Anti-Suit Injunction Protecting Non-Settling Defendant
US Circuit Court for the Eleventh Circuit holds that Bankruptcy Court has jurisdiction and statutory power to grant an Anti-Suit Injunction Protecting Non-Settling Defendant.
The bankruptcy court has both the jurisdiction and statutory power to impose an anti-suit injunction protecting a non-settling defendant from claims by third-party nondebtors, even if the injunction was not part of the parties’ settlement, according to the Eleventh Circuit. Evidently, however, the question was not raised concerning the bankruptcy court’s constitutional power to enter a final order imposing an injunction having the effect of a third-party release.
The maddeningly complex procedural history resulted from several lawsuits fought in multiple courts over 10 years. The litigation ended up in bankruptcy court, years after the families of six deceased patients won $1 billion in default judgments against nursing homes based on wrongful death claims.