The Georgia-Pacific and Johnson & Johnson asbestos cases have tested the boundaries of bankruptcy law, constitutional interpretation and mass tort litigation strategy. This article provides a comprehensive update on both cases, covering the Supreme Court's denial of certiorari in Bestwall to J&J's $5.5 billion MDL settlement. For restructuring, litigation and corporate counsel, this is an indispensable guide to the evolving legal landscape.
As AI startups increasingly seek bankruptcy protection, practitioners face a challenge unique to generative AI: model decay. This article introduces the "Ubik problem" — named for Philip K. Dick's novel where objects regress without constant maintenance — to describe how AI assets deteriorate when severed from training data, compute and engineering talent, and offers strategies for preserving value in restructuring.