The frequent trade claims against distressed and bankrupt entities made in recent years the courts to issue numerous rulings of interest to both buyers and sellers.
One of the latest developments in the growing body of bankruptcy jurisprudence affecting this area was contributed recently by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in In re Woodbridge Group of Companies, LLC, 2018 WL 3131127 (Bankr. D. Del. June 20, 2018). The court ruled that, because an anti-assignment clause in a promissory note was enforceable under state law, the associated claim asserted in bankruptcy by the purchaser of the note must be disallowed. Among other things, the court noted that "[t]he evidence does not support the claims trader's argument that enforcing the anti-assignment clause would disrupt the market."
