WLN Columns

The Impact of the Automatic Stay on Multi-Party Litigation

For creditors seeking to collect debts, it is Bankruptcy 101 that a debtor’s filing of a bankruptcy petition automatically stays the commencement or continuation of actions against the debtor to recover a claim that arose prior to the bankruptcy. While it is easy to understand and apply the requirements of the automatic stay to situations involving one creditor and one debtor, less clear is the impact of a bankruptcy filing by one of the parties in multi-party litigation.

Consider the following . . . read more

Through the Looking Glass: The Lease Product Continuum under the Proposed Leases Project

The joint FASB/IASB (“Boards”) Leases project is entering the final redeliberations phase, with the goal of issuing a revised Exposure Draft (ED) in November 2011 for a 120-day comment period. At this time, it appears the Boards will likely issue their new standards in mid-2012 with an effective date in 2016. For comparability purposes, the new standard will generally require restating the accounting for outstanding leases in all prior periods presented. As of the date of this article, the Boards . . . read more

10 Reasons to Consider Mediation and Arbitration as Alternatives to Litigation in Equipment Leasing and Finance Cases

Litigation can be expensive and time consuming, especially in equipment leasing and financing cases, which often are document intensive and involve complex factual and legal issues. There are ten factors which may weigh in favor of including an alternative dispute resolution clause in a lease or finance agreement.