Debtor/Creditor Rights

Find Babst Calland attorneys in this practice area

The Debtor/Creditor Rights Group draws on a wealth of experience to counsel clients through turbulent times.

Too often, economic difficulties paralyze a business and the inability to make a decision or develop a strategy can make an already bad situation even worse. Businesses may not adequately plan for economic downturns, nor are they always prepared when their customers or suppliers are faced with unanticipated financial hurdles. Babst Calland’s Debtor/Creditor Rights Group is equipped with the experience to counsel clients facing such challenges and to guide them through such times.

A VARIETY OF INTERESTS REPRESENTED

Borrowers and lenders, customers and suppliers, landlords and tenants — all can face financial challenges. Certainly, which side of the relationship you’re on affects your approach to the problem at hand, but Babst Calland’s Debtor/Creditor Rights Group attorneys have been on both the debtor’s and the creditor’s sides of the table. They also have valuable, first-hand experience with the difficulties faced by troubled companies; for example, one of the group’s attorneys served as the in-house general counsel for the Pittsburgh Penguins during the club’s highly publicized bankruptcy proceedings. Our lawyers have participated in bankruptcy cases involving companies from all types of industries including steel, coal, mining, health care, manufacturing, not-for-profit entities, food service, transportation, real estate and construction. The firm’s Debtor/Creditor Rights Group attorneys have provided cost-effective, practical advice to a wide range of clients including:

• Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 Debtors
• Banks and Other Lenders
• Chapter 11 Creditors’ Committees
• Secured and Unsecured Creditors
• Commercial and Residential Landlords
• Court-Appointed Trustees and Receivers
• Governmental and Municipal Bodies
• Equipment and Automobile Lessors
• Insurance Companies
• Title Companies

DIFFICULT ISSUES IN A VARIETY OF SETTINGS

In addition to counseling clients with a variety of interests, our Debtor/Creditor Rights Group attorneys have experience in a variety of settings. That experience includes:

• Strategic planning in anticipation of bankruptcy
• Administering cases under the Bankruptcy Code
• Informal workouts and restructurings
• Acquisition of assets from distressed businesses and Chapter 11 debtors
• Doing business with Chapter 11 debtors, state law receiverships and liquidations
• Counseling successful businesses with their troubled accounts, including defending preferential transfer actions

One of our Debtor/Creditor Rights Group attorneys also has experience as a certified mediator in the Mediation Program of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, a program that has provided additional training and the opportunity to seek creative solutions outside of the normal adversary process.

SPECIFIC MATTERS

Debtor/Creditor Rights Group attorneys have represented clients in a wide variety of matters, including:

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

The reorganization of a distressed company can involve all aspects of the company’s business and many areas of the law, whether from the company’s perspective or from that of a creditor of that distressed company. The attorneys of the Debtor/Creditor Rights Group frequently call on the knowledge and experience of Babst Calland attorneys in other practice groups to address particular issues. For example, Employment and Labor Services Group attorneys have been utilized to counsel debtors in connection with issues under labor contracts in Chapter 11 cases. The attorneys with Business Services Group assist with real estate and financing issues and Litigation Services Group attorneys have provided additional skills in difficult adversary proceedings. The attorneys of Babst Calland have also served as special Environmental Counsel in several high profile Chapter 11 cases.

COMMITMENT AND EXPERIENCE

The attorneys of Babst Calland’s Debtor/Creditor Rights Group have the detailed knowledge and practical experience to guide businesses and individuals through difficult financial situations. While business can sometimes be unpredictable, Babst Calland’s Debtor/Creditor Rights Group is nimble and able to work through the unique challenges facing distressed businesses, their creditors and other stakeholders. The Group’s goal is to provide sound, cost-effective, practical legal advice. Whether you’re ready to move forward with formal bankruptcy proceedings or a non-judicial restructuring, or if you need advice on how to deal with a distressed customer, supplier, borrower, tenant or other business partner, Babst Calland’s Debtor/Creditor Rights Group attorneys are prepared to help with the concerns you identify, and, perhaps more importantly, to identify and help solve issues you may not have yet envisioned.