Discussing a practice that has grown substantially in recent years — using Chapter 11 bankruptcy as a legal strategy in mass tort litigation — Schulte Roth & Zabel partner Doug Mintz recently spoke to Alex Wolf from Bloomberg Law for the article, “3M Unit Bankruptcy Toss Is Second Blow to Mass Tort Defense Play.”

Doug explained that the courts’ dismissal of two recent cases in which companies attempted to use this tactic creates “hurdles that may be absent from the bankruptcy code.”

He continued, “I think the biggest application here is it will empower plaintiffs to push more aggressively outside of bankruptcy and leave tort defendants with fewer tools in their toolbox or less certainty that one of the tools will work.”

Read the article here.

Schulte Roth & Zabel associate Noah Gillespie recently spoke to Kelsey Reichmann from Courthouse News Service regarding the decision by the Supreme Court of the United States to uphold a lower court ruling that Alabama must create a second majority Black congressional district in compliance with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Despite concerns that a decision from SCOTUS could result in a setback for voting rights, the ruling affirmed the right of Black Alabamians to fair representation.

SRZ submitted an amicus brief on behalf of Southern Poverty Law Center, League of Women Voters and Stand-Up Mobile, outlining how Black Alabamians in the state’s Black Belt, where Black people comprise much of the population, and in Mobile constitute a community of interest and have been systematically deprived of their right to elect candidates of their choice to represent their interests in Congress.

Noah explained that, “the reason everyone was concerned is there have been several different decisions that have whittled away at the Voting Rights Act over time — one of the most significant was Shelby County v. Holder in 2013, another case out of Alabama.”

Noah continued, “now we have another case going to the Supreme Court. It’s about Section 2 — which is one of the best avenues that communities who are affected have to raise issues with voting systems that they’re dealing with.” 

Read the article here.

Schulte Roth & Zabel partner Doug Mintz recently spoke to Kate Marino for her Axios article, “Bankruptcy judge tosses Chapter 11 case by 3M’s Aearo Technologies,” to discuss a novel strategy used by major corporations facing sizable legal liabilities. The strategy, moving legal liabilities into a single subsidiary and then filing for bankruptcy for that subsidiary, has been rejected by courts in two recent cases.

According to Doug, “[c]ourts are pushing back on the notion of companies using bankruptcy to shield themselves against mass torts.” He explained that in these two cases, “….the courts have held that there is a specific standard for filing a company for bankruptcy.”

Read the article here.