Understanding Anna Nicole Smith (or, at least, Stern v. Marshall): A Must-Read Analysis

Led by my colleague Elizabeth Gibson, four members of the National Bankruptcy Conference have produced a fantastic analysis of the Stern v. Marshall U.S. Supreme Court decision (that most recently has been mentioned on Credit Slips here and here). I strongly recommend it for judges, lawyers, academics and others interested in the bankruptcy system and/or federal court jurisdictional questions.    

Anna Nicole Smith May Be More Than Just the Only Loser on This One

Vickie Lynn Marshall, as she is known to bankruptcy mavens, or Anna Nicole Smith, as she is known to normal people, lost today in her second round before the Supreme Court. In his last post with us, John Pottow provided a good summary of the issues, and guest blogger Troy McKenzie also had offered some thoughts about what the case might mean for some other areas of bankruptcy law (here and here). Now that the opinion is out, I would describe it as scary for the daily workings of the bankruptcy system.

Political Cartoons. Elizabeth Warren edition.

My husband commented the other day that he didn't think Elizabeth Warren was a "political figure." His argument was not that she is not an elected offical or that she doesn't have partisan allegiances. No, instead, he was focused on the fact that she has never been in a cartoon. But look what Google just turned up!  (By the way, I'm putting this under "Celebrity Bankruptcy," another blog category that puzzles me slightly.)

On the Rangers' Bankruptcy

The New York Times has an interesting piece on the Texas Rangers' bankruptcy. It seems that Major League Baseball is supporting one bidder group (including Nolan Ryan), but that group hasn't made the top dollar offer. So do the Rangers have to be sold to the top bidder or do MLB's preferences (and threat to terminate the Rangers' franchise if it doesn't get its way) have to be taken into account? 

The story doesn't explain why MLB prefers the lower bid. Maybe there's a good reason. On the other hand, "we just like them better," or "we think it'd be cool for Nolan Ryan to own the Rangers," (i.e., "in the best interests of baseball") can't be sufficient grounds for going with the lower bid. 

What about the threat of that if their preferred bidder wins, MLB will pack up its toys and leave the sandbox? I would anticipate that a sale order would include some sort of injunction against this (e.g., no termination of franchise except for reasonable cause). To be sure, for some creditors, the loss of the Rangers' franchise would be far worse than a lower sale price, but I don't think a spite termination can be included in a valuation maximization comparison. (Fwiw, I don't think MLB's unique antitrust exemption has any bearing on whether a bankruptcy court order can enjoin it from terminating a franchise.)

On a side note, yes, I'm aggrieved that MLB loaned the Rangers $40M, which was used to land Cliff Lee. Go go White Sox!

[Bob: note the spacing!]