backKing & Spalding secured a victory for JW Aluminum Company (“JW Aluminum”) in front of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Reversing rulings by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, the Eleventh Circuit held that a 1995 Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan discharged any liability associated with the Coal Industry Retiree Health Benefit Act of 1992 (the “Coal Act”) for JW Aluminum along with U.S. Pipe and Foundry Co. and JW Window Components LLC (the “Co-Defendants”).
King & Spalding assumed the lead role in the Eleventh Circuit appeal, drafted the Eleventh Circuit briefs, and Ashley Parrish argued the case on behalf of JW Aluminum and its Co-Defendants. A panel majority ruled in favor of JW Aluminum and its Co-Defendants, concluding that all of the claims brought by the Trustees for the United Mine Workers of America were discharged as a result of the earlier bankruptcy case. The majority opinion largely adopted the team’s arguments.