CREDITORS’ RIGHTS, RECEIVERSHIP & FINANCE

Our experience assisting clients with federal and other bankruptcy cases is extensive and includes representation in the following areas:

• First Day Motions and Emergency Relief. Once a bankruptcy is filed, a debtor will file certain work called “first day motions” which range from motions allowing for the employment of the debtor’s counsel, cash collateral, or pay for certain employees on the payroll. Ryan Swanson’s Corporate Bankruptcy, Receivership, & Finance team helps guide clients through this process, which includes litigating these motions. We have also helped with emergency relief in bankruptcy cases.
• Chapter 7: Liquidation (adversary proceedings, non-dischargeability, preference actions, fraudulent transfer actions). A Chapter 7 Liquidation is commonly used when the debtor just wants to shed themselves of certain debts, move on with their life and get a fresh start and a discharge. Our Corporate Bankruptcy, Receivership, & Finance team is fully capable of litigating adversary proceedings and non-dischargeability proceedings. We’ve also litigated preference actions and fraudulent transfer actions. Preference actions are certain payments that debtors may make before they file for bankruptcy, which includes a lookback period where those payments can be retained under certain circumstances.
• Chapter 9: Municipalities.Chapter 9 provides a financially distressed municipality protection from its creditors while it develops and negotiates a plan for adjusting its debts. The City of Detroit was the largest city in the United States to file for Chapter 9 Bankruptcy protection, which also applies to public hospitals and healthcare districts. We have extensive experience representing creditors in healthcare bankruptcies.
• Chapter 11: Reorganization (for corporations and high net-worth individuals). Chapter 11 generally provides for the development of a plan or reorganization to keep a business alive and pay creditors over time. Also included within Chapter 11:
  • 363 Sales: certain assets that are sold through a bankruptcy auction process in a Chapter 11.
  • Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (Subchapter V): a special, more efficient bankruptcy filing that helps small businesses get in and out of bankruptcy more quickly, Subchapter V of the Small Business Reorganization Act includes a temporary increase to the debt limit of up to $7.5 million. This change in debt limit opens the bankruptcy relief process to a whole new business sector with a stripped-down, faster, and less expensive bankruptcy process.
  • Single-asset real estate cases: applies when a lender makes a loan to a borrower who only has one piece of property as their sole asset. It is easier to get relief from stay on single asset real estate cases provided certain requirements are met thereby making it easier to collect.
• Chapter 13: Wage earner plans (limited to contested matters and adversary proceedings). Over the last forty years we have represented banks and financial institutions in thousands of Chapter 13 bankruptcies. This work was a key building block for our corporate bankruptcy practice.
• Chapter 15: Cross border (foreign clients). Chapter 15s are used to enforce foreign bankruptcy orders in the United States. By way of example we have been active in various Chapter 15s originating in Canada, Cayman Islands and Russia.
• Appeals. We have experience from adversary proceedings or other contested matters in which we were already involved.