Boy Scouts’ Win on Technicality Avoids Bankruptcy Rule Review

The Boy Scouts of America’s victory in a high-stakes federal appeals court challenge over its multibillion-dollar bankruptcy plan and child sex abuse settlement trust hinged on a narrow technicality that drew ire from a concurring judge.

In a majority decision, the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled on May 13 that the Boy Scouts’ Chapter 11 plan is immune from an appeal brought by a small group of abuse claimants who protested the deal’s release of their rights to sue the youth organization’s nonbankrupt network of local councils and scouting activity sponsors.

The legal standard the majority ...