Five questions ahead of decisive Yellow bankruptcy hearing

Executives, attorneys, creditors, and many others invested in the wind-down of Yellow Corp. will gather Sept. 15 for a key hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware that should answer several questions about how the shuttered carrier’s case and auctions of substantial assets will proceed in the coming weeks.

The hearing could add clarity to some important questions in Yellow’s filing and perhaps reveal bidders who haven’t yet gone public with their interest in what remains of the almost 100-year-old company.

Here’s the latest on the Chapter 11 case for what was, until last month, the No. 6 carrier on the 2023 for-hire FleetOwner 500:

  • The Sept. 15 hearing is slated to cover a lot of ground. Among the most important items before Judge Craig T. Goldblatt is final approval of the $142 million in debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing Yellow has secured from hedge funds Citadel and MFN Partners (the latter being Yellow’s largest shareholder, having amassed a 42% stake this summer) as well as the procedures that will govern the auction of the defunct company’s assets planned for next month.
  • Also on the provisional agenda is finalization of a motion, preliminarily approved by Goldblatt on Sept. 8, to make about
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September 19, 2023 by ATTORNEY

Mercy arranging tours for potential bidders in its bankruptcy sale

Mercy arranging tours for potential bidders in its bankruptcy sale


Mercy Iowa City is shown Aug. 7 in Iowa City. in Iowa City,. The hospital, now in bankruptcy, has arranged tours of its health care facilities next week for potential bidders interested in competing for its assets against the University of Iowa. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
Mercy Iowa City is shown Aug. 7 in Iowa City. in Iowa City. The hospital, now in bankruptcy, has arranged tours of its health care facilities next week for potential bidders interested in competing for its assets against the University of Iowa. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

IOWA CITY — Mercy Iowa City has arranged tours of its health care facilities next week for potential bidders interested in competing for its assets against the University of Iowa — which last month made an initial “stalking horse” bid of $20 million to buy the 150-year-old community hospital.

During a hearing Wednesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court — following Mercy’s Aug. 7 filing for Chapter 11 protection — attorney Felicia Perlman, representing Mercy through her Chicago firm, McDermott Will & Emery, said, “We do have several parties who have signed (nondisclosure agreements) and are active in the data room, and we are providing diligence to and these tours for.”

“We’ll know more whether they are likely to be real bidders or whether they lose interest,” Perlman told Judge Thad Collins in response to his request for a status update.

She reported active recruitment and outreach to any individuals or entities that have expressed interest.

“We

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September 18, 2023 by ATTORNEY

Not a bribe, Modesto company’s lawyer says of job offer, $150,000 check for hospital CEO

Not a bribe, Modesto company’s lawyer says of job offer, 0,000 check for hospital CEO

Addressing a federal judge, a lawyer representing a Modesto-based hospital management company stressed that his client back in May wasn’t trying to “bribe” a Central San Joaquin Valley hospital executive when they handed her a $150,000 check and a job offer amid negotiations.

Hamid Rafatjoo, a partner with Raines Feldman Littrell LLP and lawyer for American Advanced Management Inc., told U.S. Judge René Lastreto II over Zoom in court on Tuesday that his client wasn’t trying to gain competitive advantage in a bidding process to take over operations of bankrupt Madera Community Hospital.

“Obviously, there were better ways of handling that process,” Rafatjoo said, “but it didn’t come from a place of trying to bribe anyone.”

“My client did what it did,” he said, adding that the actions took place before he was retained.

A business law expert contacted by The Bee said there was nothing illegal about the offer, though it looks “irregular” and “awkward” and the circumstances suggest it should have been fully disclosed in bankruptcy court.

Rafatjoo also took the opportunity Tuesday to tell the judge that AAMI’s offer to take over operations of Madera Community Hospital was superior to the current proposed partner and that it

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September 17, 2023 by ATTORNEY

Utah tour operator files for bankruptcy: What’s next for those owed money for canceled tours?

Utah tour operator files for bankruptcy: What’s next for those owed money for canceled tours?

Estimated read time: 2-3
minutes

SOUTH JORDAN — In April, KSL Investigators told you about a Utah-based travel company that abruptly canceled overseas tours of many viewers without offering refunds. Thousands of dollars were paid, which prompted many calls to Get Gephardt. Now, that company has filed for bankruptcy protection. So, what happens next?

“They won’t email us. They won’t call us back,” Lynette Clark told us about her communications with tour operator Latter Day Travel.

Clark paid about $6,000 for a tour she booked with Latter Day Travel, but six months before departure, she got an email saying they canceled her tour because of inflation and higher travel costs. No refund was offered. There was only the promise of credit if there are “travel opportunities in the future.”

“I hope that we can get our money back,” she said.

“It’s a lot of money for us,” Laurel Bjornberg said, when KSL Investigators spoke to her about a nearly identical cancellation email she received from the sister company, CruiseBuilder.

She said she paid $4,700 for her tour and, like Clark, got no refund.

“We paid for our trip, and then we have nothing,” she said.

KSL Investigators tried by

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September 16, 2023 by ATTORNEY

Ex-law firm partner pleads guilty to bankruptcy fraud

Ex-law firm partner pleads guilty to bankruptcy fraud
Ex-law firm partner pleads guilty to bankruptcy fraud

Signage is seen at the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., August 24, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly Acquire Licensing Rights

Sept 12 (Reuters) – A former partner at three major law firms pleaded guilty on Tuesday to making false statements in U.S. bankruptcy court in an effort to keep his multi-million dollar house and luxury sports car, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

John Roesser, 52, a former international arbitration lawyer who practiced as a partner at law firms Alston & Bird, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer and Dechert from 2013 to 2018, could face up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of false oaths and claims in bankruptcy.

Roesser’s attorney, Mark Cohen of Cohen, Frankel & Ruggiero, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Prosecutors said Roesser made false statements in his own personal bankruptcy proceedings in an effort to hold onto his assets, including his house and an Aston Martin luxury sports car, despite owing more than $3 million in unpaid income taxes.

“The defendant — who used to be a lawyer and knew exactly what he was doing —

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September 15, 2023 by ATTORNEY
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