bankruptcy

Crypto Winter Means Hard Work for Bankruptcy Lawyers (Podcast)

Bankruptcy law is the ultimate countercyclical industry: business is booming when when things get bad. And things have almost never been worse in the crypto world, with even the most prominent coins down more than 40% in just the past year.

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Numerous crypto platforms—Voyager Digital, Celsius, BlockFi, and, most famously, FTX—have filed for Chapter 11. That means bankruptcy attorneys have a lot of work on their plates.

Bloomberg Law spoke to more than half a dozen of the attorneys working on these cases to hear if managing a crypto bankruptcy is just another day at the office. They say nothing in their careers prepared them to unwind what were essentially quasi-banks dealing with some of the most volatile financial assets known to humankind.

“I knew that they would present novel issues of law and technology,” White & Case lawyer Greg Pesce, who’s working on the Celsius bankruptcy, told us. “And that couldn’t begin to describe what we confronted.”

On this special episode of our weekly podcast, On The Merits, we hear what it’s like to be an attorney

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March 28, 2023 by ATTORNEY

NY diocese facing flood of lawsuits files for bankruptcy

NY diocese facing flood of lawsuits files for bankruptcy

ALBANY, New York — The embattled Catholic Diocese of Albany became the latest diocese in New York to seek bankruptcy protection Wednesday as it faces hundreds of lawsuits alleging sexual abuse.

Bishop Edward Scharfenberger announced the Chapter 11 filing after months of negotiations between the upstate New York diocese and lawyers representing plaintiffs over a potential settlement.

The Albany diocese, like others in the state, is dealing with a deluge of lawsuits dating to when New York temporarily suspended the statute of limitations to give victims of childhood abuse the ability to pursue even decades-old allegations against clergy members, teachers, Boy Scout leaders and others.

“The decision to file was not arrived at easily and I know it may cause pain and suffering, but we, as a Church, can get through this and grow stronger together,” Scharfenberger said in a release.

The bishop said that as cases brought under the state’s Child Victims Act were settled, “our limited self-insurance funds which have been paying those settlements, have been depleted.” He said the bankruptcy filing was the best way to ensure that all survivors with pending litigation receive some compensation.

The action halts legal actions against the diocese and will allow

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March 18, 2023 by ATTORNEY

Attorney for alleged abuse victim reacts to bankruptcy filing

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Reactions continue to come in after the Albany Catholic Diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Lawyers for some of the alleged sexual abuse victims said they disagree with claims from diocese leaders that they are running out of money.

Attorney Cynthia LaFave told NEWS10 that the diocese controls more than $600 million in assets. She believes the bankruptcy filing is simply meant to delay the hundreds of unsettled cases because legal action against the diocese cannot move forward until the bankruptcy proceedings are resolved.

“Now, we find that the cowardly diocese is putting itself into a bankruptcy because it wants to hide a little more and not pay a little more,” she said.

Attorneys said a committee of alleged victims will negotiate a settlement with the diocese in bankruptcy court. It’s unclear when those proceedings will take place.

The bankruptcy filing also means litigation over the Saint Clare’s Hospital pension has been paused. Mary Hartshorne, a leader for the former hospital employees, said their attorneys are now working with bankruptcy lawyers to discuss how to move foward.

Hundreds of hospital workers lost their pensions in 2018 and have joined a lawsuit from the New York Attorney

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March 17, 2023 by ATTORNEY

Alex Jones Discloses More Guns, Moving Crypto in Bankruptcy (1)

Right-wing conspiracist Alex Jones and his lawyers told creditors involved in his bankruptcy that he has 49 firearms and donated about $7.8 million worth of cryptocurrency to his businesses.

As creditors scrutinize his assets, Jones and his lawyers also said at a meeting Thursday that he owns several Rolex watches and a bag of silver coins.

The Department of Justice’s bankruptcy watchdog, the US Trustee, and others used the meeting to ask Jones questions about personal financial statements he filed last week.

Jones’ personal bankruptcy has temporarily protected him against roughly $1.4 billion in defamation judgments. Juries have found Jones and his company, Infowars parent Free Speech Systems LLC, financially liable for spreading falsehoods about the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that killed 20 children and six school staffers.

Jones’ bankruptcy protects him from creditor collection efforts and other court proceedings, but he is required to disclose all of his assets and business activities.

Last week, Jones disclosed that he has been “holding firearms” for people who participated in the Jan. 6 attack at the US Capitol.

US Trustee Jayson Ruff on Thursday told Jones that he needs to better describe his personal and household items.

“It needs to

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March 4, 2023 by ATTORNEY

Chris Pettit wants trial postponed to negotiate possible plea deal

U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia agreed Monday to reset the trial to May 22 from March 20 after Pettit’s attorney asked for a 90-day delay.

Mathew T. Allen, Pettit’s defense lawyer, said in a court filing last week that he needed the extra time to review “the voluminous” amount of documents filed in the case. But he also wanted more time “to have thorough and adequate negotiations (with prosecutors) in an attempt
to resolve this matter
without a trial.”

Last month, the judge agreed to push back the trial’s Feb. 13 start date by five weeks after Allen said he needed more time to review the material in the case.

On ExpressNews.com:

Chris Pettit’s forgotten clients: He settled lawsuits for Latino clients who didn’t get their money

Allen didn’t respond to a request for comment Monday.

Garcia set a May 11 deadline for the parties to notify the court of any plea agreement. If no deal is reached, a pretrial conference will be held May 18.

A grand jury indicted Pettit, 55, in December on five counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering, charges that could land him in prison for years if convicted. He has

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February 28, 2023 by ATTORNEY
December 2024
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