Job offer, $150,000 check for Madera hospital CEO was not a ‘bribe,’ lawyer tells judge

Job offer, 0,000 check for Madera hospital CEO was not a ‘bribe,’ lawyer tells judge

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

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September 14, 2023 by ATTORNEY

Party City receives approval to exit bankruptcy

Party City receives approval to exit bankruptcy
Party City receives approval to exit bankruptcy

Abstract newspaper in a fluid shape, 3d rendering

By The Indianapolis Business Journal

INDIANAPOLIS — Party City on Wednesday received court approval to exit bankruptcy and emerge with a leaner balance sheet, avoiding the fate of retail peers who stumbled in Chapter 11 and ceased operations.

The New Jersey-based retailer is set to hand ownership of the company to lenders and reduce its debt load by some $1 billion, according to court papers. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David R. Jones on Wednesday said he would approve the company’s restructuring plan.

“This plan sets the company up for success going forward,” Ken Ziman, an attorney for the company, said during the hearing. “And most important, your honor, this is a plan that preserves thousands of jobs.”

As part of the Chapter 11 process, the company closed more than 60 stores across the country, but was able to keep the vast majority of its more than 700 stores open, according to court papers. “It wasn’t a wholesale exiting of lease locations,” said Ziman.

Party City has three stores in Indianapolis: at 8703 Hardegan St. on the south side 10537 E. Washington St. on the east side and 3622 Bethany Road on the

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September 10, 2023 by ATTORNEY

Party City to Emerge from Bankruptcy with Most Stores Intact

A bankruptcy judge in the Southern District of Texas has approved Party City’s plan to emerge from bankruptcy, multiple sources report. The plan, which will cancel $1 billion in company debt, will enable Party City to close just a “handful” of its nearly 800 stores and save thousands of jobs, Party City attorney Ken Ziman said at a court hearing in Houston, as reported by Reuters.

Ownership of the company will be turned over to the retailer’s current lenders, but the deal will wipe out individual shareholders. “The math is what the math is,” U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David Jones told a shareholder who spoke up at the hearing per Reuters. “It’s one of those things where there simply is not an alternative.”

Under the plan, $1 billion in pre-petition debt will be converted into equity shares, and Party City will receive a new $562 million loan from its existing lenders. The company also will raise additional cash by selling $75 million in new equity shares.

Party City’s junior creditors, including unpaid trade vendors, will receive $3.5 million in cash plus Party City’s share of a $5.6 billion class action settlement related to credit card payment

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September 9, 2023 by ATTORNEY

Bankruptcy Attorneys Question News-Press Owner Wendy McCaw About Assets, Property Transfers | Local News

Bankruptcy Attorneys Question News-Press Owner Wendy McCaw About Assets, Property Transfers | Local News

Attorneys questioned Santa Barbara News-Press owner Wendy McCaw for two hours at a Thursday bankruptcy hearing, and dug into the business’ operations and the assets claimed in court documents.

McCaw’s Ampersand Publishing, parent company of the News-Press, declared bankruptcy on July 21, the same day the newspaper stopped publishing to its website and told all employes their jobs were eliminated.

The bankruptcy documents list few assets and more than $5 million owed to creditors such as former employees, vendors, utility companies, local businesses, and subscribers.

The assets conspicuously exclude real estate because McCaw transferred the business’ properties in 2014 to separate limited liability companies she controls, and apparently paid nothing to do so.

Those properties include the downtown Santa Barbara News-Press building at 715 Anacapa St., a parking lot across the street, and the newspaper’s Goleta printing press property at 725 S. Kellogg Ave.

McCaw said Thursday that the News-Press had no lease agreements and paid no rent to occupy the buildings, even after Ampersand Publishing no longer owned the properties.

The section of bankruptcy documents where leases would be is blank.

“With nothing listed there, I have questions,” said attorney Michael D’Alba of Danning Gill.

Bankruptcy trustee Jerry Namba,

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September 8, 2023 by ATTORNEY

Mallinckrodt’s Second Bankruptcy ‘Flagrant’ Case of Bad Plan

Drugmaker Mallinckrodt Plc‘s return to bankruptcy, where it will substantially reduce payments to opioid claimants, comes after it fell short of overly optimistic projections from its first Chapter 11.

Opioid claimants will now see their $1.7 billion settlement fund established through Mallinckrodt’s first bankruptcy slashed to $700 million as a result of the flawed financial forecasts embedded in the company’s prior restructuring plan, which faced little formal pushback in court.

The proposed reduction in settlement funds will be “devastating” to opioid claimants, said Joseph Steinfeld, an opioid victim lawyer with ASK LLP.

The company’s Chapter 11 filing on Monday comes slightly more than a year after it emerged from its first bankruptcy with a deal resolving litigation from individuals and state and local governments that accused it of contributing to the national opioid crisis.

The first bankruptcy was supposed to be final. All corporate debtors are required to show a judge they can meet the obligations of their restructuring plans and are unlikely to restructure again, a standard known as “feasibility.” The bankruptcy code says a plan can be confirmed if it is “not likely” to be followed by further restructuring or liquidation.

Still, Chapter 11 refilings are

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September 4, 2023 by ATTORNEY
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