The Nashville Bankruptcy Bar got some exciting news from the United States Supreme Court recently, as the Big Court granted certiorari to consider a novel issue of law: Whether an order denying a motion for relief from the automatic stay is a “final order” under 28 U.S.C. § 158(a)(1).
For you real law nerds out there, here’s a copy of the case schedule.
You’ll note that cert was granted in May 2019, and the oral argument is set for November 13, 2019. (I have no idea why this news from May 2019 is just now hitting the local news.)
But, to our local bar, this is newsworthy because the United States Supreme Court is said to grant “cert” in extremely rare circumstances, said to be less than 0.01% of matters presented to it.
The underlying case relates to a failed land sale in The Nations, a former industrial area of Nashville that has seen explosive growth and gentrification over the last 5 years. A full pdf copy of the Sixth Circuit decision can found here.
It’s a well written, sharp opinion. It opens with this fastball to the appellant, high and tight:
Deadlines matter. Ritzen Group missed two of them: the closing deadline in a contract and the appellate deadline for bankruptcy orders. Accordingly, the district court rejected both of Ritzen’s appeals. We affirm.
This will be a lot of fun to watch develop, and I’m a really big fan of Debtor’s counsel, Griffin Dunham and Ned Hildebrand. It’ll be fun as they square off against the Nelson Mullins industrial complex (over 550 attorneys).
So far, they’ve more than held their own.
Creditors Rights 101 