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
In In re Serta Simmons Bedding, LLC, 125 F.4th 555 (5th Cir. 2024), as amended, No. 23-20281 (5th Cir. Jan. 21, 2025), revised and superseded, No. 23-20181 (5th Cir. Feb. 14, 2025), reh'g denied, No. 23-20181 (5th Cir. Feb....more
In MOAC Mall Holdings LLC v. Transform Holdco LLC, 134 S.Ct. 927, 937 (2023), the U.S. Supreme Court recently resolved a debate that has long divided Circuit Courts throughout the U.S: whether section 363(m) of the Bankruptcy...more
The Fifth Circuit recently dismissed an appeal of a confirmation order as equitably moot. The decision was based on three key factors: the appellant hadn’t obtained a stay pending appeal, the plan had been substantially...more
The finality of sales of assets in bankruptcy is an indispensable feature of U.S. bankruptcy law, designed to maximize the value of a bankruptcy estate as expeditiously as possible for the benefit of all stakeholders....more
In a decision that will likely impact bankruptcy proceedings around the country, the Supreme Court recently denied the petition for writ of certiorari of David Hargreaves, which challenged the equitable mootness doctrine. As...more
At a conference to be held at the end of the summer recess on September 27, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether to grant petitions seeking review during the new Term that begins on October 4 of three notable...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit recently handed down an important opinion addressing the doctrine of equitable mootness in bankruptcy appeals. FishDish, LLP v. VeroBlue Farms USA, Inc., Nos. 19-3413, -3487...more
Earlier this month – citing the “virtually unflagging obligation” of an Article III appellate court to exercise its subject matter jurisdiction – the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals decried the pervasive overreliance by...more
In In re Nuverra Environmental Solutions, Inc., Case No. 18-3084, the Third Circuit affirmed the opinion of the District Court for the District of Delaware denying the confirmation appeal of an unsecured noteholder as...more
In Drivetrain LLC v. Kozel (In re Abengoa Bioenergy Biomass of Kansas LLC), 18-3120 (10th Cir. May 5, 2020), the Tenth Circuit held that the doctrine of equitable mootness applies to appeals of confirmed Chapter 11 plans of...more
On August 9, 2019, in a unanimous decision (written by a former bankruptcy judge), the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the confirmation of the Peabody Energy Chapter 11 plan (“Plan”) with a prominent backstopped...more
In Trinity 83 Dev., LLC v. ColFin Midwest Funding, LLC, 917 F.3d 599 (7th Cir. 2019), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that section 363(m) of the Bankruptcy Code does not moot an appeal involving a...more
In Tanguy v. West (In re Davis), 2018 WL 4232063 (5th Cir. Sept. 5, 2018), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit revisited the circumstances under which section 363(m) of the Bankruptcy Code moots an appeal of a...more
The consummation of a plan of reorganization typically involves a series of complex actions by the debtor and its stakeholders (for example, existing debt and equity are extinguished and new debt and equity issued in their...more
In an April 6, 2018 memorandum opinion and order, U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl dismissed an appeal challenging the Chapter 15 recognition of a Cayman Islands restructuring of an offshore drilling contractor, holding...more
In recent years, courts have become increasingly critical of the doctrine of equitable mootness, a judicially created abstention doctrine that allows appellate courts to dismiss appeals from a bankruptcy court’s confirmation...more
In Beem v. Ferguson (In re Ferguson), 2017 BL 101650 (11th Cir. Mar. 30, 2017), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit addressed the distinction between constitutional mootness (a jurisdictional issue that...more
Equitable mootness is a judge-made remedy that is misnamed. Judges apply it to seek an equitable result, but mootness in the constitutional sense is absent. Article III, section 2 of the U.S. Constitution bars federal...more