Bankruptcy and insolvency can be daunting, even to the most sophisticated individuals. Financial failures happen regularly and our substantial, wide-ranging and hands-on experience in this area enables us to provide sound counsel when they do. In today’s competitive, complex business environment, more companies facing financial and legal challenges are turning to out-of-court restructuring or bankruptcy reorganization as a means to reorganize their businesses.
Recent amendments to the Bankruptcy Code that are intended to streamline this process and the passing of the CARES Act, which raises the debt limit of a company seeking to qualify as a small business to $7,500,000, are expected to result in an increase in these methods of obtaining relief.
Clients count on our ability to negotiate workable agreements pertaining to the restructuring of debt from the perspective of both debtors and creditors, and to effectively minimize their losses. We pride ourselves on our ability to work through difficult issues in a cost effective and professional manner, to resolve contested matters without the need for extensive litigation whenever possible, and to litigate issues to judgment and through appeal when necessary.
While bankruptcy may threaten the viability of one’s business interests, it also offers strategic opportunities. For a lender or creditor, insolvency provides a chance to obtain businesses or specific assets as investments. It grants debtors relief from creditors’ actions and additional time to devise reorganization or orderly liquidation plans.
Debtor and Creditor Perspectives
Our bankruptcy and creditors' rights attorneys have extensive experience representing both debtors and creditors. This experience enables us to understand the perspective, and the competing interests, of all parties involved in all forms of insolvency proceedings. This vantage point enhances our ability to manage diverse client interests.
Broad Creditors' Rights Experience
Our attorneys represent institutional and individual secured and unsecured lenders, investors, mortgagees, venture capitalists, publishers, factors, landlords, credit card companies and processors, sellers, purchasers and employees, among others, as secured and unsecured creditors and parties in interest in small, medium-sized and large cases under Chapters 11, 7 and 15 of the Bankruptcy Code, contested involuntary bankruptcy cases, in "out of court" workouts and in state court insolvency proceedings.
Diverse Insolvency-Related Experience
Our extensive exposure to insolvency cases — in and out of court — has resulted in the creation of a broad base of clientele, including the representation of investors, purchasers of assets in bankruptcy cases, purchasers and sellers of claims in bankruptcy cases, lenders, including those who lend to companies operating as debtors in possession in Chapter 11 cases, boards of directors and members of boards of directors, employees, trustees appointed in Chapter 11 reorganization cases and Chapter 7 liquidation cases and unsecured creditors' committees.
Business Reorganization Experience In A Wide Range Of Industries
Every insolvency matter requires counsel to understand a company's business model, its operations and its financial affairs. It is our business to understand our clients' businesses and/or their individual affairs. When needed, we provide analysis on company operations and management competency, and investigate pre-bankruptcy activities to determine asset recovery probability.
Bankruptcy and Insolvency Litigation Legal Expertise
Our attorneys actively engage in negotiations, but when litigation is unavoidable, we aggressively pursue remedies for debtors and parties in interest in court. We litigate an extensive range of bankruptcy and insolvency-related disputes.
We handle all forms of insolvency-related matters. Our experience includes:
- Automatic stay litigation
- Cash collateral stipulations
- Chapter 7 liquidations
- Chapter 11 sales of assets and businesses
- Collateral liquidation
- Debtor-in-possession financing
- Involuntary petitions
- Litigation involving executory contracts and unexpired leases
- Out-of-court restructuring
- Purchasing of distressed loans and distressed financial assets
- Real estate foreclosures
- Specialized insolvency proceedings
- Utilities and other critical vendors
- Valuation proceedings
Bankruptcy and insolvency affect every industry. Each case has its own set of challenges and unique issues. At Fowler White, we pursue the options that best serve the specific needs of our clients.