Opinion ID: 205909
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The First Bankruptcy Ruling

Text: The bankruptcy court held a three day trial on LF’s motion, involving five witnesses and numerous pages of exhibits. On May 10, 2007, the bankruptcy judge denied LF’s request for fees and interest in a Memorandum Opinion and Order containing extensive findings of fact and conclusions of law. The court held that the Interim Order it had entered governed the parties, that LF’s 10 No. 09-3560 September 29 and October 4 statements constituted an anticipatory breach of that agreement, and that having repudiated the agreement, LF was not entitled to recover the fees or expenses it sought. The bankruptcy court reasoned that at the point LF made the statements to the effect that it would no longer make any loans, “Arlington was entitled to consider its relationship with LF over and its duties of performance discharged. Having refused to perform under the agreement, LF cannot insist that Arlington continue to perform, paying interest and fees on a loan LF would not make.” Notably, en route to reaching its conclusion, the bankruptcy court interpreted the Interim Order to mean that all fees owed to LF were payable “on invoice,” despite the fact that the Order singled out the Commitment Fee and Funding Fee as “payable immediately.”