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Party City receives approval to exit bankruptcy

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By The Indianapolis Business Journal

INDIANAPOLIS — Party City on Wednesday received court approval to exit bankruptcy and emerge with a leaner balance sheet, avoiding the fate of retail peers who stumbled in Chapter 11 and ceased operations.

The New Jersey-based retailer is set to hand ownership of the company to lenders and reduce its debt load by some $1 billion, according to court papers. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David R. Jones on Wednesday said he would approve the company’s restructuring plan.

“This plan sets the company up for success going forward,” Ken Ziman, an attorney for the company, said during the hearing. “And most important, your honor, this is a plan that preserves thousands of jobs.”

As part of the Chapter 11 process, the company closed more than 60 stores across the country, but was able to keep the vast majority of its more than 700 stores open, according to court papers. “It wasn’t a wholesale exiting of lease locations,” said Ziman.

Party City has three stores in Indianapolis: at 8703 Hardegan St. on the south side 10537 E. Washington St. on the east side and 3622 Bethany Road on the

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Party City to Emerge from Bankruptcy with Most Stores Intact

A bankruptcy judge in the Southern District of Texas has approved Party City’s plan to emerge from bankruptcy, multiple sources report. The plan, which will cancel $1 billion in company debt, will enable Party City to close just a “handful” of its nearly 800 stores and save thousands of jobs, Party City attorney Ken Ziman said at a court hearing in Houston, as reported by Reuters.

Ownership of the company will be turned over to the retailer’s current lenders, but the deal will wipe out individual shareholders. “The math is what the math is,” U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David Jones told a shareholder who spoke up at the hearing per Reuters. “It’s one of those things where there simply is not an alternative.”

Under the plan, $1 billion in pre-petition debt will be converted into equity shares, and Party City will receive a new $562 million loan from its existing lenders. The company also will raise additional cash by selling $75 million in new equity shares.

Party City’s junior creditors, including unpaid trade vendors, will receive $3.5 million in cash plus Party City’s share of a $5.6 billion class action settlement related to credit card payment

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Endorsement: Hydee Feldstein Soto for Los Angeles city attorney

For their next city attorney, Los Angeles voters will choose between two outsiders with very different legal backgrounds and different ideas of how to serve as the city’s lawyer.

Neither Faisal Gill, who took the lead in the June primary, nor second-place finisher Hydee Feldstein Soto have worked in City Hall or held political office in Los Angeles. That’s somewhat unusual. The city attorney’s office has often been seen by politicians as another rung on the ladder to higher office, including mayor, even though it’s an underappreciated and often-misunderstood position.

In the primary, we recommended Feldstein Soto as the best candidate because she would bring deep legal expertise and independence to the job. And we still think she is the right choice in the Nov. 8 general election.

Feldstein Soto was a partner in corporate law firms with specialties in bankruptcy and acquisitions. It was complex work that required collaboration and problem-solving to finalize deals, which is good training for city government. She managed teams of lawyers with different specialties, much like the city attorney’s office of 500-plus lawyers.

Unlike the county’s district attorney, which is primarily a prosecutorial role, the city attorney wears many hats that require

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What NYC’s Pay Transparency Law and Its Delayed Implementation Mean

​Despite delays and uncertainty about its implementation, one thing is for certain about New York City’s new pay transparency law: A lot of lawyers are going to get paid exploring it and its fluid, dynamic nature.

Earlier this year, the city enacted a law that requires employers to list the salary range in any job advertisement. Then, just as the law was about to go into effect in May, the city delayed its implementation to November with new amendments. This delay was implemented in part to allow both advocates of the law and those with concerns to continue discussing how this law can work in practice. 

The reason? The original version of the law left some terms undefined—including key ones for a law like this, such as “advertising” and “salary”—and the law was unclear on how hourly workers would be affected.

The May amendment signed by Mayor Eric Adams clarifies a few issues. There is now no financial penalty for a first violation if the employer resolves it within 30 days. And the law now specifically applies only to jobs that are performed at least in part within the city.

It’s likely that the mayor will sign another amendment

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Attorney from Philippines killed in ‘random’ shooting in Philadelphia

June 20 (UPI) — A government attorney for the Philippines was shot and killed while traveling in an Uber to the Philadelphia airport, authorities and officials said.

Elmer Cato, the consulate general for the Philippines in New York, confirmed via Twitter on Sunday that attorney John Albert Laylo was a victim of a “random shooting incident” in Philadelphia a day prior.

Police laylo-shot-killed-filipino-lawyer-philippines-university-city-philadelphia/”said Laylo and his mother, Leah Bustamante Laylo, were traveling early Saturday in an Uber from University City to Philadelphia International Airport when shots were fired into the vehicle.

A preliminary investigation has revealed that the pair, who were returning home following a trip to the United States, were stopped at a red light when a black car, possibly a Nissan Maxima, drove up behind the Uber and a shooter opened fire. The car then pulled up alongside the Uber and more shots were fired, police said.

Laylo was shot in the back of the head and responding officers transported him to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center,uber/3275607/”NBC Philadelphia reported.

Cato said Laylo was put on life support, but authorities later said he was pronounced dead at 10:33 a.m. Sunday.

The cause of

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