Background
Acute, Inc. appealed two bankruptcy court actions: a sale order authorizing ECI Pharmaceuticals to sell its assets to Acute, and a confirmation order for a liquidation plan. The district court consolidated the appeals and dismissed both. Acute then moved for reconsideration of the confirmation-order dismissal, which the district court denied.
The court’s reasoning
The court affirmed the dismissal of the sale-order appeal because Acute listed issues in its brief without providing further argument, constituting abandonment. Regarding the confirmation order, the court found Acute forfeited its objection by failing to raise it before the bankruptcy court. The court rejected Acute’s arguments that the issue was a pure question of law, that it lacked notice, or that substantial justice required consideration. The court noted the validity of the third-party release under Purdue Pharma was a mixed question of law and fact dependent on specific plan details.
What it means going forward
The ruling reinforces that parties must object to bankruptcy plans in the bankruptcy court to preserve issues for appeal and that appellate briefs must contain substantive argument to avoid abandonment of issues.