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17 III. BANKRUPTCY COURT PROCEDURES A. Standing in Bankruptcy Standing refers generally to the ability of a party to appear and be heard in a particular case or proceeding. At least in the Chapter 11 context, in order for an individual or entity to have standing, such individual or entity must be a "party in interest" in the bankruptcy proceeding. 11 U.S.C. § 1109(b). This means that such individual or entity must have a direct financial or legal stake in the outcome of the case or be the representative of such an individual or entity. In re Johns-Manville Corp., 36 B.R. 743 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 1984); see In re Overview Equities Inc., 240 B.R. 683 (Bankr. E.D.N.Y. 1999). As set forth in Section 1109(b), examples of parties in interest include the debtor, trustee or debtor- in-possession, creditors' committee, creditor, equity security holder and indenture trustee. In addition, the U.S. Trustee also has standing to be heard on any issue in a bankruptcy case or proceeding. 11 U.S.C. § 307. Although the right to raise issues and be heard in a bankruptcy case is generally broadly interpreted, one category of party to which such right is generally not granted is losing bidders at sale auctions under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code as such parties are not considered to have an economic or legal stake in the outcome. See Austin Assocs. v. Howison (In re Murphy), 288 B.R. 1, 4 (D. Me. 2002). However, prospective bidders at a 363 sale have been permitted to object to bidding procedures. See Kabro Assocs., LLC v. Colony Hill Assocs. (In re Colony Hill Assocs.), 111 F.3d 269, 274 (2d Cir. 1997). B. Disclosure One significant change that occurs upon a bankruptcy filing and may take parties in interest (including the debtor itself) by surprise is the level of openness and disclosure involved in a bankruptcy proceeding. These disclosure requirements apply even if the party in interest was not required to disclose such information under applicable nonbankruptcy law prior to the

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