Today the Supreme Court issued a
decision, described below, of interest to the business community.
Travelers Casualty & Surety Co. v. Pacific
Gas & Electric Co., No. 05-1429
(previously discussed in the
October 9, 2006 Docket Report). In a unanimous decision authored by Justice Alito, the Court held that federal bankruptcy law does not preclude an unsecured creditor from recovering attorneys' fees that were guaranteed by a prepetition contract simply because those fees were incurred in postpetition litigation of bankruptcy law issues. In rejecting a contrary rule that had been adopted by several circuits, the Court emphasized that a creditor's claim-the validity of which is generally determined by state law-is allowable unless the Bankruptcy Code provides otherwise.
If you have any questions about this decision, please contact Andrew Tauber at atauber@mayerbrown.com or 202-263-3324.
An article by Jim Ferguson, a Mayer Brown partner who
specializes in intellectual property litigation, that discusses
how to draft patent licenses and settlement agreements in light
of the Supreme Court's recent decision in MedImmune v.
Genentech, 127 S. Ct. 764 (2007). The article appeared in
last week's IP Law 360. Jim can be reached at (312) 701-7282 or
jferguson@mayerbrown.com.
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