Harrington v. Purdue Pharma L.P.

Docket No.	Op. Below	Argument	Opinion	Vote	Author	Term
23-124	2nd Cir.	Dec 4, 2023	Jun 27, 2024	5-4	Gorsuch	OT 2023

Holding: The bankruptcy code does not authorize a release and injunction that, as part of a plan of reorganization under Chapter 11, effectively seek to discharge claims against a nondebtor without the consent of affected claimants.

Judgment: Reversed and remanded, 5-4, in an opinion by Justice Gorsuch on June 27, 2024. Justice Kavanaugh filed a dissenting opinion, in which Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Sotomayor and Kagan joined.

SCOTUSblog Coverage

Supreme Court blocks OxyContin bankruptcy plan (Amy Howe, June 27, 2024)
The opioid crisis and bankruptcy law with Carl Cecere (Amy Howe, December 7, 2023)
Court conflicted over Purdue Pharma bankruptcy plan that shields Sacklers from liability (Amy Howe, December 4, 2023)
Justices to review novel bankruptcy maneuver in public harms litigation (Abbe R. Gluck, December 3, 2023)
Opioid maker Purdues bankruptcy case comes before Supreme Court (Amy Howe, December 2, 2023)
Major OxyContin case headlines December session (Amy Howe, November 22, 2023)
Purdue Pharma, tax cases headline December argument session (Amy Howe, October 13, 2023)
Justices put Purdue Pharma bankruptcy plan on hold (Amy Howe, August 10, 2023)

