Plain-English summary
Court holds §363(m) is not jurisdictional and does not automatically block appeals of unstayed sale orders
The Court unanimously held that 11 U.S.C. §363(m) — a provision limiting the effect of successful appeals from bankruptcy court sales or leases — is not a jurisdictional bar to appellate review. The case was vacated and remanded to the lower courts for further consideration under ordinary (nonjurisdictional) rules.
Why this matters
This decision clarifies that appellate courts can hear challenges to bankruptcy sale orders even when the sale was not stayed, and that §363(m) governs what remedy the court may grant rather than barring review entirely. That affects how and when unsuccessful parties in bankruptcy sales must act (for example, seeking stays) and preserves judicial review of contested bankruptcy sales.
Who may feel it
- Buyers of assets in bankruptcy sales (purchasers at bankruptcy auctions)
- Sellers and debtors in bankruptcy cases
- Unsecured and secured creditors objecting to sales
- Bankruptcy and appellate courts and litigants in bankruptcy appeals
- Commercial landlords and parties to distressed-asset transactions