Law360 Covers Bankruptcy Team’s Ida Suit Referral to U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana

On May 3, 2023, Chief Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown of the Eastern District of Louisiana ruled in favor of the Fishman Haygood bankruptcy team when she referred Westbank Holdings, LLC’s dispute with insurers over $3.1 million in Hurricane Ida and looting damage to bankruptcy court (Case No. 2:23-cv-00320). In her order, Judge Brown wrote that, because it “fosters [the] aim of expediting the bankruptcy process and ensuring the efficient resolution of the reorganization,” referral rather than arbitration was the more appropriate choice. Click here to read her full ruling.

Westbank Holdings, a New Orleans real estate company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2022 in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Louisiana following extensive damage it says an apartment complex sustained during Hurricane Ida. In addition to storm damage inside and outside the buildings, the owner also reported looting and vandalization to three insurers: Interstate Fire & Casualty Company, Independent Specialty Insurance Company, and Lloyd’s of London. Read more coverage by Law360.

Fishman Haygood attorneys Brent Barriere, Billy Patrick, Tristan Manthey, Cherie Nobles, and Mike Dodson provide legal counsel to Westbank Holdings, alongside attorneys from Alvendia Kelly & Demarest LLC.

Our Bankruptcy and Restructuring team’s substantial experience includes both debtor and creditor side engagements, debtor‑in‑possession and exit financing, asset acquisitions, advising independent directors and boards of directors, advising bondholder and other ad hoc creditor groups, distressed M&A (in court and out of court), municipal restructuring, as well as bankruptcy litigation. Click here to learn more about the firm’s bankruptcy and restructuring group.