Welcome to the April 2021 edition of the ACIC Private Notes! 

This edition brings you:

Don’t forget to register for the 2021 Virtual Spring Investment Forum, taking place on April 14 and 15! The program will feature informative panel discussions and will provide important market updates on topics of continuing relevance to today's institutional investment practices. Click here for more details and to register! 

In this month’s original content, Tekhara Silva (Day Pitney) interviews a number of our ACIC fellows and illuminates how each has tackled the challenges of staying connected during the COVID-19 pandemic. Please click here to read the article.  

In In re Cuker Interactive, LLC, Bankruptcy Judge Louise Adler confirmed the plan of reorganization of a solvent chapter 11 debtor that provided for unsecured claims to receive postpetition interest at the federal judgment rate. Following other recent cases within the Ninth Circuit, Judge Adler held that a creditor who received payment in full in cash plus postpetition interest at the federal judgment rate was “unimpaired” and thus conclusively presumed to have accepted the plan. Judge Adler declined to follow cases from other circuits that have found that a creditor of a solvent debtor is “impaired” unless postpetition interest is paid at the state law contract or judgment rate. Please click here to learn more.

After Gardens Regional Hospital and Medical Center, Inc. filed for bankruptcy, the State of California deducted certain fees from various payments that the State was obligated to make to Gardens Regional under its Medicaid program. In In re Gardens Regional Hospital and Medical Center, Inc., Gardens Regional contended that the deductions were impermissible setoffs, and the State argued that they were instead permissible recoupments. The United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California and the Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel both agreed with the State, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that they relied on an overbroad conception of “recoupment.” Because some of the deductions claimed by the State constituted setoffs, and not recoupments, the Court of Appeals affirmed in part and reversed in part and remanded the case for further proceedings. Please click here to learn more.

In In re Claar Cellars LLC, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Washington denied confirmation of the debtors’ chapter 11 plan of reorganization and approved confirmation of the competing chapter 11 plan filed by the debtors’ principal secured lender. While the Bankruptcy Court found that the debtors had proposed their plan in good faith, the plan rested on unrealistic assumptions about future business performance, and thus did not show that there were adequate means to implement the plan or that the plan was feasible. Please click here to learn more.

In Whitney Bank v. SMI Cos. Global, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals was called upon to review, among other things, a magistrate judge’s determination that actions taken by a lender after default on a loan amounted to breach of contract and tortious interference with business relationships. The court found that collection actions taken by the lender did not amount to tortious interference with borrower’s business relations. Please click here to learn more.

In Kamel v. Ave. Insights & Analytics LLC, the Eastern District Court of Texas was asked to decide, among other things, whether an electronic acknowledgment, rather than a physical “wet ink” signature, on a contract was valid (and therefore, whether the contract was enforceable) under Texas law. The court held that a contract executed with an electronic signature held to be enforceable. Please click here to learn more. 

The ACIC invites you to come unwind through a wildly entertaining and educational book and to get to know your fellow members better through an intimate, small group atmosphere! On Thursday, May 20th, the Book Club will be discussing Alison Levine's book "On the Edge: Leadership Lessons from Mount Everest and Other Extreme Environments" - a New York Times and Wall Street Journal best seller. If you are interested in participating in this great event, please click here.