Public and private corporations seeking to restructure their business and/or finances, including debt and equity financing, routinely turn to Dinsmore. We represent corporate debtors, equity holders, purchasers of assets, bondholders and secured and unsecured creditors, including lenders, trade creditors, lien creditors and creditors’ committees.
Our experience includes representing clients’ interests from the first sign of trouble through bankruptcy proceedings (Chapters 11, 9, 7, 12 and 13) or litigation. Having counseled clients through bankruptcy and restructuring transactions ranging from retailers to manufacturers to municipalities, we tailor our approach to meet each client’s unique needs.
Debtor Representation
On the debtor side, we work closely with the client to minimize disruption to their business, while simultaneously examining and analyzing opportunities to address their financial or operational issues. By becoming true partners with our clients during this process, we help them protect their interests and seek efficient resolutions to their short- and long-term concerns.
Our experience representing debtors includes handling out-of-court workouts by negotiating agreed restructuring terms and pre-arranged bankruptcy proceedings, including negotiating with multiple creditor constituents prior to filing bankruptcy protection in order to minimize disruptions during the Chapter 11 process. We also serve as special counsel to debtors for issues unique to the bankruptcy process and assume a general counsel role to handle all aspects of Chapter 11 proceedings.
- Restructuring Counsel
- Advise board of directors and management throughout the restructuring process
- Refinance debt
- Negotiate new debt or equity financing
- Assist with global restructuring strategy
- Analysis of employment benefit issues including pension plans and retiree medical benefits
- Analyze, strategize and implement labor modifications
- Handle sale of partial or substantially all assets
- Analyze vendor and customer contracts and leases
- Develop litigation strategies
- Develop and implement plans of reorganization
Creditor Representation
A variety of creditors and creditor constituents turn to our team for counsel on creditor issues, including representation through formal bankruptcy proceedings or out-of-court workouts, as well as handling preference and fraudulent conveyance actions. We represent an array of clients, including national, regional and community banks; credit unions; collateral-based lenders; private equity firms; special servicers; property owners; property managers and landlords; receivers and title insurers, in addition to unsecured creditors’ committees. Because we understanding each matter is unique, we approach them in a way that maximizes our client’s recoveries, either through negotiations or litigation.
We handle the following types of matters and issues for creditor clients:
- General Creditors’ Rights
- Lender liability defense
- Actions against borrowers and guarantors
- Writs of execution/writs of possession
- Wage and non-wage garnishments
- Asset depositions and investigations
- Fraudulent transfer investigation and prosecution
- Settlements
- General banking advice (subpoenas, seizures, UCC Articles 3 and 4)
- Bankruptcy (commercial and consumer Chapter 11, 9, 7, 13 or 12)
- Workouts
- Forbearance agreements
- Deeds in lieu of foreclosure
- Loan assumption/modification
- Loan sales and assignments
- Foreclosure/Collateral Actions
- Judicial and non-judicial foreclosures
- Mortgage enforcement and property protection
- Mortgagees in possession
- Enforcement of assignments of leases and/or rents
- Consensual and court-appointed receiverships
- Property management issues
- Real estate, title issues and claims
- Sales and short sales
- UCC Article 9 rights and dispositions
- Replevin
- Mechanic’s lien, judicial lien and tax lien foreclosures and litigation
- OREO sales, property management and eviction
In addition, we represent lenders in distressed commercial real estate matters, with a special focus on the commercial mortgage-backed securities market. We have experience with transactions on both the enforcement and workout sides, including foreclosures, receiverships, carve-out claims, discounted payoffs, forbearance and note sales. Our attorneys work with REO departments on leasing and the drafting and negotiation of purchase and sale agreements.