Postscript on Equitable Mootness

The Third Circuit recently handed down an important equitable mootness decision in an appeal from Chapter 11 reorganization plan confirmation orders, In re Tribune Media Co., 2015 WL 4925923 (3d Cir. Aug. 19, 2015). It held that the first of the two appeals before it was equitably moot because the plan had been “consummated”; the appellant had “spurned the offer of a stay accompanied by a bond”; and “it would be unfair” to unravel “the most important aspect of the overwhelmingly approved plan.” The second appeal, though, was not moot because relief could be granted; third parties would not be harmed; and the reorganization would not be affected if the appeal was heard. In this follow-up article to “Time to Revisit Equitable Mootness,” SRZ partner Michael L. Cook reviews the Third Circuit’s decision, which narrowly accepts the equitable mootness doctrine.