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Fiduciary Duty Insolvency Commercial Bankruptcy

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Using Construction Lien Law to Pierce the Corporate Veil: Court Upholds Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claims Against Officers of...

The corporate veil is a fundamental concept of American jurisprudence that generally shields owners and officers from the lability of the corporation. Unless the corporate veil is pierced or otherwise avoided, owners and...more

Woodruff Sawyer

Managing Through Financial Distress: The Board’s Oversight Role and Protecting Against Litigation

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When a public company faces significant financial challenges and uncertainty, the pressure on management teams and boards of directors to make the “right” decisions intensifies. If those financial challenges are not...more

Latham & Watkins LLP

Directors Duties and Misfeasance Trading Lessons From BHS

Latham & Watkins LLP on

Actions brought against the BHS directors by the group’s liquidators have resulted in the largest reported award for wrongful trading since the provision’s introduction, but the judgment highlights some unsettled areas of the...more

Goodwin

BTI v. Sequana - What’s new for directors in the zone of insolvency?

Goodwin on

In BTI 2014 LLC v. Sequana SA and Others [2022] UKSC 25 (“Sequana”), the Supreme Court confirmed the existence of a duty owed at common law by company directors to consider the interests of its creditors, and also provided...more

Venable LLP

UK Supreme Court Issues Long-Awaited Judgment Regarding Company Directors' Duties to Creditors

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​​​​​​​In an important decision for U.S. companies with UK subsidiaries, the UK Supreme Court recently handed down its long-awaited judgment in BTI 2014 LLC v. Sequana S.A., the first case in which the UK's highest court...more

Latham & Watkins LLP

Directors’ Duties: Shining Light in the Tunnel?

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In a new ruling, the UK Supreme Court concluded that the rule applies only when a company is “insolvent or bordering on insolvency”. On 5 October 2022, the UK Supreme Court handed down judgment in BTI 2014 LLC v. Sequana...more

Goodwin

Do Directors Have a Duty to Consider the Interests of Creditors Prior to Insolvency?

Goodwin on

On 5 October 2022, the English Supreme Court handed down its decision in BTI 2014 LLC v Sequana SA and others. This (as described by Lady Justice Arden) “momentous” decision principally concerns whether directors are under...more

Robins Kaplan LLP

We Don’t Talk About Insolvency (No, No, No …)

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As a parent of three young children, Disney’s excellent new movie, Encanto, has been on heavy rotation in my household. It’s a story of an extended family whose members possess unique magical gifts. Through several humorous...more

Allen Matkins

Is There No Protection For The Innocent When A Corporation Transfers Its All To Secured Creditors?

Allen Matkins on

Last Friday, this space addressed itself to Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster's ruling in  Stream TV Networks v. SeeCubic, C.A. No. 2020-0310-JTL (Dec. 8, 2020).   He concluded that stockholder approval was not required when...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Nota Bene Episode 94: Mapping COVID-19’s Impact on American Bankruptcy and Restructuring with Edward Tillinghast

Multinational boards are facing a major dilemma in response to COVID and its impact on their business forecasting. Many companies are facing insolvency and are left to decide how to approach bankruptcy proceedings. We’re...more

Jones Day

Directors' Duties—An Italian Overview: Tough Decisions Amid COVID-19 Emergency Legislation

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Italian COVID-19 legislation, with the aim of keeping companies alive by providing them with a short-term alternative to dissolution, provides for the suspension of (i) certain directors' obligations triggered by substantial...more

Carlton Fields

The Coming Storm: DeFi and Bankruptcy Courts

Carlton Fields on

DeFi or “decentralized finance” is an emerging branch of the cryptocurrency and blockchain movement that attempts to use smart contracts and blockchains to provide financial services typically only available from centralized...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Director Fiduciary Duties: Navigating Insolvency Risk in Newly (COVID-19) Distressed Companies

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As COVID-19 related economic disruptions place unprecedented stress on cash flows, the risk of insolvency is a new and growing concern for many businesses. ...more

BCLP

The Wind Down: a stage of life for start-ups

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Companies and their investors start with great enthusiasm. But in the life cycle of some companies, the enthusiasm (and funding) dissipates before the company has achieved an attractive sale or IPO....more

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer

Debt Dialogue: August 2017 - Admitting an Inability to Pay Debts as They Become Due: What Does It Mean?

Among the litany of events of defaults often found in indentures and other credit documents is an issuer’s admission in writing of its inability to pay its debts as they come due. Like other insolvency events of default, this...more

WilmerHale

Insolvency at Its Limits: What Management and Creditors of Insolvent LLCs and LPs Should Know About Fiduciary Duties Waivers and...

WilmerHale on

Delaware law allows members and partners of limited liability companies (LLCs) and limited partnerships (LPs) to waive the fiduciary duties of their management in their LLC or LP agreements. When an LLC or LP is insolvent,...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Bankruptcy Court Opinion Clarifies California Law on Duties of Directors & Officers Upon Insolvency

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It is not unusual in the lifecycle of a start-up for the company to hit road blocks and have cash flow issues. During these times, the board and its members will ask the company’s professionals what their fiduciary duties are...more

Cooley LLP

Blog: The Venture-Backed Company Running Out Of Cash: Fiduciary Duties And Wind Down Options

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Many start-up companies backed by venture capital financing, especially those still in the development phase or which otherwise are not cash flow breakeven, at some point may face the prospect of running out of cash. Although...more

Troutman Pepper

Officer/Director Breach of Duty: If Things Get Bad Enough, There May Be Recourse

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Official Comm. of Unsecured Creditors v. Baldwin (In re Lemington Home for the Aged), 777 F.3d 620 (3rd Cir. 2015) – The debtor was a nonprofit corporation that operated a nursing home. The chapter 11 unsecured...more

Polsinelli

Delaware Courts Continue to Clarify Creditor Standing With Respect to Insolvent Companies

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On May 4, 2015, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued an opinion in Quadrant Structured Products Company, Ltd. v. Vertin clarifying when a creditor gains standing to pursue derivative...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Locke Lord QuickStudy: Rights of Creditors and Duties of Directors of Insolvent Delaware Entities Clarified

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When companies are in financial distress the question arises as to what rights shift to creditors from shareholders or other equity owners. The Delaware Chancery Court recently addressed this issue in some detail in Quadrant...more

Morris James LLP

Court of Chancery Clarifies Creditors' Rights

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A just-issued Court of Chancery decision clarifies, and possibly expands, creditors' rights. In 2007, the Delaware Supreme Court ruled that a corporation's creditors may sue its board of directors for violating its fiduciary...more

Blank Rome LLP

Appointment Of Independent Directors On The Eve Of Bankruptcy: Why The Growing Trend?

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In recent years, companies in financial distress have found “independent” directors to be useful to achieve protections for their board members. An independent director is a director – usually with no prior affiliation to the...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Delaware Court of Chancery Rejects Contemporaneous Ownership Requirement For Creditors Asserting Derivative Claims

In Quadrant Structured Products Co. v. Vertin, C.A. No. 6990-VCL, 2014 Del. Ch. LEXIS 193 (Del. Ch. Oct. 1, 2014), the Delaware Court of Chancery held that when creditors of insolvent firms assert derivative claims, they need...more

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