Indiana

Is an Option an Executory Contract or Not?

When there is a recorded option to purchase real estate, Prof. Westbrook would have analyzed the specific performance rights of the holder of the option under state law, not the question of whether the option was executory.

J&J, Redux: Bankruptcy Court Dismissed 3M Subsidiary’s Chapter 11 Case

Indianapolis Bankruptcy Judge Jeffrey Graham says that the bankruptcy court cannot become “another court of general jurisdiction.”

District Judge Reads the Safe Harbor Broadly to Immunize a Leveraged Buyout

Although a stock purchase and a loan payoff were one month apart, a district judge in Indiana found a sufficient nexus to invoke the safe harbor and dismiss a fraudulent transfer suit.

Failing to File a Claim Has Dire Consequences for a Secured Creditor

A secured lender who doesn’t file a claim doesn’t get paid by the chapter 13 plan and keeps its lien, but can’t reclaim the collateral during the life of the plan.

Indiana Bankruptcy Judge Narrowly Reads the Section 546(e) Safe Harbor

Although a stock purchase and a loan payoff were only one month apart, the two transactions lacked a sufficient nexus to invoke the safe harbor, Bankruptcy Judge James Carr said.

Judge Predicts Seventh Circuit Wouldn’t Halt Earplug Lawsuits Against Nondebtor 3M

Judge Graham in Indianapolis sees the Seventh Circuit as interpreting ‘related to’ jurisdiction narrowly and not inclined to halt lawsuits against nondebtors without a direct effect on the bankrupt estate.

Supplier Socked for $3.5 Million in Preferences Although All Bills Were Paid on Time

Hounding a debtor for payment and shortening credit terms defeated an ‘ordinary course’ defense to a preference.

Seventh Circuit Primed to Take on a Circuit Split on Automatic Stay Termination

District judge in Indiana holds that the automatic stay only ends as to the debtor’s property after a repeat filing, not also as to estate property.

Insurers Don’t Pay Bankruptcy Costs in a Mass-Tort Chapter 11

A voluntary chapter 11 case is neither a ‘suit’ nor a ‘claim’ against a debtor giving rise to an insurer’s duty to defend.

Debtors’ Attorneys Are Paid in Chapter 13 Before Secured Creditors

Indiana bankruptcy and district judges rule that secured lenders are only entitled to ‘adequate protection’ until the debtor’s counsel’s allowed fees have been paid in full.

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