In Solvency Blog
Nick contributes to the firm's In Solvency blog, which surveys the latest trends and developments in prominent cases and provides practical guidance to businesses navigating financial distress.
Recent Blog Posts
Trump Administration’s Proposed Health Care Cuts Pose Risks to Distressed Providers
Last week, the Trump administration and Congress proposed spending cuts that if enacted are likely to affect federally funded health insurance programs such as Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA). These cuts could disrupt cash flow for already vulnerable health care providers, bringing their financial problems into sharper focus as government payor programs face... Continue Reading…More
The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same? Survival of Small Businesses Again Dependent on Action From Congress
Right now, a business with less than $7.5 million in debt can file an easier, cheaper, and more efficient bankruptcy than a traditional Chapter 11. That privilege will soon be limited to businesses with less than around $3 million of total debt unless Congress acts before June 21, 2024. This is not the first time... Continue Reading…More
Subchapter V Eligibility: Congress Fixes CARES Act Provision That Excluded Affiliates of Issuers But Ignores Potential Eligibility for Foreign, Publicly Traded Companies and Affiliates
On February 19, 2020, the Small Business Reorganization Act (the “SBRA”) became effective and created a new subchapter V to chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. As we have reported, subchapter V presents a new avenue for small business debtors to reorganize more efficiently than traditional chapter 11 cases. However, the more efficient procedures of... Continue Reading…More
President Biden Signs Bill Extending Temporary $7.5 Million Subchapter V Debt Limit Increase Into 2024
Today, President Biden signed into law the Bankruptcy Threshold Adjustment and Technical Corrections Act, S. 3823, 117th Cong. (the “Act”), which, among other things, continues the temporary expansion of subchapter V eligibility. Section 1182(i)(B)(1) of the Bankruptcy Code originally limited the term “debtor,” for subchapter V purposes, to a person engaged in commercial or business... Continue Reading…More
A Day Late and Nearly $5 Million Short?: Legislation Introduced to Make Permanent the $7.5 Million Subchapter V Debt Limit As Temporary Extensions Sunset
On March 14, 2022, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced proposed legislation that—if enacted—would make permanent the $7.5 million debt limit applicable to debtors under subchapter V of chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code that has enjoyed only temporary status under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”) for the prior two... Continue Reading…More
Courts Analyze the Degree of “Commercial or Business Activity” Necessary for a Liquidating Debtor to be Eligible for Subchapter V Relief
“Just enough” is an undeniable—if informal—legal precept. The concept finds its way into canon from adequacy of pleading to application of equity. See, e.g., K-Tech Telecommunications, Inc. v. Time Warner Cable, Inc., 714 F.3d 1277, 1284 (Fed. Cir. 2013) (A complaint “must give just enough factual detail to provide ‘fair notice of what the .... Continue Reading…More
Critical Vendor Order Insufficient to Protect Critical Vendors Against Preference Claims
In a recent post, our own Harriet Wallace observed a truism in a recent ruling by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in the chapter 7 iteration of the infamous Jevic case—the wording of an order matters. The Court saw fit to bold and underline that maxim in yet another recent holding... Continue Reading…More
Circuit Split Over Constitutionality of United States Trustee Fee Increases Picks Up More Steam
The Snowball effect, the Domino effect, and even the Streisand effect all demonstrate the accretive impact of small changes. Though without a catchy metaphor, the tendency of Circuit splits to attract new and deviating opinions fits the concept—particularly as applied to the deepening rift between Circuits over the constitutionality of United States Trustee fee increases... Continue Reading…More
When Subchapter V Management Misbehaves: “For Cause” Expansion of a Subchapter V Trustee’s Management Duties
Somewhere in our rough memories of high school science, we should recall the general principle that a gas will always expand to fill a given void. Although the Bankruptcy Code diverges markedly from scientific principles, newly enacted provisions in Subchapter V of Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code suggest some similarity. In In re Dani... Continue Reading…More