Date	Proceedings and Orders (key to color coding)
07/28/2023	Application (23A87) for a stay, submitted to Justice Sotomayor.
07/28/2023	Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (See order of August 10, 2023)
07/28/2023	Response to application (23A87) requested by Justice Sotomayor, due by noon (EDT), Friday, August 4, 2023.
08/04/2023	Response to application from respondent State of California, et al. filed.
08/04/2023	Response to application from respondent Ad Hoc Group of Individual Victims of Purdue Pharma, L.P., et al. filed.
08/04/2023	Response to application from respondent The Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Purdue Pharma L.P., et al. filed.
08/04/2023	Response to application from respondent Debtors, Purdue Pharma L.P., and Its Affiliates filed.
08/04/2023	Response to application from respondent Multi-State Governmental Entities Group filed.
08/04/2023	Response to application from respondent City of Grande Prairie, et al. filed.
08/04/2023	Response to application from respondent The Ad Hoc Committee of Governmental and Other Contingent Litigation Claimants filed.
08/07/2023	Reply of applicant William K. Harrington filed.
08/08/2023	Sur-Reply to Application of Debtors, Purdue Pharma L.P., and Its Affiliates not accepted for filing. (August 08, 2023)
08/09/2023	Motion to Direct the Clerk to File a Sur-Reply filed by respondent Debtors, Purdue Pharma L.P., and Its Affiliates.
08/09/2023	Motion to Direct the Clerk to File a Sur-Reply denied by Justice Sotomayor.
08/10/2023	Application (23A87) referred to the Court.
08/10/2023	Petition GRANTED.
08/10/2023	Application (23A87) granted by the Court. The application for stay presented to Justice Sotomayor and by her referred to the Court is granted. The mandate of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in case No. 22-110 and the consolidated cases is recalled and stayed. Applicant suggested this Court treat the application as a petition for a writ of certiorari; doing so, the petition is granted. The parties are directed to brief and argue the following question: Whether the Bankruptcy Code authorizes a court to approve, as part of a plan of reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, a release that extinguishes claims held by nondebtors against nondebtor third parties, without the claimants’ consent. The Clerk is directed to establish a briefing schedule that will allow the case to be argued in the December 2023 argument session. The stay shall terminate upon the sending down of the judgment of this Court.
08/21/2023	The following briefing schedule is established: The joint appendix, petitioner's brief on the merits, and the brief of any respondent in support, is to be filed on or before Wednesday, September 20, 2023. Respondents' briefs on the merits are to be filed on or before Friday, October 20, 2023. Any reply brief is to be filed in accordance with Rule 25.3.
09/14/2023	Letter of respondents California, Connecticut and Oregon notifying the Clerk that they will not be filing or joining a brief on the merits filed.
09/20/2023	Brief of petitioner William K. Harrington, United States Trustee, Region 2 filed.
09/20/2023	Joint appendix (Volume 1) filed. (Statement of cost for 2 vols. filed.)
09/20/2023	Joint appendix (Volume 2) filed.
09/20/2023	Brief of respondent Ellen Isaacs, on behalf of Patrick Ryan Wroblewski, in support filed.
09/20/2023	Brief of respondents City of Grande Prairie, as representative plaintiff for a class consisting of all Canadian municipalities, et al., in support filed.
09/21/2023	Brief amici curiae of The Honorable Eugene Wedoff (Ret.), et al. filed.
09/26/2023	Brief amici curiae of Martin J. Bienenstock, et al. filed.
09/27/2023	Brief amici curiae of NexPoint Advisors, L.P., et al. filed.
09/27/2023	Brief amicus curiae of American College of Bankruptcy in support of neither party filed.
09/27/2023	Brief amicus curiae of Insolvency Law Committee of Business Law Section of California Lawyers Association in support of neither party filed.
09/27/2023	Brief amicus curiae of Adam J. Levitin filed.
09/27/2023	Brief amici curiae of The Commercial Law League of America, et al. in support of neither party filed.
09/27/2023	Brief amicus curiae of Kim Harold Peterson filed.
09/27/2023	Brief amicus curiae of Atlantic Basin Refining, Inc. filed.
09/27/2023	Brief amici curiae of Bankruptcy Law Professors Ralph Brubaker, et al. filed.
09/27/2023	Brief amici curiae of "Texas Two-Step" Victims filed.
09/27/2023	Brief amici curiae of Bankruptcy Law Professors (Oct. 4, 2023) filed.
09/27/2023	Brief amicus curiae of Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations filed. (Distributed)
10/12/2023	SET FOR ARGUMENT on Monday, December 4, 2023.
10/16/2023	Record requested from the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
10/18/2023	Complete record on appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit electronically received and available with the Clerk.
10/19/2023	CIRCULATED
10/20/2023	Brief of respondents The Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Purdue Pharma L.P., et al. filed. (Distributed)
10/20/2023	Brief of respondent Multi-State Governmental Entities Group filed. (Distributed)
10/20/2023	Brief of respondents Ad Hoc Group of Individual Victims of Purdue Pharma, L.P., et al. filed. (Distributed)
10/20/2023	Brief of respondents The Ad Hoc Committee of Governmental and Other Contingent Litigation Claimants filed. (Distributed)
10/20/2023	Brief of Debtor Respondents filed. (Distributed)
10/20/2023	Brief of Mortimer-Side Initial Covered Sackler Respondents filed. (Distributed)
10/20/2023	Letter of respondent Raymond Sackler Family filed.
10/23/2023	Brief amici curiae of The Arkansas Opiod Recovery Partnership, The Association of Arkansas Counties, and the Arkansas Municipal League filed. (Distributed)
10/25/2023	Brief amici curiae of The Recovery Advocacy Project, et al. filed. (Distributed)
10/26/2023	Brief amicus curiae of Certain Former Commissioners of the American Bankruptcy Institute's Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11 filed. (Distributed)
10/27/2023	Brief amicus curiae of U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops filed. (Distributed)
10/27/2023	Brief amici curiae of Law Professors filed. (Distributed)
10/27/2023	Brief amici curiae of Boy Scouts of America filed. (Distributed)
10/27/2023	Brief amicus curiae of The Association of the Bar of the City of New York filed. (Distributed)
10/27/2023	Brief amicus curiae of The Association of the Bar of the City of New York filed.
10/27/2023	Brief amici curiae of The Chamber Of Commerce Of The United States Of America, The American Tort Reform Association, The Product Liability Advisory Counsel, Inc., And The National Association Of Manufacturers filed. (Distributed)
10/27/2023	Brief amici curiae of Cheryl Juaire, et al. filed. (Distributed)
10/27/2023	Brief amicus curiae of Ad Hoc Group of Local Councils of the Boy Scouts of America filed. (Distributed)
10/27/2023	Brief amici curiae of Aldrich Pump LLC, Murray Boiler LLC, and Bestwall LLC filed. (Hard copy correction required and received--11/2/23.) (Distributed)
10/27/2023	Brief amicus curiae of Highland Capital Management, L.P. filed. (Distributed)
10/27/2023	Motion for divided argument filed by the debtor respondents and the creditor respondents.
11/06/2023	Motion for divided argument filed by debtor respondents and creditor respondents GRANTED.
11/20/2023	Reply of respondents City of Grand Prairie, et al., in support filed. (Distributed)
11/20/2023	Reply of petitioner filed. (Distributed)
12/04/2023	Argued. For petitioner: Curtis E. Gannon, Deputy Solicitor General, Department of Justice, Washington, D. C. For respondents Purdue Pharma L.P., et al.: Gregory G. Garre, Washington, D. C. For respondents The Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Purdue Pharma L.P., et al.: Pratik A. Shah, Washington, D. C.
06/27/2024	Judgment REVERSED and case REMANDED. Gorsuch, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Thomas, Alito, Barrett, and Jackson, JJ., joined. Kavanaugh, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Roberts, C. J., and Sotomayor and Kagan, JJ., joined.
07/29/2024	Judgment Issued.