Thought Leadership
WAR ON “DEBTOR”, REDUX: WHAT WILL THE 11th CIRCUIT DO WITH THE SECTION 109(a) ISSUE IN CHAPTER 15 CASES?
| To our friends and colleagues – The battle to eradicate debtor eligibility requirements from Chapter 15 continues as CBI member Dan Glosband and Professor Jay Westbrook of the Univ. of Texas School of Law (the two primary draftsmen of Chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code, Ancillary And Other Cross-Border Cases), together with Patricia Redmond, Hon. Allan Gropper (Ret.) and the American College of Bankruptcy, were granted leave to file a brief amici curiae in the 11th Circuit. Dan and Jay have extensively explained in prior articles for the International Insolvency Review and the ABI Journal why the Section 109(a) requirement that a debtor in a case under the Bankruptcy Code must have a domicile, place of business or property in the U.S. is irrelevant to chapter 15, which deals with recognition and assistance to foreign proceedings irrespective of the nature of the debtor. The issue arose in the 2d Circuit case of In re Katherine Elizabeth Barnet, 737 F.3d 238 (2d Cir. 2013), which held that section 109(a) applies to recognition of a foreign proceeding. A CBI prior Newsletter which contains links to the prior articles by Dan and Jay and other materials analyzing the issue in depth can be accessed here: https://tinyurl.com/54nsubka The section 109(a) issue arose in the 11th Circuit when the Bankruptcy and District Courts for the Middle of Florida respectively granted and affirmed recognition of the UK bankruptcy case of Talal Qais Abdulmunem Al Zawawi and Mr. Al Zawawi appealed. Subsequent to filing the brief amici curiae (motion and brief can be accessed here: [link]. , the amici were permitted to participate in oral argument and the GRR article reporting on it can be accessed here:[link to article] To receive our Newsletters, please send us an email with your name, firm and location to info@CBInsolvency.com ______________________________________________________________________ In a cross-border insolvency matter, if an expert opinion is required, if skilled mediation or arbitration can help resolve disputes, or if cross-border insolvency is simply unfamiliar territory, CBI can help. We will be pleased to discuss your cross-border insolvency issues and agree on a case-specific arrangement to assist you. Please reach out to any of us for a quick and easy assessment of how we can help you. We welcome your thoughts, comments and questions. clark@cbinsolvency.com esher@cbinsolvency.com glosband@cbinsolvency.com |