In re Jevic Holding Corp. , the Third Circuit held that in certain rare circumstances, bankruptcy courts have the discretion to approve structured dismissals, which do not comply with Section 507 of the Code.[2] A structured dismissal is a settlement proposed to the court that provides for the distribution of the debtor’s assets to creditors.[3] In In re Jevic , the debtor proposed a structured dismissal after reaching a consensus with a majority of its creditors.[4] The Jevic truck drivers (“Drivers”), former employees of Jevic with a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (“WARN”) claim,[5] however, did not agree to the settlement.[6] In opposing bankruptcy court approval of the settlement and the structured dismissal, the Drivers argued that (1) the Code does not allow for structured dismissals and (2) the settlement paid the creditors with claims junior to the Drivers’ WARN claims and therefore violated the priority scheme established under Section 507.[7] Bankruptcy settlements generally follow the absolute priority rule, which requires that creditors be paid in the order of their priority under Section 507.[8] The bankruptcy court overruled the Drivers’ objection and approved the settlement providing for the dismissal of the debtor’s chapter 11 case upon payment of certain administrative and tax expenses which were lower in priority than the Drivers’ claims.[9] On appeal, the district court affirmed the bankruptcy court’s decision.[10] The Drivers appealed again, and the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit also affirmed.[11]

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