BANKRUPTCY LAW CASES

• Stanley v. Trinchard
• Kerasotes v. Kerasotes
• Zurich Am. Ins. Co. v. Int'l FiberCom, Inc.

U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, September 13, 2007
Stanley v. Trinchard, No. 06-30120
In a suit by a bankruptcy trustee for legal malpractice and breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing, summary judgment for defendants is reversed and remanded where: 1) the trustee was not barred by the debtor's bankruptcy discharge from asserting a legal malpractice claim that had accrued to debtor before commencement of his bankruptcy proceedings; and 2) the trustee stands in the shoes of the debtor, thus he was not a third-party claimant and his cause of action against the debtor's insurer for breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing was not limited by Louisiana law. Read more...

U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, September 14, 2007
Kerasotes v. Kerasotes, No. 06-2313
In a dispute over the sale of shares in a closely held corporation back to the corporation, summary judgment for defendant-corporation is affirmed where the plain language of the Illinois Securities Law of 1953 encompasses both purchasers and sellers of stock such that plaintiff's lawsuit was barred by the law's statute of repose. Read more...

U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, September 12, 2007
Zurich Am. Ins. Co. v. Int'l FiberCom, Inc., No. 05-16358
District court approval of a bankruptcy court order limiting a prior order is affirmed where the bankruptcy court was correct in holding that the first order approving the assumption of a workers' compensation insurance policy violated 11 U.S.C. section 365 because it allowed the assumption of a non-executory contract, and the bankruptcy court properly relied upon Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(6) in limiting its prior order to ensure that the order complied with the Bankruptcy Code. Read more...