On May 21, 2015, as amended on Aug. 18, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued a decision approving the settlement and dismissal of a chapter 11 bankruptcy case through a structured dismissal.[1] The court approved the use of a structured dismissal of a chapter 11 bankruptcy where the dismissal calls for a distribution that does not specifically adhere to the priority scheme in Bankruptcy Code § 507.

On June 15, 2015, in Baker Botts L.L.P. v. ASARCO LLC,[1] the Supreme Court held that the Bankruptcy Code does not permit bankruptcy courts to award attorney fees under § 330(a) of the Bankruptcy Code to counsel or other professionals employed by the bankruptcy estate for work performed in defending a fee application, potentially giving unsecured

You have probably given the preference defense speech countless times to unsecured trade creditor clients that 90-day payments are likely preferences, but may be covered by one of the typical § 547(c) defenses: subsequent provision of new value, ordinary course of business and contemporaneous exchange for new value. The standard defenses are so prevalent, it is easy to virtually ignore the § 546 limitations on avoiding powers (other than the two-year statute of limitations).

When a business is in financial distress, the breaking point sometimes comes with little or no warning. An event such as a termination of funding, the falling through of a crucial transaction, or the loss of a key customer can be difficult to predict, and may result in a distressed business being forced to cease operations abruptly, without providing its workers with the advance notice required under the Federal WARN Act.[1]