Today I learned the sad news that Conrad B. Duberstein, former Chief Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of New York, died peacefully at his home on November 18, 2005 after a long illness. This legend of the bankruptcy bar and courts will be sorely missed by all those who had the great fortune of being in his presence.
We at The Bankruptcy Litigation Blog express our deep condolences to the family of Judge Duberstein, and to his friends and colleagues. May his memory be a blessing and a comfort to those who mourn him.
Below is the obituary that appears in today’s New York Times, courtesy of Judge Duberstein’s former firm, Otterbourg, Steindler, Houston & Rosen, P.C. It speaks volumes of his known — and unknown — greatness.
His funeral is set for November 21, 2005 at 1 p.m., at Park Avenue Synagogue, 50 East 87th Street in New York City. Please make every effort to attend. Also, please do not hesitate to provide a comment below in honor and memory of this great man, especially during the initial 30 day mourning period.
Judge Duberstein’s obituary follows below:Continue Reading Lower the Flags and Say a Prayer, for Judge Conrad B. Duberstein Has Passed from Our Midst

Below is our second installment of notable news posts on topical bankruptcy issues of interest to the bankruptcy litigator and practitioner for the week ending 11/18/05.
***Continue Reading Weekly News Roundup on Bankruptcy-Related Topics for the Week Ended 11/18/05 – Part 2

[This post was retitled to highlight its connection with prior criticisms of Moore v. Bay]
Arthur Levitt, Jr., the former chairman of the SEC, and perhaps its best chairman to date, sounded a stern warning in a lengthy op-ed in today’s W$J, entitled “Pensions Unplugged,” about the dire consequences sure to…

As the W$J reports here, with the PBGC on track to becoming one of the largest shareholders in several of this country’s basic industries, there’s not a lot of joy these days in the Pre-Termination Processing Division (PTPD) at the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). According to this article, the PBGC owns about 7% of US Air, and is expected to own between 15% and 35% of UAL upon emergence from chapter 11. Regarding the PBGC’s mounting exposure to pension plans terminated in bankruptcy, the WSJ reports:

PBGC’s assumption of corporate pensions is resulting in a sharply widening deficit. At the end of 2004, the PBGC had $62.3 billion in obligations and $39 billion in assets — a gap of $23.3 billion. The deficit could swell if the Chapter 11 filings of Delta, Northwest and Delphi lead them to offload unfunded pension liabilities on the agency. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the shortfall will widen to $86.7 billion by 2015….
The shares in the reorganized [US Air] that were awarded by the court to the PBGC amount to compensation for the $2.3 billion in unfunded pension liabilities it took over….
If Northwest and Delta shed their pension plans, it could saddle the PBGC with an estimated $11.2 billion in new unfunded liabilities.
Moreover, the PBGC estimates that Delphi, the largest U.S. auto-parts supplier in terms of sales, has an unfunded pension liability of $10.8 billion — and that the agency itself would be on the hook for $4.1 billion.

In related news from the UAL bankruptcy proceedings, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. v. United Air Lines, Inc., (Bankr. N.D. Ill., 10/26/05), the Bankruptcy Court ruled on the PBGC’s motion for an order of the Court terminating the UAL Pilot Defined Benefit Plan (the “Pilot Plan”) and establishing 12/30/04 as the plan termination date. According to the PBGC, if the Pilot Plan continued just six more months, the PBGC’s liability upon termination would rise by as much as $138 million (an amount disputed by UAL and the Pilots Union). The Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois, however, denied the PBGC’s motion for summary judgment, stating:Continue Reading UAL’s Bankruptcy Court Shifts Burden of Establishing Grounds for Pension Plan Termination to the PBGC, Which Faces Ever Widening Deficits as Plan Terminations Mount

Last Wednesday, the Office of the Circuit Executive for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit selected four men to serve in the open slots finally created for Delaware’s grossly understaffed Bankruptcy Court (which for nearly 15 years had been denied the addition of permanent judges primarily, in my view, because of fear by out-of-state lawyers/lobbyists that enhancing Delaware’s ability to handle premiere cases would adversely impair their out-of-state, big city practices). The four are:
Kevin Gross, Rosenthal Monhait Gross & Goddess
Brendan Shannon, Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor
Kevin Carey, Bankruptcy Judge of the Eastern District of PA
Christopher Sontchi, Ashby & Geddes
The Office of the Third Circuit Executive is now taking comments on the qualifications of these designates through December 1st, and decide soon thereafter. For those who know the candidates personally, I hope that you take the time to send in your comments.
The Bankruptcy In$ider had this to say about their backgrounds, Delaware’s woefully understaffed bankruptcy bench, and the selection process generally:Continue Reading Movin’ on Up, Finally! — Long Overdue Selections to Delaware’s Overworked Bankruptcy Court Announced

Multi-Year Litigation Seeking $17 Million in Damages Ends With $150,000 Settlement

FRIEDRICHSDORF, Germany, Oct. 17, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) — AM GmbH, a privately held German company, today announced that a federal bankruptcy court in Chicago has approved a settlement between the bankruptcy litigation trust of Chinin USA, Inc. and the company concerning financing services provided by…

You have to check out JibJab’s new movie, Big Box Mart. Another JibJab classic. Get there early, because if the past is any guide, the servers are going to be overwhelmed with traffic.
This short clip makes you laugh at Middle America’s squeeze, but the reality is, it’s no laughing matter. With the US…

The Ninth Circuit has issued an opinion, titled In re Complaint of Judicial Misconduct, addressing a judicial misconduct complaint filed against a district judge, Manuel Real, in February 2003. The case, covered extensively by the L.A. Times , was initiated by a complaint alleging that Judge Real acted for inappropriate personal reasons in placing a “comely” female criminal defendant on probation “to himself, personally,” and in withdrawing the reference in the bankruptcy proceeding of this probationer in order to “benefit an attractive female.” The claim asserted in the complaint was that the judge “acted inappropriately to benefit an attractive female” and requested that “this matter be appropriately investigated to determine, among other things, the actual relationship” between the probationer and the judge.
In dismissing the complaint as “entirely unfounded,” the Ninth Circuit opined:Continue Reading A Complaint of Judicial Misconduct: Sua Sponte Withdrawal of Reference Brings Trouble for District Court Judge