Supreme Court Accepts New Bankruptcy case

It's actually a pair of cases:  Travelers Indemnity Co. v. Bailey and Common Law Settlement Counsel v. Bailey.  The cases arise out of the Johns-Manville asbestos cases.  The issue is whether new lawsuits being filed by claimants directly against insurers are barred by the Plan of Reorganization and a subsequent settlement between the insurers and claimants.  Some claimants did not agree to the settlement but the bankruptcy court and a federal District Court made clear that the lawsuit ban in the 1986 reorganization plan did apply to such lawsuits — present and future — against Travelers.  Those rulings were reversed by the circuit court of appeals saying that the bankruptcy court did not have jurisdiction in 1986 to stop the lawsuits directly against the insurers.

A complete summary can be found on Scotusblog.com