Business Restructuring and Insolvency
Overview
Calfee has a sophisticated business restructuring and corporate insolvency practice, with professionals who devote their practices to helping distressed entities, as well as people who are forced to work with distressed entities. We have represented parties engaged in the sale or purchase of distressed assets in Ohio, Delaware, Michigan, Tennessee, Florida, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Texas, California, Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina.
Our direct experience includes representing:
- Debtors (in and out of court)
- Unsecured Creditors’ Committees
- Special Interest Committees
- Trustees (in and out of court)
- Lenders
- Receivers (state and federal)
- Asset Purchasers and Investors
- Buyers and Sellers of Distressed Assets
Our insolvency attorneys have experience representing all of the major constituencies in commercial bankruptcy proceedings and out-of-court workouts. Our clients include large public corporations as well as middle-market businesses, individuals and government. Our effectiveness is enhanced by this breadth of experience and our capability in all aspects of the chapter 11 process.
In addition, we handle matters outside of bankruptcy court. Our transactional attorneys are uniquely qualified to handle the problems and issues associated with representing clients in insolvency related transactions, such as:
- Assignments for the Benefit of Creditors
- Secured Party Sales
- Insurance Insolvencies
- F.D.I.C. Receiverships
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Debt Re-Financings
- Real Estate
- Workout
- Distressed M&A
What We Provide
We spend our time representing debtors, buyers and sellers of distressed assets, lenders, unsecured creditors’ committees and creditors of all kinds. Calfee does not focus its Business Restructuring and Insolvency practice only on one or the other, but rather, we maintain a variety of insolvency related engagements at all times. This provides to us unique insight into how the other side is thinking, giving us and our clients an advantage.
Our goal is to provide effective representation. We view ourselves as part of a restructuring “team,” and our advice is offered in that spirit. We strive to coordinate efforts, taking into account the skills, knowledge and expertise of management and other advisors. We begin and complete all of our advice with one question: What is the exit strategy?
The options for a company requiring a creditors’ rights representation may include something as simple as a phone call and a letter on Calfee’s letterhead. To that end, a client’s needs in a restructuring may include only renegotiation of its secured credit facility, as well as a refinancing of its debt, a debt/equity swap with junior debt, the infusion of a new equity capital or the sale of the business’ assets. Calfee’s Business Restructuring and Insolvency lawyers are prepared to recommend routine solutions when possible, but can also deliver strong advocacy skills when solutions become more complex. Our approach is coordinated with the client, so as to maximize the results, case by case, with the exit strategy in mind.
Our Support
Calfee is a full-service law firm with deep core competencies in all areas relevant to Business Restructuring and Insolvency services. We constantly draw on other members of the Firm to help our clients meet their goals.
This includes:
- Receiverships. Receiverships are on the rise as a cost-effective alternative to bankruptcy. Our insolvency lawyers and litigators have experience in federal and state court receivership proceedings; whether representing asset lenders, receivers or property owners.
- Banking/Secured Transactions. Our commercial lawyers prepare debtors-in-possession credit agreements and related orders. They also investigate liens held by secured creditors in bankruptcy cases. When representing lenders, we have experience in all aspects of troubled company financing.
- Mergers and Acquisitions.Our M&A expertise allows us to develop deep understanding of asset sales in chapter 11 cases, a more and more common “exit strategy” for debtors.
- Creditor Trusts. Calfee has a strong liquidating creditor trust practice. Creditor Trusts are an increasingly used structure to collect and hold non-liquid assets and distribute them over time to unsecured creditors.
- Commercial Litigation. We are able to draw on a very experienced core of trial lawyers and dedicated bankruptcy litigators to assist our clients with all of their litigation needs. Our litigators have experience with preference and other avoidance actions, evidentiary and contested hearings, and all other aspects of insolvency-related litigation.
- Other Areas. Other practices that we have coordinated with to benefit our clients are: general corporate (debtor corporate governance issues); government relations (lobbying for recovery of assets assigned to a creditor trust); environmental (analyzing asset value in light of environmental issues); real estate; pension and other employee benefits; and insurance.
If you hire Calfee as business restructuring counsel, you will receive excellent technical legal advice blended with creative thinking designed to meet your business objectives. We look forward to the chance to work with you.
