Supreme Court Ruling Reshapes Landscape of Bankruptcy Protections, Limits Third-Party Releases
WASHINGTON — In a landmark decision that could redefine legal and financial strategies in U.S. bankruptcy courts, the Supreme Court has ruled against the use of non-consensual third-party releases for resolving mass tort claims, except in cases involving asbestos. This pivotal ruling ends a long-standing practice widely accepted by bankruptcy courts and removes a key tool that companies like Purdue Pharma have used to shield stakeholders such as directors or shareholders from related lawsuits when the company itself files for bankruptcy. For more than four decades, bankruptcy courts have employed non-debtor releases to facilitate broad … Read more