News & Analysis as of

Bankruptcy Court Breach of Duty

Carey Olsen

Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal delivers key ruling concerning directors' duties and creditor protection in the British Virgin...

Carey Olsen on

In the recent decision of Byers & Richardson v Chen Ningning (BVIHCMAP2024/0009) ("Byers"), the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal ("COA") considered the scope of the director’s duty to creditors when a company is insolvent or...more

Whiteford

Client Alert: Bankruptcy Meets State Court: Lessons from a $4M Escrow Dispute - June 30, 2025

Whiteford on

When bankruptcy courts and state courts vie for authority in complex financial disputes, the outcome can reshape recoveries for creditors, investors, and businesses. This tension was front and center in Silverman v....more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

The Humble LLC Exculpation Clause Wins Big: Member/CEO Escapes $8M Fiduciary Claims

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It’s difficult to assess the potency of section 417(a) of New York’s LLC law.  The provision starts off with a seemingly broad rule: “The operating agreement may set forth a provision eliminating or limiting the personal...more

Allen Matkins

Nevada Supreme Court: Chapter 7 Filing Defeats Shareholder Breach Of Fiduciary Claim

Allen Matkins on

Globe Photos, Inc. owned a portfolio of millions of images of celebrities and musicians, including Marilyn Monroe, the Beatles, and Jimi Hendrix, some taken by famous photographers such as Frank Worth.  Despite these assets,...more

Gray Reed

Scribner’s Error: A Cautionary Tale of Oil & Gas Fraud

Gray Reed on

DALF Energy, LLC v. GS Oilfield Services addresses a fiduciary’s deceptive actions in oil and gas transactions. The Fifth Circuit held: self-dealing may constitute a breach of fiduciary duty even when the principal is...more

A&O Shearman

Eighth Circuit Reverses Jury Verdict For Aiding And Abetting Ponzi Scheme, Holding That In Pari Delicto Defense Barred Bankruptcy...

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On September 12, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed a trial court decision that had rejected a bank’s assertion of the in pari delicto defense to aiding and abetting claims brought by the...more

Proskauer Rose LLP

Conflict Between Delaware LLC Act and Bankruptcy Code Affects Creditor Toolbox

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As you know from our prior alerts, creditors of borrowers formed as Delaware LLCs (as opposed to corporations) lack standing under Delaware law to sue directors for breaching fiduciary duties even when, to the surprise of...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Delaware Bankruptcy Court Grants Creditors' Committee of Debtor LLC Derivative Standing

Holland & Knight LLP on

In a recent opinion, In re Pack Liquidating, LLC (Pack Liquidating), the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware held that under Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Cybergenics Corp. v. Chinery...more

Mintz - Bankruptcy & Restructuring Viewpoints

Delaware Bankruptcy Court Grants Derivative Standing to Creditors’ Committee to Sue Members and Officers of Delaware LLC

In early February, a Delaware bankruptcy judge set new precedent by granting a creditors’ committee derivative standing to pursue breach of fiduciary duty claims against a Delaware LLC’s members and officers. At least three...more

King & Spalding

Aiding and Abetting Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claims Against Lender Survive Motion to Dismiss

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On April 26, 2023, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware denied in part and granted in part motions to dismiss a chapter 7 trustee’s breach of fiduciary duty and aiding and abetting claims. The defendants...more

King & Spalding

Allegations Against Lender for Aiding and Abetting Ponzi Scheme Partially Survive the Lender’s Motion for Summary Judgment

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On March 23, 2023, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida partially denied summary judgment to Deutsche Bank on, among others, claims for aiding and abetting conversion and breach of fiduciary duty,...more

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

Practice Pointer: Reliance on Bankruptcy Court Appointed Examiner’s Report—Not so Fast

You represent the unsecured creditors committee in a complex Chapter 11 case, where you have reason to believe that the debtor’s officers and directors have, and continue to, engage in self-dealing and are breaching their...more

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

Substantial Contribution: A New Decision from the Third Circuit

It’s often hard to persuade a bankruptcy court to grant a motion for substantial contribution. Any attorney thinking about making a motion should first ask herself two questions. First, has my work benefitted both my client...more

