Personal injury lawsuits, depending upon the nature of the claim, are generally not dischargeable in bankruptcy. A claim or a judgment for an injury that is the result of an “intentional” tort is not dischargeability in bankruptcy. (An intentional tort is a civil offense committed with the intent of causing physical, mental, or financial harm to another person.)

Further, under 11 USC 523(a)(9), a debt arising from “for death or personal injury caused by the debtor’s operation of a motor vehicle, vessel, or aircraft if such operation was unlawful because the debtor was intoxicated from using alcohol, a drug, or another substance” is non-dischargeable. In other

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The company responsible for Ho Hos, Twinkies, and Ding Dongs has announced that it has filed for bankruptcy protection. Hostess Brands filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy once before, in 2004 when it was under the name Interstate Bakeries Corp. The company recently came out from a financial restructuring process in 2009 with changes that the company now considers “insufficient.”

There are several theories as to why Hostess, who also owns the Wonder Bread, Drake’s, and Nature’s Pride brands, has plummeted back into financial distress. An article by USA Today suggests that America’s new eating habits are to blame, claiming that healthier snacks like yogurt and wheat bread are becoming preference over cakes and white bread in the United States. Even with

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Introduction

On January 3, 2012,  Coach Am Group Holdings Corp., along with certain of its affiliates (“Coach” and/or “Debtors”) filed petitions for bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.  Aside from Coach America, Coach also operates under the brand names CUSA, American Coach Lines and Gray Line.  According to the Declaration of Coach’s Chief Restructuring Officer (the “Declaration” or “Decl.”),  Coach enters bankruptcy with approximately 6,000 employees and a fleet of over 3,000 vehicles. 

Events Leading to Bankruptcy

Like many chapter 11 debtors before it, Coach believes that its business is operationally sound, however, it needs to reorganize as a result of the recession that began in 2008.  Specifically, the company contends that its debt requirements and increased insurance costs have negatively affected liquidity.  Without sufficient cash, Coach is unable to implement much needed capital improvements.  Decl. at *7. 

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The question of why wait to file for a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy, when the delay only increases loss, was published as a report entitled Saving Up for Bankruptcy in a law journal in 2010.  This research study by law students Ronald J.

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