The United States Supreme Court decided a bankruptcy appeal on May 4th that holds that, even though creditors and others aggrieved by the confirmation of a bankruptcy plan can appeal the order confirming the plan as a matter of right, a debtor has no such right to appeal an order denying confirmation. The basic logic employed by the Court is that an order confirming a plan moves the case forward and alters the rights of the parties, whereas an order denying confirmation does neither because the debtor can merely propose another, different plan.
The case is Bullard v. Blue Hills Bank,[1] an appeal from the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts that made its way through the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the First Circuit and the First Circuit Court of Appeals. The unanimous decision was authored by Chief Justice John Roberts.