Proskauer Rose LLP

Del. Bankruptcy Rulings Instruct on Creditors' Rights to Sue

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Creditors of distressed businesses are often frustrated by shareholder- controlled boards when directors pursue strategies that appear to be designed to benefit shareholders at the creditors' expense. In these...more

Proskauer Rose LLP

Suing Directors of a Troubled Business: When Form Trumps Substance

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Creditors of distressed businesses are often frustrated by shareholder-controlled boards when directors pursue strategies that appear to be designed to benefit shareholders at the creditors’ expense. In these circumstances,...more

King & Spalding

Delaware Bankruptcy Court Enters Judgment for Lender Due to Inadequately Pled Damages Despite Clear Breach of Fiduciary Duties

King & Spalding on

On May 2, 2022, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware entered judgment, after a bench trial, for a lender on breach of fiduciary duty claims brought by the litigation trust for the borrower, finding that the...more

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

Delaware Court Finds Texas’s Trust Fund Doctrine Lives, but Debtor’s Fiduciary Claims Dead on Arrival

A Delaware bankruptcy court recently held that Texas’s “trust fund doctrine” remains applicable for companies that have not availed themselves of Texas’s formal dissolution process.  Nonetheless, fiduciary claims by a...more

Arnall Golden Gregory LLP

Lender Liability Is Not Dead: A Recent Case Presents a Warning for Lenders (and a Roadmap for Borrowers)

A recent decision from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas illustrates that aggressive lender action can lead to “lender liability” in a loan workout. Bailey Tool & Mfg. Co., et al. v. Republic Bus....more

Jones Day

Second Circuit Adopts "Control Test" for Imputation of Fraudulent Intent in Bankruptcy Avoidance Litigation

Jones Day on

In yet another chapter in the tortured saga of the fallout from the failed 2007 leveraged buyout ("LBO") of media giant The Tribune Co. ("Tribune") in a transaction orchestrated by real-estate mogul Sam Zell, the U.S. Court...more

Patton Sullivan Brodehl LLP

LLC Operating Agreements Can Reduce Fiduciary Duties

LLC managers owe fiduciary duties both to the LLC and to the LLC’s members, similar to the duties owed by a partner to other partners in a partnership.  (Corp Code §17704.09.)  These include the duty of loyalty, care, and...more

Winstead PC

Bankruptcy Court Discussed The Fiduciary Duties Owed To A Limited Liability Company And Its Creditors By Its Manager

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In In re Silver State Holdings, in a bankruptcy proceeding a trustee of a limited liability company sued its former manager for breach of fiduciary duty and another entity for conspiracy to breach fiduciary duty arising out...more

Jones Day

Stay Extended to Bar Litigation Against Chapter 15 Foreign Representatives but No Ruling on Extraterritoriality of Barton Doctrine

Jones Day on

In McKillen v. Wallace (In re Irish Bank Resolution Corp. Ltd.), 2019 WL 4740249 (D. Del. Sept. 27, 2019), the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware had an opportunity to consider, as an apparent matter of first...more

Cole Schotz

Bankruptcy Court Finds Committee Member To Have Breached Her Fiduciary Duty To Unsecured Creditors

Cole Schotz on

On November 15, 2019, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California (the “Court”) issued an opinion in the case of Naylor v. Farrell (In re Farrell), Ch. 7 Case No. 14-11729-MW, Adv. No. 16-01123 (Bankr....more

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

Court Decision Discusses the Barton Doctrine and the Automatic Stay in Chapter 15

A recent decision in Delaware discussed the Barton doctrine and the application of the automatic stay in chapter 15 cases. McKillen v. Wallace (In re Ir. Bank Resolution Corp.), No. 18-1797, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 166153 (D....more

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

Fifth Circuit Considers Nonconsensual Third-Party Releases Outside of Bankruptcy

We’ve focused a lot on third-party releases lately, as bankruptcy courts across the country continue to evaluate whether and under what circumstances they are permissible. But, as a recent opinion of the United States Court...more

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