Cohen Todd Kite & Stanford’s Bankruptcy & Reorganization Practice Group provides innovative and experienced representation in every facet of bankruptcy law for clients ranging from national corporations to small local enterprises. We serve all constituencies – debtors, creditors, creditors’ committees, lenders, and other interested parties. Our attorneys have strong and successful track records in guiding distressed companies through strategies designed to avoid bankruptcy. Where bankruptcy is filed, we regularly represent parties in complex and successful proceedings.
Innovative Alternatives to Bankruptcy
Our Group frequently works with business clients dealing with distressed companies or experiencing financial difficulties themselves. In today’s economic climate, it is more important than ever to provide guidance that will efficiently and effectively address the client’s needs in addressing its own challenges or those of debtor businesses with whom they deal. We have substantial experience in designing strategies and remedies that obtain positive results for our clients and avoid bankruptcy. For example, our attorneys regularly negotiate and devise out-of-court restructurings that utilize recapitalization, acquisitions of debt, refinancing of senior debt, and restructuring of mezzanine and trade debt. Because our Group’s bankruptcy attorneys also have years of experience in commercial finance, corporate law, and litigation, we are well positioned to provide clients with successful solutions to their complex financial problems.
Chapter 11 Representation
Our Bankruptcy & Reorganization Group has extensive experience in all aspects of Chapter 11 cases and in representing debtors, creditors and creditors’ committees. Our attorneys have served as lead counsel and co-counsel for debtors-in-possession and creditors’ committees in large Chapter 11 cases. We have a record of successfully representing various parties in Chapter 11 proceedings – from large publicly held or private companies, to high net worth individual debtors, to the Bankruptcy Trustee in multi-million dollar adversary proceedings. As one example, we represented a publicly held, international manufacturer in a highly successful Chapter 11 case in which creditors were paid in full and a substantial dividend was paid to shareholders. One of our attorneys also has served as a Chapter 11 Trustee, serves on the Board of the National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees (NABT), and chairs the NABT Ethics and Professionalism Committee.
Chapter 7 Proceedings
Our team is equally skilled in Chapter 7 proceedings. One Group member has been a Chapter 7 Trustee in the Southern District of Ohio since 1990, serving on numerous consumer and business liquidation cases. Our attorneys have also served as Counsel for a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Trustee, notably in numerous fraudulent transfer and preference actions arising from a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme.
Bankruptcy Litigation Expertise
Although we are recognized for our innovative strategies to avoid bankruptcy, when bankruptcy is filed, our team is highly experienced and skilled in all phases of bankruptcy litigation. We both defend and prosecute fraudulent transfer and preference litigation, and represent the range of parties to bankruptcy-related litigation. Because bankruptcy litigation often raises legal issues in other areas – Employment Law, Corporate Law, Tax, and Real Estate – our Bankruptcy & Reorganization Team readily utilizes our other Practice Groups’ expertise, where appropriate, to ensure that the client’s best interests are served. This is consistent with Cohen Todd Kite & Stanford’s holistic approach to representing our clients effectively and efficiently.
