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LONDON, 22 June 2016: Financier Worldwide is pleased to announce that D.J. Miller of Thornton Grout Finnigan has participated as a panellist on Financier Worldwide’s latest Bankruptcy Litigation Roundtable.

The Roundtable, which appears in the July 2016 issue of Financier Worldwide magazine, discusses common issues in bankruptcy litigation, the types of disputes that surface, the challenges involved, and the dispute resolution methods available.

According to Financier Worldwide: “The bankruptcy litigation arena has been consistently active over the past 12 months – a fertile environment for debtors, creditors and stakeholders to pursue meaningful resolutions to high-stakes litigation cases. At the same time, a number of key trends and developments have emerged in the bankruptcy litigation space, including the increasing prevalence of post-confirmation litigation trusts and mass tort cases. And, with the global economy likely to be stretched for some time to come, bankruptcy litigation is likely to be an ongoing option for creditors seeking to maximise recoveries.”

For the Roundtable, Jeffrey N. Pomerantz of the American Bankruptcy Association (ABI) moderated a discussion between Barry A. Chatz at Arnstein & Lehr LLP, Allen Pfeiffer at Duff & Phelps, Craig Montgomery at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, Joseph P. Davis III at Greenberg Traurig LLP, Timothy J. Martin at Huron Consulting Group, Elaine Nolan at Kirkland & Ellis International LLP, Van C. Durrer II at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates, and D.J. Miller at Thornton Grout Finnigan LLP.

D.J. Miller said: “In Canada, bankruptcy litigation differs from other types of litigation in that you have a court officer playing an active role in the proceeding.” 

Van C. Durrer II said: “In our experience, the second half of 2015 and the first half of 2016 was the subject of increased bankruptcy litigation as a tactic to extract value or shift value from one constituency to another.”

Elaine Nolan said: “Overseas debtors have increasingly looked to English schemes of arrangement or administrations to take advantage of the flexibility of the English regime.”

Joseph P. Davis III said: “The US Supreme Court in May 2016 expanded the scope of what constitutes actual fraud for purposes of opposing a discharge in bankruptcy.”

Timothy J. Martin said: “Creditors in bankruptcies change their alliance depending on the issue at hand. This dynamic has always been part of the process.”

Craig Montgomery said: “Where cases involve foreign debtors, we increasingly see litigation in its home jurisdiction being threatened or brought, in an attempt to block or delay the English restructuring.”

Barry A. Chatz said: “In any litigation context, if a client is not aware of the costs and the post-judgment collectability issues, of course there is going to be disappointment.”

Allen Pfeiffer said: “There will likely be an uptick in actions related to D&Os who approved prepetition transfers that resulted in the debtor receiving less than reasonably equivalent value when the debtor was insolvent.”

The complete Roundtable is available to read here.