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Bankruptcy

Texas Lawyer Blog

Bankruptcy law: adversary proceedings, fraudulent transfers, preferences, creditor representation.
By J. Michael McBride

Post Frequency: 6.9/day

Last Entry: March 29, 2011 at 11:47:27

Bear Bailout Being Renegotiated for Shareholders? Benefit

Posted on March 24, 2008
The deal cut last weekend to save Bear Stearns from bankruptcy (JPMorgan Chase buys the company for $2 per share) is evidently being renegotiated in an effort to get more money to that company’s shareholders. When the deal was first announced, the details were fuzzy...

Ohio Senate Bill Softens Sting of Bankruptcy

Posted on March 18, 2008
Ohio Senate Bill 281 passed in a rare Thursday session. The bill would allow a bankruptcy debtor to claim $20,200 worth of equity from their home. Ohio's current homestead exemption (which hasn't been updated in nearly 30 years) is $5,000--one of the lowest in the country...

Champ Car Bosses File for Bankruptcy

Posted on March 17, 2008
Champ Car World Series filed for bankruptcy Wednesday after agreeing to an open-wheel unification plan with Indy Racing League ("IRL") worth $6 million. The assets of Championship Auto Racing Teams were purchased from Champ Car in 2004 after CART had filed bankruptcy...

Are we There Yet?

Posted on March 17, 2008
Those of us who watch the economy can hardly take a breath before the next unprecedented action occurs. This weekend (an event in and of itself), JPMorgan Chase agreed to purchase Bear Stearns for a fraction of its “value” just one month ago...

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Wonder What JPMorgan Chase?s Shareholders Think About This?

Posted on March 14, 2008
First, Bank of America buys Countrywide, an unusual business move unless taken to avert a major meltdown of the US economy which would hurt all institutions or unless BoA was protected somehow from the obvious losses it was buying. Now there is the Bear Stearns bail out, which may well take the form of a direct buy out of that entity, this time by JPMorgan Chase...

Fed Accelerates its Unprecedented Actions to Save Economy

Posted on March 13, 2008
Most know that a few days ago, the Federal Reserve offered to loan a total of 200 billion (of newly printed money) not only to banks but also to Wall Street brokerage houses taking a risk on almost any collateral however worthless it might be and extending the time for repayment...

More Bad News; More Fed Pumping Money into Economy

Posted on March 07, 2008
Let's see, this morning, we have a 63,000 job loss reported, instead of an expected gain; we see an all time high in foreclosures and then hear that the Fed is increasing its cheap loans to banks (for collateral which is of what quality?). "The Federal Reserve announced Friday that it will boost the size of auctions planned for March 10 and March 24 to $50 billion each...

Feds Prosecuting Man in Foreclosure Scam

Posted on March 06, 2008
Isaac Yass, in the United States on an employment visa, is being extradited back to Topeka, Kansas to stand trial for six counts of mail fraud and six counts of aggravated identify theft. Yass, aka Itsik Yass, was arrested in Los Angeles last week with $10,000 cash and four packed bags in his apartment...

Bundled Mortgages and Dubious Fees Complicate Foreclosure Cases

Posted on March 06, 2008
Do you know you owns your mortgage? Are you sure? With all the notes being bundled and sold not even some of the banks are sure which they own. Ohio courts have recently dismissed cases where ownership of the mortgage has not been proved by lenders seeking foreclosure...

Forget that day in court

Posted on March 05, 2008
After being sexually assaulted by co-workers while working in Iraq a woman was denied access to the criminal justice system because the perpetrators worked for a defense contractor. After the assault, when she was [ Later, ] back in the states, she was told by a Texas state court judge during a civil suit that, "[s]adly, sexual harassment, up to and including sexual assault, is a reality in today's workplace"...

Senate Passes Evidence Rule 502: 2/27/08

Posted on March 04, 2008
On February 27, 2008, the Senate approved by unanimous consent without amendment S. 2450, a bill adding new Evidence Rule 502 to the Federal Rules of Evidence. See Sen. Rept. No. 110-264. The legislation addresses waiver of the attorney-client privilege and work product protection and is identical to proposed Evidence Rule 502, which was approved by the Judicial Conference of the United States and transmitted to Congress for its consideration in September 2007...

If the Sky Falls, it will be via Deflation, not Inflation

Posted on March 03, 2008
Here is a recent article which postulates that all of the unprecedented action by the Federal Reserve will not prevent a deflationary recession. Quotes: "Half the eurozone is grinding to a halt. Italy is slipping into recession. Property prices are flat or falling in Ireland, Spain, France, southern Italy and now Germany...

Rivalry Between Republic of Texas? First and Second Presidents

Posted on February 29, 2008
A discovery of Harris County district court records gives a look into the practice of law in the past. An opinion written by Chief Justice John Hemphill, the “John Marshall of Texas” was discovered and “ultimately decided the case” of Houston v...

UPDATE: Vallejo Strikes Deal to Avoid Bankruptcy

Posted on February 29, 2008
We last left off with the city council planning a meeting on Thursday to decide whether or not the city needed to file Chapter 9 bankruptcy. The financial turmoil that lowered the expected balance of the city's general fund account was caused by three different factors: 1...

