Burr & Forman's commitment to the changing needs of lenders and creditors is evidenced by its substantial Creditors' Rights and Bankruptcy practice.
Burr has nearly 50 attorneys concentrating in this area of law, making the firm one of the largest bankruptcy practice groups in the Southeast. This allows individual attorneys the ability to focus on narrow specialties. Our team of attorneys are continuously listed as leading practitioners in Bankruptcy/Restructuring by the highly regarded Chambers USA in addition to the firm being ranked in Alabama, Florida and Georgia.
We have extensive experience in handling distressed mergers and acquisitions (M&A), whether in an out-of-court transaction, a state court receivership, section 363 sale under the Bankruptcy Code, under a plan of reorganization, or in a prepackaged or other enforcement transaction. We work with a distressed company’s management and financial advisors to craft the optimal business-focused solution. Increasingly, we also represent manufacturers who are customers of insolvent entities where the manufacturer must immediately have a unique part made by its sole source, the financially distressed supplier, who is expected to deliver the part on a “just in time” basis.
Members of the Creditors' Rights and Bankruptcy team concentrate on the acquisition, disposition, restructuring, and development of troubled properties. We sometimes install receivers to manage those properties. Additionally, we leverage our firm’s strength in banking to provide financial institutions with counsel in connection with debtor in possession (DIP) financings and exit financings related to distressed M&A. And, we develop, negotiate, and execute reorganization strategies for all types of matters found in the asset resolution section of banks.
We often represent stalking horse buyers and other bidders in bankruptcy 363 sales. The purchase and sale of assets and businesses has developed into a significant component of commercial bankruptcy and insolvency practice. Sellers in distress situations many times utilize a bankruptcy court sale as the best way to conduct an orderly sale process and achieve the best value for their creditors and stakeholders. Similarly, the purchasers of distressed assets appreciate the value and protections afforded in a bankruptcy court blessed asset sale.
For more than three decades, our creditors’ rights attorneys have been actively involved in major bankruptcy proceedings in the Southeast and beyond. Our work began with an emphasis on representing major secured lenders in Chapter 11 bankruptcies but our practice has evolved far beyond its initial role to include representation of business debtors as well. Our substantial experience in this area includes representation of clients in the manufacturing, real estate, health care, agriculture, retail, education, and construction industries. On the creditor side we represent secured creditors, such as financial services institutions, asset-based lenders, and local, regional, and national banks, as well as REITs, equipment sellers, and lessors.
We have extensive experience representing official creditors’ committees, bank debt and ad hoc creditor groups, secured lenders, equity holders, derivative and swap counterparties, and other creditors in out-of-court reorganizations, debt restructurings, enforcement processes, liability management strategies, and bankruptcy proceedings.
