Markowitz, Ringel, Trusty & Hartog, P.A.; Miami
Social media transformed the way people communicate and interact with one another. With close to 500 million active users, half of whom login daily and maintain an average of 130 friends, Facebook is the leader among social media platforms. [1] Nearly one-fifth of Facebook’s active user population is found in the United States, which equates to one-third of the country’s total population.
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by Michael L. Cook
Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP; New York
Karen S. Park
Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP; New York
The Seventh Circuit affirmed a district court’s ruling that a debtor-in-possession (DIP) lender had breached its financing agreement, barring its claim for commitment and funding fees from the DIP. [1] Although the DIP itself had also breached the agreement, that breach was not, in the court’s view, effective until after the lender had already “walked away.” [2] Since the lender first breached the agreement, it could not now recover the fees from the DIP.
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by Roger J. Higgins
Baer Higgins Fruchtman LLC; Chicago
The Professional Ethics Committee for the State Bar of Texas recently issued Opinion No. 603 regarding a lawyer’s duties when he or she represents an insolvent corporation. The opinion was based on a situation [1] in which the company’s sole shareholder was also its sole officer and sole director, engaging in conduct that the company lawyer concluded breached her fiduciary duties to the company. The lawyer advised the corporate director that, although her intended conduct would not harm the company, it could “significantly harm” the company’s creditors. He further advised her to cease and desist her conduct, and she refused. Moreover, the director specifically instructed the lawyer not to share his advice with the company’s creditors.
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ABI is pleased to announce your 2011-2012 Ethics & Professional Compensation Committee Co-chairs - Stuart Gold of Gold Lange & Majoros, PC, David Houston of Burr & Forman LLP and Kelly Beaudin Statepleton of Alvarez & Marsal. Mr. Gold will continue in his position as Co-chair. Ms. Stapleton has been promoted up from her previous position as the committee's Education Director and Mr. Houston joins the committee's leadership for the first time.
ABI would also like to thank Judith Greenstone Miller of Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer & Weiss, PC and W. Clarkson McDow of the Office of the U.S. Trustee for Region 4 for their service to the committee. We look forward to working with them on future ABI projects.
Click here to view a complete listing of the Ethics & Professional Compensation Committee leadership team.
At the recently concluded 29th Annual Spring Meeting there were several sessions of interest to the committee. First, the committee's session titled "Actions to Avoid and Recover Fees," focused on a variety of relevant topics including the role of the U.S. Trustee in reviewing professional retentiosn and fees, § 327(a), connections to bankruptcy procedure Rule 2014 and gave examples using several pertinent cases. This panel included Jeffrey R. Fine of K&L Gates LLP in Dallas; Charles M. Forman of Forman Holt Eliades & Ravin LLC in Paramus, N.J.; Eve H. Karasik of Stutman Treister & Glatt PC in Los Angeles; Judith Greenstone Miller of Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer & Weiss, PC in Southfield, Mich.; and Andrew R. Vara of the Office of the U.S. Trustee in Cleveland.
Actions to Avoid and Recover Fees
You might also enjoy the session titled "Fulfilling the Fiduciary Duty in a Complex Commercial World," in which the panel focused on the different duties owed to corporations, LLCs, partnerships, LLPs and unsecured creditors' committees; to whom an attorney's fiduciary duties lie and the implications of breaching those duties; and the zone of insolvency. This panel included Prof. Nancy B. Rapoport of the William S. Boyd School of Law, University of Nevada, Las Vegas in Las Vegas; Judith Greenstone Miller of Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer & Weiss, P.C. in Southfield, Mich.; and Richard M. Meth of Fox Rothschild LLP in Roseland, N.J.
Fulfilling the Fiduciary Duty in a Complex Commercial World
ABI is pleased to announce the arrival of it's newest publication, "The Bankruptcy Court's Watchdog: Examiners Today." This new publication, written by John C. (Kit) Weitnauer of Alston & Bird LLP in Atlanta, walks practitioners through the appointment of an examiner in a bankruptcy case, the examiner's responsibilities, the selection and appointment process, the requirements for the examiner's final report and the examiner's fee structure. This comprehensive manual is replete with case law and several appendices that contain examples from actual cases.
Did you know that all of ABI's publications are written by experts in the field and are widely used by the bankruptcy bar and bench? You can own these same publications by visiting the online ABI Bookstore. The ABI Bookstore carries over 40 publications, offers several bundled packages for your convenience and includes free ground shipping!
Click here to order your copy today and have it shipped directly to your home or office!
