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New Cases For the Week of May 21, 2007 - May 25, 2007
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May 25, 2007 |
Case |
Court |
Holding |
In Re: Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether ("MTBE") Products Liability Litigation
(DBN Subscription Required) |
2nd Cir. |
In suits originally filed by California and New Hampshire in their respective state courts against corporations that manufactured, refined, marketed, or distributed gasoline containing methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), alleging that MTBE contaminated public drinking water supplies, denial of plaintiffs' motions to remand is vacated where the district court erroneously held that it had removal jurisdiction over these actions under the federal officer removal statute and/or the bankruptcy removal statute, and no alternative ground for jurisdiction is satisfied. |
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May 24, 2007 |
Case |
Court |
Holding |
In re DSC, Ltd.
(DBN Subscription Required) |
6th Cir. |
Although 11 USC 303(c) appears to allow joinder of additional petitioning creditors in an involuntary case at any time “before the case is dismissed,” the bankruptcy court did not err in setting a deadline for joinders, and refusing to permit the late joinder of an additional qualifying creditor (whose presence would have satisfied the numerosity requirement). |
In re Soileau
(DBN Subscription Required) |
5th Cir. |
In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case involving the potential discharge of a state's forfeiture judgments against licensed bail bondsman, who served as absconded defendants' surety on bail bonds, denial of Texas's motion to dismiss the bankruptcy petition on the basis of sovereign immunity is affirmed as Supreme Court precedent has established that the discharge of a debt like petitioner's is not barred by such immunity. |
Liberty Mutual Fire v. Portia Scott
(DBN Subscription Required) |
8th Cir. |
In an insurer's declaratory judgment action against defendant seeking a declaration that its property insurance policy afforded no coverage for fire damage to her house and personal property, judgment as a matter of law for insurer is affirmed as: 1) no rational jury would be able to reconcile the difference between insured's stated personal property in a bankruptcy and in an insurance claim less than one year later; and 2) the only reasonable inference on the evidentiary record was that insured made a material misrepresentation in submitting her claim, thus voiding her coverage |
Brown v. Pyatt
(DBN Subscription Required) |
8th Cir. |
In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case in which the bankruptcy petition did not list several checks which had been written prior to the debtor's filing but not yet honored, a decision reversing an order for debtor to return to the estate money in the bank account that had not processed as of the date of bankruptcy filing is affirmed, as funds transferred by the checks were property of the estate, the debtor did not have control of money after the checks were honored, and consequently he could not be subject to a motion to compel turnover. |
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May 23, 2007 |
Case |
Court |
Holding |
N. Am. Catholic Educ. Programming Found., Inc. v. Gheewalla
(DBN Subscription Required) |
Del. S. Ct. |
The creditors of a Delaware corporation that is either insolvent or in the zone of insolvency have no right, as a matter of law, to assert direct claims for breach of fiduciary duty against the corporation's directors. |
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May 21, 2007 |
Case |
Court |
Holding |
In re Foamex International
(DBN Subscription Required) |
Bankr. DE |
The statutory cap on a landlord's claim applies to claims for damage repair, as well as rent. |
Sec. & Exch. Comm'n v. Res. Dev. Int'l LLC
(DBN Subscription Required) |
5th Cir. |
A declaration in a non-bankruptcy litigation judgment that the claim will be nondischargeable in bankruptcy is premature. |
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