Monthly Archives: September 2011

On June 23, 2011, the Supreme Court issued an opinion in Stern v. Marshall, the well-known case involving the estate of former model Vickie Lynn Marshall (more famously known as Anna Nicole Smith) and the estate of her late husband, wealthy oil magnate J. Howard Marshall. The decision, which was written by Chief Justice Roberts, held that a bankruptcy court, as a non-Article III court, lacked constitutional authority to issue a final judgment on state law counterclaims by a debtor against a claimant notwithstanding that the Bankruptcy Code specified that all counterclaims of a debtor were within the “core” jurisdiction of the bankruptcy court. For an in depth analysis of the decision, please refer to Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP’s Client & Friends Memo “Stern v. Marshall: How Big Is It?” published July 14, 2011.

Although the decision may have wide-ranging implications on bankruptcy jurisdiction, the nature and extent of its impact are not yet clear. Chief Justice Roberts’ opinion notes that the question it addresses is “a ‘narrow’ one,” and it will be interesting to see how lower courts apply the ruling to the facts of various cases as they arise. As a service to our readers, Cadwalader’s Restructuring Review Blog will examine how courts interpret and apply Stern v. Marshall and the resulting impact on the jurisdiction of bankruptcy courts across the country.

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