Bankruptcy

Bankrupt media company sues Paul Weiss for $136m

By Legal Week | June 22, 2009

A media company which went bankrupt last week has filed a $136m (£83m) malpractice suit against Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison, reports The Am Law Daily. US company MIG has alleged that a mistake in an offering document written by Paul Weiss in the late 1990s ended up costing the company about $136m a decade later.

1 minute read

Weil Gotshal bills $54m as GM work pays out to the tune of $80m

By Legal Week | June 16, 2009

General Motors has paid out more than $80m (£49m) over the past six months to the three firms advising on the troubled automaker's Chapter 11 case, reports the Am Law Daily. Weil Gotshal & Manges, Jenner & Block and Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn have all filed their applications for employment as counsel to GM. As lead bankruptcy counsel, Weil Gotshal has the lion's share of the billings at more than $54m (£33m) - roughly equivalent to the $55m that Weil billed Lehman Brothers between September 2008 and January 2009.

1 minute read

Hammonds wraps up advice on $485m Chesapeake sale and restructure deal

By Legal Week | June 10, 2009

Hammonds has secured a lead role on the $485m (£304m) cross-border restructuring and sale of packaging supplier Chesapeake.

1 minute read

Northern Ireland: 12 months of strife, but things are looking up

By Legal Week | June 10, 2009

Twelve months ago I wrote an article in these pages attempting to predict how Northern Ireland's (NI) law firms would fare in the short and medium term. My conclusion was that initially there would be a levelling out of growth but mid-term well-balanced firms should continue to be able to grow. So, how have we done and how far off the mark was I?

1 minute read

Weil GM bill set to surpass Lehman charges with 'more complex matter'

By Legal Week | June 10, 2009

Weil Gotshal & Manges looks set to earn more from the landmark bankruptcy of General Motors than it did from its mandate advising on the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

1 minute read

Greenberg in hot water over Heller representation

By Mark Goddard | June 3, 2009

Greenberg Traurig is facing a malpractice investigation by the Heller Ehrman estate, according to court filings and a lawyer representing Heller's creditors committee, writes The Recorder. At issue is Greenberg's apparent failure to discover that Heller's biggest creditor, Bank of America (BoA), had terminated its security interest in the firm. Lawyers familiar with the matter say that Heller, which retained Greenberg last summer, would have had much better leverage with its banks and other creditors if it had known BoA was not a secured creditor and may have even been able to avoid bankruptcy.

1 minute read

International firms win roles on GM restructuring

By Mark Goddard | May 29, 2009

The collapse of automotive giant General Motors has handed roles to at least 15 law firms so far in one of the largest restructurings to date.

1 minute read

International Edition

Herbert Smith sets precedent with success of retail rescue

By Georgina Stanley | May 6, 2009

In the same week that figures from the Insolvency Service revealed company administrations grew by more than 50% during the first three months of 2009 compared to the previous year, the rescue of troubled sports retailer JJB Sports offered a glimmer of hope for companies in difficulty.

1 minute read

Herbert Smith sets precedent with success of retail rescue

By Georgina Stanley | May 6, 2009

In the same week that figures from the Insolvency Service revealed company administrations grew by more than 50% during the first three months of 2009 compared to the previous year, the rescue of troubled sports retailer JJB Sports offered a glimmer of hope for companies in difficulty.

1 minute read

Proffitt and loss

By Legal Week | March 18, 2009

Thacher Proffitt & Wood real estate partner Donald Simone was at his desk on the 40th floor of the World Trade Center's south tower early on 11 September, 2001, pushing to close a deal, when United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the building about three dozen floors above."When it hit, my whole office moved," Simone recalls. With the electricity off and ceiling tiles falling, he made his way to a stairwell and then to safety.

1 minute read

Delaware Law Weekly

'Going to Be Plan A': All Eyes Are on Talc Bankruptcy in 2022

By Amanda Bronstad | December 21, 2021

Lawyers for talc claimants have moved to dismiss the Chapter 11 case, filed by LTL Management, a newly created subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, to resolve more than 38,000 lawsuits alleging that its talcum powder products cause ovarian cancer or mesothelioma.

9 minute read

New York Law Journal

Restructuring Plans of IT Companies Confirmed

By Edward E. Neiger | December 20, 2021

In this issue of his Bankruptcy Update, Edward E. Neiger focuses on recent successful restructurings of information technology companies Riverbed Technology and GTT Communications.

4 minute read

Delaware Business Court Insider

Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy Deal Could Tee Up SCOTUS Review of Liability Releases

By Avalon Zoppo Michael Marciano | December 19, 2021

Delaware, Connecticut, California, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington appealed the controversial bankruptcy court decision that sought to extinguish Connecticut's claims against both Purdue and the non-bankrupt Sackler family. The plan sought to grant lifetime immunity to the Sackler family for civil opioid-related claims.

6 minute read

National Law Journal

Rejection of Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy Deal Could Tee Up SCOTUS Review of Liability Releases

By Avalon Zoppo | December 17, 2021

"The decision may embolden other judges who have had concerns about non-debtor releases but are typically told, playground style, 'but everyone is doing it,'" said law professor Melissa Jacoby.

5 minute read

New York Law Journal

New York Judge's Rejection of Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy Deal Could Tee Up SCOTUS Review of Liability Releases

By Avalon Zoppo | December 17, 2021

The holding isn't legally binding in other cases but may sway judges who already had reservations about such releases to reject them, or require more work to justify them, one law professor said.

5 minute read

New York Law Journal

Manhattan Federal Judge Rejects $4.3B Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy Deal

By Jane Wester | December 16, 2021

The ruling approving the settlement from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court was appealed by the U.S. Department of Justice and eight states, among others.

3 minute read

The Legal Intelligencer

Chapter 15's Use by Foreign Debtors as a Discovery Tool in the US

By Francis J. Lawall and Patrick M. Ryan | December 16, 2021

As one recent case out of the Southern District of New York demonstrates, Chapter 15 carries the potential to significantly impact not only the main foreign bankruptcy, but civil litigation in the United States as well.

9 minute read

Daily Business Review

What It Could Mean for Lawyers: How 1 Word in This Case Led 11th Circuit to Certify a Question to Florida Supreme Court

By Michael A. Mora | December 13, 2021

"This is almost a legal problem created by a failure of technology," said business attorney, David Winker.

4 minute read

The American Lawyer

Bankruptcy Boon Hopes Go Bust as Filings Reach Near-Historic Lows

By Dan Roe | December 8, 2021

Lenders' wait-and-see approach has kept bankruptcy filings suppressed, but lawyers are expecting that tide to turn by as soon as next year.

3 minute read

Delaware Business Court Insider

Dela. Among States Accusing Sackler Family of 'Milking' Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy

By P.J. D'Annunzio | December 8, 2021

The Sacklers "had a long-term, calculated strategy to use a Purdue bankruptcy as a haven for their own wrongdoing, to protect their vast opioid wealth from their many victims," Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said.

3 minute read