11 U.S.C. § 1101
Section 1101 · Definitions for this chapter
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 1,197 court decisions — leading case Mitsubishi Motors Corporation v. Soler Chrysler-Plymouth Inc Soler Chrysler-Plymouth Inc (1985)
Most recently applied in Boy Scouts of America and Delaware BSA LLC v. (May 2025)
Applied most in the Third Circuit Circuit (51 decisions)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 11 U.S.C. § 362 · 28 U.S.C. § 157 · 11 U.S.C. § 101
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
In this chapter—
(1) “debtor in possession” means debtor except when a person that has qualified under section 322 of this title is serving as trustee in the case;
(2) “substantial consummation” means—
(A) transfer of all or substantially all of the property proposed by the plan to be transferred;
(B) assumption by the debtor or by the successor to the debtor under the plan of the business or of the management of all or substantially all of the property dealt with by the plan; and
(C) commencement of distribution under the plan.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
This section contains definitions of three terms that are used in chapter 11. Paragraph (1) defines debtor in possession to mean the debtor, except when a trustee who has qualified in serving in the case.
Paragraph (2), derived from section 229a of current law [section 629(a) of former title 11], defines substantial consummation. Substantial consummation of a plan occurs when transfer of all or substantially all of the property proposed by the plan to be transferred is actually transferred; when the debtor (or its successor) has assumed the business of the debtor or the management of all or substantially all of the property dealt with by the plan; and when distribution under the plan has commenced.
Paragraph (3) defines for purposes of Chapter 11 a public company to mean “a debtor who, within 12 months prior to the filing of a petition for relief under this chapter, had outstanding liabilities of $5 million or more, exclusive of liabilities for goods, services, or taxes and not less than 1,000 security holders.” There are, as noted, special safeguards for public investors related to the reorganization of a public company, as so defined.
Both requirements must be met: liabilities, excluding tax obligations and trade liabilities, must be $5 million or more; and (2) the number of holders of securities, debt or equity, or both, must be not less than 1,000. The amount and number are to be determined as of any time within 12 months prior to the filing of the petition for reorganization.