Allan L. Gropper
Allan L. Gropper was a bankruptcy judge for the United States bankruptcy court, Southern District of New York. He was appointed on October 4, 2000.[1] Gropper retired from the court on February 17, 2015.[2]
Education
Judge Gropper graduated from Yale College in 1965 and, from 1965 to 1966, was a Fulbright Tutor in English at Christ Church College in Kanpur, India. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1969.[1]
Career
In 1969, Gropper became an attorney in the Civil Appeals Unit of the New York City Legal Aid Society. Three year later, in 1972, he joined the law firm of White & Case, becoming a partner in 1978.
Gropper is adjunct professor of law at Fordham Law School and teaches a course in International Insolvency Law.[1]
Work as an editor
- Co-editor of a two-volume text entitled International Insolvency published in 2000.[1]
Judicial career
Southern District of New York, bankruptcy
Gropper joined the court in 2000 and retired on February 17, 2015.[2]
Noteworthy cases
Parent company held liable for bankrupt spinoff's legal liabilities (2013)
- See also: United States bankruptcy court, Southern District of New York (Tronox Inc et al v. Kerr McGee Corp et al, 09-10156 (ALG))
- See also: United States bankruptcy court, Southern District of New York (Tronox Inc et al v. Kerr McGee Corp et al, 09-10156 (ALG))
On December 12, 2013, Gropper ruled that Anadarko Petroleum Corp. may be liable for an amount between $5.15 billion and $14.17 billion in environmental cleanup liabilities caused by its bankrupt spinoff company. The Department of Justice believes the ruling is the largest ever of its kind. In the underlying case, Kerr-McGee Corp. spun off its chemicals business in 2005 as Tronox, transferring its environmental claims and liabilities with it at the same time. In 2006, Anadarko acquired Kerr-McGee's oil and gas division and assets, then worth between $16.4 and $18 billion. Beset by environmental debts, Tronox filed for bankruptcy in 2009, and sued Kerr-McKee separately, accusing the company of setting it up to fail under the fraudulent transfer theory of bankruptcy law. According to that theory, the value of transferred assets may be recovered if such transfer was made with the intent to harm creditors. Gropper ruled that Kerr-McKee's spinoff of Tronox was intended to hurt its creditors, specifically those with environmental liabilities, awarding Tronox the approximate value of Kerr-McGee's oil and gas assets acquired by Anadarko in the form of litigation damages.[3][4][5][6] Anadarko settled the case for 5.15 billion dollars in April of 2014.[7]
See also
- United States bankruptcy court, Southern District of New York
- United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 United States Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, "Allan L. Gropper Biography," accessed February 12, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 WHBL, "Ex-U.S. bankruptcy judge returns to bench after more than 15 years," February 11, 2015
- ↑ Wall Street Journal, "Judge Says Anadarko May Be Liable in Suit Related to Kerr-McGee Deal," December 12, 2013
- ↑ Businessweek, "Anadarko’s Kerr-McGee Held Liable by Judge Over Tronox Spinoff," December 13, 2013
- ↑ Reuters, "Analysis: Tronox, Anadarko fight over cleanup costs may be just getting started," December 15, 2013
- ↑ New York Times, "Bankruptcy Judge’s Opinion Raises Questions About Kerr-McGee Revamp," December 16, 2013
- ↑ Kirkland & Ellis LLP, "Anadarko Pays $5B to Settle Tronox Enviro Liabilities Row," April 3, 2014
Federal courts:
Second Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of New York, Western District of New York, Northern District of New York, Southern District of New York • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of New York, Western District of New York, Northern District of New York, Southern District of New York
State courts:
New York Court of Appeals • New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division • New York Supreme Court • New York County Courts • New York City Courts • New York Town and Village Courts • New York Family Courts • New York Surrogates' Courts • New York City Civil Court • New York City Criminal Courts • New York Court of Claims • New York Problem Solving Courts
State resources:
Courts in New York • New York judicial elections • Judicial selection in New York
