News & Analysis as of

Bankruptcy Court Contract Terms

Troutman Pepper Locke

What Happens to Employment Agreements and Noncompete Agreements in Bankruptcy? - Creditor’s Rights Toolkit

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An employer’s bankruptcy filing can significantly impact an employee’s agreements with the debtor. While a reorganizing debtor may agree to continue honoring its obligations under employment agreements, the Bankruptcy Code...more

Jones Day

Avianca: Second Court Adopts "Billing Date" Approach to Timely Performance of Unexpired Commercial Personal Property Leases in...

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In 1984 and 1994, Congress amended the Bankruptcy Code to add protections for commercial real property and equipment lessors. Those provisions—sections 365(d)(3) and section 365(d)(5), respectively—generally require a...more

Goulston & Storrs PC

Rethinking Liability Management in Club Deals and Direct Lending: Lessons from the Fifth Circuit’s Serta Ruling and Beyond

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On December 31, 2024, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (the “Court”) struck down the controversial 2020 “uptier transaction” executed by Serta Simmons Bedding (“Serta”). The Serta case and several other state court and...more

Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP

Preference pitfalls for Merchant Cash Advances—Lessons from the Southern District of New York

Merchant cash advance (MCA) funding provides a quick, “non loan” alternative for small businesses desiring to access additional capital, and its use has become prevalent in the last decade. Given the speed at which MCA...more

Lathrop GPM

Bankruptcy Court Refuses to Enforce Pre-Petition Waiver of the Automatic Stay

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A recent decision by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Illinois underscores that creditors must exercise caution in relying on pre-petition waivers of the automatic stay in collection actions. ...more

Mayer Brown

Serta and Mitel: The Latest Major Court Decisions on Uptier Transactions

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Summary: On December 31, 2024, two major appellate court decisions addressed the legality of uptier financing transactions—one involving Serta Simmons Bedding (“Serta”) and the other Mitel Networks Corporation (“Mitel”). Both...more

Jones Day

Delaware Bankruptcy Court: Applying Credit Pressure on Financially Distressed Debtor Scuttles Ordinary Course Payment Preference...

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The power of a bankruptcy trustee or chapter 11 debtor-in-possession ("DIP") to avoid pre-bankruptcy preferential transfers is an important tool designed to promote the bankruptcy policy of equality of distribution and to...more

WilmerHale

Serta’s (Un)Surprising Take on Equitable Mootness

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In its New Year’s Eve decision in Serta Simmons Bedding, the Fifth Circuit underscored the importance of drafting debt documents with clarity and precision and cautioned against borrowers’ reliance on ambiguous language to...more

Clark Hill PLC

How Bankruptcy Courts Interpret Intercreditor Agreements: The Uncertainty of Judicial Perspective

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Intercreditor Agreements typically are contractual arrangements among lenders of similar or differing priorities to a single borrower secured by the assets of the borrower, often including real estate assets. These multiple...more

Rivkin Radler LLP

2nd Circuit Refuses to Enforce Insurance Policy’s Arbitration Provision

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A Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision refused an attempt to expand the scope of an insurance policy’s arbitration provision, creating the need for extra caution when interpreting policies. In Ehrenberg v. Allied...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

The Impact of In re 301 W N. Ave., LLC on the Enforcement of Bankruptcy-Remote Protections

Executive Summary - The recent decision In re 301 W N. Ave., LLC, 666 B.R. 583 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 2025) represents a significant development at the intersection of corporate governance, commercial real estate, and...more

Jones Day

Uptiers in 2025: Impact of the Serta and Mitel Decisions on Liability Management Exercises

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Late last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York issued important rulings regarding the validity of uptier “liability management...more

Holland & Knight LLP

American Tire: Rubber Hits the Road in Non-Ratable Chapter 11 Liability Management Transaction

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Minority senior secured lenders in syndicated deals rely on, among other provisions, the "sacred right" protections contained in the credit documents to protect the benefit of their bargained-for agreement: primarily, that...more

Proskauer Rose LLP

Enforceability of Golden Directors with Bankruptcy Consent Right

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The appointment of an independent director is a powerful tool for private credit lenders. The appointment is designed to introduce a voice of neutrality and fairness into the board’s decision-making process with the hope and...more

Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP

Recent ruling provides guidance on 363 asset sales

On February 12, 2025, the US District Court for the District of Delaware issued a significant ruling in the case of HE, Inc. v. Avadim Holdings Inc. and Relion Holdings LLC. This decision arose from the Chapter 11 bankruptcy...more

A&O Shearman

Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so*

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The court reassures lenders on the effect of a termination notice, the meaning of a continuing Event of Default and the effectiveness of reservation of rights letters: Re Pocket Renting. Appointment of administrator...more

Kilpatrick

When Provisions in a Loan and LLC Agreements Do Not Impermissibly Restrict a Bankruptcy Filing

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In In re 301 W North Avenue, LLC, 2025 WL 37897 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 2025), a bankruptcy court recently addressed provisions in a loan agreement and limited liability company (“LLC”) operating agreement as to their effect on...more

Stark & Stark

4 Lease Auction Tips for Landlords

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During a retail bankruptcy, commercial landlords often face challenges when their tenants try to maximize the value of the bankrupt estate by holding lease auctions. Despite lease provisions that may restrict or prohibit a...more

DLA Piper

US Bankruptcy Court Grants Motion to Dismiss LLC Chapter 11 Case for Failure to Obtain Requisite Corporate Filing Authority

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The US Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois (Bankruptcy Court) recently issued an opinion in In re 301 W North Avenue, LLC, Case No. 24 B 2741 (DDC) [Docket No. 253] (January 6, 2025) granting a secured...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

The Twilight, or Rebirth, of Liability Management? Serta and Mitel Decisions Reach Opposite Conclusions on the Permissibility of...

Introduction & Key Takeaways - The year 2024 ended with some major legal fireworks, as two important courts issued contrasting New Year’s Eve decisions on the validity of “uptier” liability management transactions that have...more

Morrison & Foerster LLP

Latest Uptier Decisions in Serta and Mitel Remind Contract Language Matters

The caselaw on “uptiers” as liability management exercises (LMEs) grew by two opinions on the last day of 2024. In Serta, the Fifth Circuit reversed the bankruptcy court’s blessing of the pre-bankruptcy uptier and...more

Holland & Knight LLP

A Tale of 2 Rulings: Serta, Mitel Cases Remind Why Contract Language Matters in Debt Documents

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A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has unanimously held that the debt exchange undertaken by Serta Simmons Bedding did not qualify as an "open market purchase" under the terms of Serta's...more

Falcon Rappaport & Berkman LLP

Michigan Bankruptcy Court Holds That a Non-Compete Clause Survives the Rejection of an Executory Contract and That a...

In a recent decision of interest, the Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan held that a non-compete clause within a franchise agreement as well as confidentiality agreement could not be rejected as an...more

Mintz - Bankruptcy & Restructuring Viewpoints

In re Weinstein and Mallinckrodt: Implications for Royalty Financings, M&A Earn-Outs, and Other Transactions Involving Future...

Deal structure matters, particularly in bankruptcy. The Third Circuit recently ruled that a creditor’s right to future royalty payments in a non-executory contract could be discharged in the counterparty-debtor’s bankruptcy....more

Lathrop GPM

Bankruptcy Court Grants Motion of Franchisee Debtor to Reject Franchise Agreement, Concludes Noncompete and Confidentiality...

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A Michigan bankruptcy court recently granted debtor/franchisee Empower Central Michigan Inc.’s motion to reject a franchise agreement as an executory contract but found that a non-compete clause and a related confidentiality...more

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