In a May 4, 2015 opinion1, the United States Supreme Court held that a bankruptcy court order denying confirmation of a chapter 13 repayment plan is not a final order subject to immediate appeal. The Supreme Court found that, in contrast to an order confirming a plan or dismissing a case, an order denying confirmation of a plan neither alters the status quo nor fixes the rights and obligations of the parties. Although the decision arose in the context of a chapter 13 plan, it should apply with equal force to chapter 11 cases.

Background -

Louis Bullard filed for relief under chapter 13 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (a chapter which only applies to individual debtors) and proposed a repayment plan which included a hybrid treatment of his debt to Blue Hills Bank (the “Bank”), bifurcating the debt into a secured claim and an unsecured claim. The plan provided that Bullard eventually would repay the secured claim in full, but would treat the unsecured claim the same as any other unsecured debt. The Bank objected. The Bankruptcy Court declined to confirm the plan, concluding that chapter 13 did not allow Bullard to bifurcate the Bank’s claim as proposed, and ordered Bullard to submit a new plan within 30 days.