Bankruptcy

Rangers Confirmation Follows Late Night

By mcbride

Last night, the auction process continued until the wee hours of the morning, with Judge Nelms presiding. As an aside, the switch of Judges, from Lynn to Nelms, was done so that the parties involved with the auction could share information with the auctioning Judge which might otherwise prejudice the Judge overseeing the case and who would hear the confirmation of the proposed plan. Smart. Once the winning bidder was established — with the Mark Cuban group pulling out, things were adjourned until this morning when Judge Lynn was to pick up and proceed with the confirmation hearing. This hearing is going on presently. Thus, as it turns out, the parties who made the bid for the team in the “pre-packaged” plan of reorganization will likely turn out to be the actual purchaser, to the delight of local fans.

The road to this point has been anything but linear. The process has involved many late nights, not only for the participants in the process, but also for the Judges. Recall that Judge Lynn, who has the case, issued an order that all parties participate in mediation in order to attempt to resolve the many disputes. Moreover, the mediation was to be handled by his fellow Judge, Judge Nelms. That mediation reportedly went on for hours and hours, also late into the night and the result was basically nil. The parties could not reach any agreements. Period; even with a sitting Bankrutpcy Judge acting as mediator! That is rare.

However, in this case the personalities and the parties= positions often caused collisions. Reports erupted of lawyers cussing each other in the hallways as last night’s proceeding went on (and on). However, although the proof will be in the outcome of the confirmation hearing, one anticipates a positive result.  The Baseball Commissioner, who has already approved the Nolan Ryan group as a buyer, will likely have no problems with this outcome. Likewise, now that the lenders have had a public auction and driven up the price for the assets being sold, they should presumably withdraw any opposition to the sale/confirmation. And finally, the other bidders have had their chance to make their bids and the outcome has been established, so there should be no further griping from that corner. Thus, one expects that, later today, an Order of Confirmation will be entered and Judges Lynn and Nelms can chalk up one more successful case in their record books! (Now people are realizing why big cases get filed in this District!)

Michael

Full post as published by Texas Lawyer Blog on August 05, 2010 (boomark / email).