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One of the core competencies of a good appellate lawyer is spotting arguments that have been preserved. Whether you're the appellant or the appellee, knowing when an argument is properly preserved goes a long way. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit publishes very few opinions, so finding a roadmap for issue preservation can sometimes be tricky. In this article, we'll highlight three common questions about practice before the Court, set out [...]

Bankruptcy trustees and chapter 11 debtors-in-possession ("DIPs") frequently seek to avoid fraudulent transfers and obligations under section 544(b) of the Bankruptcy Code and state fraudulent transfer or other applicable non-bankruptcy laws because the statutory "look-back" period for avoidance under many non-bankruptcy laws exceeds the two-year period governing avoidance actions under section 548. "Governmental units" (defined below) sometimes argue that avoidance actions against them under non-bankruptcy law are precluded by the doctrine of sovereign immunity, even [...]

A recent published decision from the Michigan Court of Appeals underscores a critical issue for LLC members, heirs, and anyone asserting ownership in a Michigan limited liability company: bank documents cannot be relied upon to prove LLC membership because those are documents of a third-party, not "of the limited liability company" as the statute requires. In Estate of James D. Branch v. Kevin Rudolph, Docket No. 368071, the court held that a bank signature card listing [...]