Why bankruptcy judge declined to hold Chris Pettit in contempt

Why bankruptcy judge declined to hold Chris Pettit in contempt

Christopher “Chris” Pettit, the ex-San Antonio attorney accused of absconding with millions of dollars of clients’ money, has again avoided being held in contempt of court in his bankruptcy case — for now.

At an emergency hearing Thursday, Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Craig Gargotta declined to grant the Chapter 11 trustee’s request to hold Pettit in contempt for violating a court order prohibiting him from transferring or disposing of any of his personal property.

But the judge ordered Pettit — who has been living in an $8 million mansion at Disney World while working as a $15.75-an-hour cook on the resort’s grounds — to appear in the San Antonio court next week to show why he shouldn’t be sanctioned for violating the court’s order.

“Mr. Pettit, I know you work. I know you’re in Florida. Can’t do much about that,” Gargotta told Pettit, who appeared by video. “You need to be here on Sept. 8.”

Trustee Eric Terry requested the emergency hearing after one of his lawyers, Patrick Huffstickler, got a phone call from Rob Vogt of Vogt Auction Galleries.

Vogt told him that someone had come by the business to inquire about selling personal property at a house on

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September 4, 2022 by ATTORNEY

Regal Cinemas: Cineworld says may file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Regal Cinemas: Cineworld says may file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy


London
CNN Business
 — 

The owner of cineworld-reopening/index.html”Regal Cinemas is having a tough time — its stock crashed as much as 80% Friday after reports that its parent company is preparing to file for bankruptcy.

British company Cineworld Group said in a statement that a “voluntary Chapter 11 filing in the United States” was one of the options it was reviewing in an attempt to reduce its debt burden.

Meanwhile, Cineworld and Regal theaters were open for “business as usual,” it added, and would remain so.

“Cineworld would expect to maintain its operations in the ordinary course until and following any filing and ultimately to continue its business over the longer term with no significant impact upon its employees,” the company said in the statement issued in response to reports last week.

Shares in Cineworld crashed as much as 80% in London on Friday after the Wall Street Journal reported that the world’s second largest movie theater chain had spoken to lawyers at Kirkland & Ellis LLP to advise on the bankruptcy process in the United States and United Kingdom.

The company’s stock fell another 20% Monday. The news also contributed to a plunge of more than 30%

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September 1, 2022 by ATTORNEY

Owner of Regal Cinemas Says Bankruptcy Filing Is Possible

Cineworld, the owner of major movie theater chain Regal Cinemas, is on the cusp of bankruptcy, according to multiple reports.


The London-based parent company confirmed to BBC News that it is considering bankruptcy and is asking attorneys from Kirkland & Ellis LLP and consultants from AlixPartners, for guidance on next steps, according to regal-cinemas-owner-cineworld-prepares-for-bankruptcy-filing-11660910944″ data-component=”link” data-source=”inlineLink” data-type=”externalLink” data-ordinal=”2″The Wall Street Journal.


Cineworld has amassed $4.8 billion in debt, according to WSJ, and it operates more than 751 locations around the world. Its U.S. subsidiary, Regal, currently has 505 theaters in 42 states, along with American Samoa, the District of Columbia, Guam and Saipan as of April, according to the company’s website.




The news comes nearly two years after Regal and other cinemas were forced to temporarily shut down its theaters in October 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.


Cineworld claimed ticket sales have been lower than anticipated and a short supply of blockbuster films this fall is also prompting the move, according to CNN Business, which got a statement from the company that operations would still be “business as usual” for its Regal locations.


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August 31, 2022 by ATTORNEY

Celsius Depositors Fracture Again on Legal Strategy as ‘Withhold’ Group Lawyers Up

Failed cryptocurrency lender Celsius Network has seen yet another set of claimants band together and hire a lawyer, as the firm’s bankruptcy becomes an evermore messy and fractious affair.

The so-called “Withhold Accounts” group is composed of customers in U.S. states where Celsius became unable to offer them serviceable custody accounts thanks to celsius-violated-securities-laws/” data-ylk=”slk:cease and desist orders from regulators” class=”link “cease and desist orders from regulators. These people were given the option to move their funds to withhold accounts, where it remains frozen.

The withhold group, which accounts for just $14.5 million of the roughly $12 billion marooned on Celsius when it stopped withdrawals back in June, has hired the legal representation of Deborah Kovsky-Apap, a partner at Troutman Pepper.

“We believe that the coins held in Withhold are not property of the estate,” said Kovsky-Apap in an email. “They’re simply not part of the Celsius ecosystem – it’s more like the depositors left their wallet at the bar and the bartender is just holding onto it until they come back to get it. We believe the Withhold accounts should be unfrozen as soon as possible so that depositors can retrieve their property.”

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August 30, 2022 by ATTORNEY

Revlon tells bankruptcy judge its shares may be worthless

The committee representing unsecured creditors also asked Jones to reject a shareholder committee.

“Revlon stock trading has all the outward appearances of a so-called ‘meme’ stock,” the committee said in its objection, referring to shares that rise in value only because of Internet chatter, not economic reason.

Revlon shares tumbled as much as 34% to as low as $5.62 Monday before rebounding to around $8.22, leaving them down some 3% on the day. That price is up from as little as $1.17 in June.

Nearly all official committee are appointed by the Office of the U.S. Trustee, an arm of the U.S. Justice Department that acts as a watchdog in corporate bankruptcies. In the Revlon case, the office appointed the unsecured creditor committee, but last month rebuffed the shareholders.

The shareholder group, which says it owns 4.7% of Revlon’s common stock not held by insiders, asked Jones on Aug. 9 to order the U.S.Trustee to appoint a panel. On that day, the shares closed at about $8.

Forcing Revlon to fund lawyers and other advisers for a minority group of shareholders would be a waste of money, the company said in court papers. Official committees have the fees of

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August 28, 2022 by ATTORNEY
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