USB Faces Shareholder Pressure

Posted on February 28, 2008
"The flagship bank of Switzerland, UBS, is in deep trouble. Not only did it recently report its first ever annual loss, of 4.4 billion Swiss francs, or $4 billion, as well as 21 billion francs in write-offs and an estimated $88 billion in additional exposure to risky U...

California City on Brink of Bankruptcy

Posted on February 28, 2008
The city of Vallejo, with a population of about 117,000, would be the first large city in California to declare bankruptcy as a result of revenue shortfalls used to pay its day-to-day operating costs. The city has been slammed by the weakening housing market and will run out of money from it's general fund for expenses by March 31st...

Subprime Mortgage Brings Down Lenders

Posted on February 28, 2008
The FDIC is looking to hire 25 retired employees and staffing up for a possible wave of bank failures. “The FDIC identified 76 banks as potential problems during the last quarter of 2007, 11 more than in the third quarter. Problem institutions are put under closer scrutiny but the agency never discloses their identity, hoping to avoid mass withdrawals by depositors...

Justice Thomas Silent Through More Than Two Years of Supreme Court Arguments

Posted on February 27, 2008
Often thought of as the 'silent justice', two years and 142 cases have passed since the last time Justice Thomas spoke during oral arguments (besides the comments to Justices Breyer and Kennedy who sit to his immediate right and left, respectively). The last time Justice Thomas posed a question during oral arguments was on February 22, 2006 in a death penalty case...

Fairness Opinion Upheld

Posted on February 26, 2008
On February 20, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion in which it held that the issuance of a fairness opinion by Credit Suisse First Boston right before the tech bust of 2000 was not gross negligence. In this instance, a Liquidating Trust established for the benefit of unsecured creditors sued SCAB for gross negligence arguing that it should have known that the deal they were saying was fair was instead about to implode when the market turned...

This Looks Bad: Judge Arrested in ?Drag?

Posted on February 21, 2008
“U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Robert Somma, 63, pleaded no contest in Manchester District Court to a misdemeanor first–offense driving while intoxicated charge.” according to Union Leader. Somma was arrested on February 6, after his Mercedes-Benz rear-ended a pick-up truck at a traffic light in Manchester...

Credit Woes

Posted on February 21, 2008
The subprime mortgage troubles are now spreading to customers who rely on credit. The consumer debt has double in the past decade and reached an "all-time high of $2.55 trillion" in December 2007. Consumers were using their houses as piggybanks with home equity loans and now they are struggling...

There is a First Time for Everything

Posted on February 20, 2008
Ritchie Capital Management LLC, who was founded in 1997 by Thane Ritchie and manages more than $1 billion in investor assets including the remnants of Multi-Strategy, has been forced into involuntary bankruptcy by three investment companies with regards to two funds...

Major Melt Down Ahead?

Posted on February 20, 2008
A recent article explains how a major melt down in the US economy is possible and even likely. It quotes extensively from Professor Roubini, a Professor at NYU's Stern School of Business. Quote: "So how bad might this downturn get? To answer this question we should ask a true bear...

High Fees Scrutinized

Posted on February 19, 2008
According to the US Bankruptcy Court Western District of Pennsylvania court’s annual report in Pittsburgh’s “more than $25 million in fees were paid last year to attorneys, accountants and other professionals”. The court’s report, In the LeNature’s bankruptcy case, the accountants and attorneys are some of the highest paid professionals where the total fees topped 6 million...

Big US banks Use Fed Credit Facility to Tune of 50 Billion

Posted on February 19, 2008
The Federal Reserve, as part of its unprecedented measures to shore up the US banking system established a Term Auction Facility which allows banks to borrow money at good rates using less strong collateral, thus putting the Fed at risk of this weak collateral...

Pre-Petition Workout Agreement Enforced, Even As to Stay Waiver

Posted on February 18, 2008
After defaulting on his principle and interest payments to Florida Community Bank, the owner of a set of “dry-stack” boat condominium units entered into a pre-petition forbearance agreement with the bank. The conditions of the forbearance agreement were as follows: (a) the Bank should be accorded relief from the automatic stay in the event the borrower ever filed for bankruptcy; (b) the final judgment would continue to accrue interest at the rate set forth therein; and (c) the borrower, among others, waived all claims, counterclaims, defenses and causes of action against the Bank...

Catholic Diocese Chooses Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Posted on February 18, 2008
With “more than 150 claims were filed against the church, alleging abuse by clergy or church workers“ the Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Bishop Donald J. Kettler believes it’s the “best way to bring all parties together and to provide for fair and equitable treatment of all who have been harmed...

Link to an Archive for Speeches

Posted on February 15, 2008
For those of you who, like me, occasionally delve into political history, here is a great link to add to your favorites: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/ It is an online speech bank. It lists the top 100 speeches according to scholars of American History...

Fed Chairman Acknowledges Economy is Worse

Posted on February 14, 2008
"Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Thursday the economy is deteriorating and signaled a readiness to keep on lowering a key interest rate to shore things up. Bernanke also told the Senate Banking Committee that the one-two punch of housing and credit crises has greatly strained the economy...

Real Estate News, at the High End...

Posted on February 12, 2008
"The housing-market crunch isn't just hitting small-time buyers on Main Street - Hollywood stars are also feeling the pain, Buyers in the $3 million to $6 million range are getting crushed as part of a property downturn across Los Angeles, and the list of losses includes some famous names...

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