Practice Areas & Industries: Roetzel & Andress, A Legal Professional Association

Practice/Industry Group Overview

Our Bankruptcy and Creditors' Rights attorneys at Roetzel & Andress help companies and individuals address the challenges and opportunities that abound in today's credit-driven world. We represent companies across the U.S. that are engaged in a variety of industries, including banking, finance, manufacturing, transportation, distribution, air travel, health care, and retail. Our clients are debtors, creditors, secured creditors, creditors' committees, trustees, real estate lessors, equipment lessors, licensors, licensees, distributors, vendors, customers, and potential purchasers of distressed businesses.

Our attorneys understand the cost / benefit analysis that drives business decisions. We use our experience in commercial transactions to develop customized strategies that protect our clients' rights and help them determine the most appropriate course of action for each situation. We assist clients with implementing business practices and procedures to minimize the risks inherent in obtaining and extending credit, and assist in collection efforts if the credit runs into problems.

We are a debt relief agency. We help people and businesses file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code.

Services Available

REORGANIZATIONS AND LIQUIDATIONS

• Chapter 11 plans and disclosure statements
• Claims litigation
• Creditor Composition Agreements
• Creditors' Committee representation
• Debtors' representation
• Sales of assets and going-concern businesses

BANKRUPTCY AND COMMERCIAL LITIGATION

• Assumption or rejection of executory contracts
• Defense or prosecution of fraudulent transfer actions
• Defense or prosecution of preferential transfer actions
• Dischargeability actions

LOAN DOCUMENTATION AND ADMINISTRATION

• Assignment of claims and collateral
• Debtor-in-possession financing
• Forbearance and workout agreements and restated loan agreements
• Secured transactions

CREDITOR REPRESENTATION

• Cognovit actions
• Creditors' committee representation
• Discovery of assets
• Foreclosures and receiverships
• Reaffirmations
• Replevin actions
• Relief from stay

Representative Matters

• Coordinated an orderly liquidation of a national chain of retail stores
• Convinced a bankruptcy court to allow a British manufacturer to terminate an exclusive distribution agreement with its North American distributor after the distributor went into Chapter 11
• Guided the successful "stalking horse" bidder through the purchase of an electrical transformer business from a Chapter 11 trustee
• Counseled several creditors in the Enron bankruptcy case
• Obtained relief from stay for several secured creditors in various Chapter 11 proceedings
• Counseled insurers that provided product liability coverage to a medical device manufacturer, which later filed Chapter 11
• Represented an equipment lessor in litigation over whether a lease was a true lease or an unperfected secured transaction
• Assisted a Chapter 11 trustee's operation and sale of a printing business, which had several competing secured creditors, as well as labor issues
• Represented the Ohio Department of Insurance and a court-appointed liquidator in concluding the affairs of an insurance company
• Helped a Chapter 7 trustee liquidate a manufactured home dealership business, satisfy the claims of several floor plan financiers, and resolve the claims of over 100 unhappy home buyers
• Served as the Securities Investor Protection Corporation trustee in the liquidation of a securities firm
• Served as a receiver in the liquidation of a used industrial machinery dealer
• Negotiated favorable settlements on preference claims and/or persuaded trustees/debtors to dismiss other such claims
• Negotiated a cash settlement of a guaranty, combined with consent to a receivership for a housing development
• Coordinated the care of and brokered the sale of an MRI unit for the benefit of a secured creditor, after the borrower defaulted and closed the business without arranging to care for the machine
• Successfully mediated a federal lawsuit brought against out-of-state guarantors who originally denied any liability under the guaranties