Czyzewski v. Jevic Holding Corp., ___US___ 2017 WL 1066259
Czyzewski v. Jevic Holding Corp., ___US___ 2017 WL 1066259 (3/22/2017): US Supreme Court Strikes Down “Structured Dismissals” of Bankruptcy cases, if the terms of the “Structured Dismissal” of the bankruptcy case violate the priority scheme of the Bankruptcy Code: The United State Supreme Court in Czyzewski v. Jevic Holding Corp. held that “[a] distribution scheme ordered in connection with the dismissal of a Chapter 11 case cannot, without the consent of the affected parties, deviate from the basic priority rules that apply under the primary mechanisms the Code establishes for final distribution of estate value in business bankruptcies.” Importantly, the Court, with Justice Breyer writing the majority opinion, emphasized that “a bankruptcy court does not have such a power.” The “structured dismissals” of bankruptcy cases that the US Supreme Court decision prohibits were a threat to the Code’s priority scheme is the allowance of “structured dismissals,” which include a settlement as part of the dismissal of a chapter 11 case that would distribute estate assets in a manner that contravenes the Code’s priority rules. Such priority-altering distributions could not be approved pursuant to a confirmed chapter 11 plan absent the consent of the class that is adversely affected, because of the absolute priority rule (§§ 1129(a)(8) and 1129(b)), nor would they be possible if the chapter 11 case were converted to a chapter 7 liquidation, because of the Code’s strict distributional priority rules (§ 726). If such structured dismissals were permitted, a debtor and collaborating creditors effectively could do an end-run around the absolute priority rule by exiting chapter 11 via a “dismissal,” before the confirmation cramdown rules are formally applied, but with final, binding distributions made as part of the “structured” dismissal in derogation of absolute priority.