In its petition, GM said the federal bankruptcy code permits a purchaser, in this case a newly formed company, to obtain a debtor’s rapidly deteriorating assets and be “free and clear” of its liabilities.  (Reuters) - General Motors Co (GM.N) on Tuesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn an appellate court’s ruling that the automaker’s 2009 bankruptcy does not shield it from lawsuits over a faulty ignition switch linked to 124 deaths and 275 injuries. “The Court should grant review.” 
 
 The case related to an ignition switch that could slip out of place, causing engines to stall and cutting power to the brake, steering and air bag systems. GM has already paid out about $2 billion in criminal and civil claims since the flaw was made public more than two years ago, but since the defect includes cars manufactured as far back as 2000, many of the injuries occurred prior to GM’s 2009 reorganization. The 2nd Circuit appeal stemmed from a 2015 decision from the judge who oversaw GM’s 2009 bankruptcy, which created “New GM” to contain valuable assets while leaving behind most of its burdensome liabilities with “Old GM.” 
 
 U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Gerber, now retired, ruled in 2015 that New GM was shielded from liability over Old GM’s pre-bankruptcy actions, but he allowed some “independent” claims based solely on New GM’s conduct to proceed. GM said that if the July 2016 ruling by the 2nd U.S. Advertisement: 
 
 "This case presents exceptionally important questions, and the Second Circuit's answers were exceptionally wrong," GM's lawyers said in the petition obtained by Reuters. The three-judge panel at that time held that barring plaintiffs from suing GM over the faulty switch would violate their constitutional rights to due process, since they had not been notified of the defect prior to GM’s bankruptcy. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York was left standing, it would undermine a key component of its corporate rescue and make future such deals more difficult.
– General Motors has been cruising along since 1908, but the automaker recently decided it would rather celebrate another birthday: July 10, 2009, making it just a tad over seven years old instead of 108. And the reason GM picked that specific date: That was the day it was "born again" as a new company in a bankruptcy reorganization, a fact it now hopes will get it out of further lawsuits for its ignition switch debacle, the Wall Street Journal reports. The company made the request via a petition Tuesday to use this shield in what Salon is calling a "Hail Mary pass" to the US Supreme Court, asking the high court to overturn an appellate court's decision that the company is fair game for legal complaints against it, even if they were from before 2009. The faulty switches caused 124 deaths and at least 275 injuries, Reuters reports. GM's main argument is that in 2009 it initiated a "363 Sale," a bankruptcy reorg that allowed a company to scoop up a debtor's assets and then be "free and clear" of all that debtor's liabilities. But GM effectively "bought" itself —"General Motors Corporation" moved its assets to the newly organized "General Motors Company"—and a Harvard Law School expert in corporate bankruptcy says this facet of the law is meant to protect third-party buyers, not a company like GM in this case. "It was General Motors selling to a reorganized version of itself," he says. "The factories were the same, the employees were the same." The Journal notes unblocked lawsuits could translate to "billions of dollars" in claims; GM has already paid up around $2 billion in settlements and penalties tied to the ignition switches. The Supreme Court is expected to address the issue next year.