Bankruptcy & Creditor Rights
Overview
Barack Ferrazzano’s Bankruptcy & Creditor Rights Group brings extensive experience in all aspects of business reorganizations and bankruptcies. We have represented secured and unsecured creditors, creditors’ committees, state regulatory agencies, financial institutions, lessors of both real and personal property, asset purchasers in sales under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code, and bondholders’ interests in many cases, including large, complex Chapter 11 cases.
Our team has represented creditors in out-of-court workouts and restructurings and in foreclosure proceedings. We have represented parties in bankruptcies and non-judicial workouts of debtors across a wide variety of industries, including retail, oil and gas, health care, gaming, hospitality, aviation, steel, professional services, financial services including banking institutions, telecommunications, real estate, and technology. We also have represented money center banks based in New York City, Charlotte, Chicago, and Los Angeles in the restructuring of problem loans.
Members of our team have appeared in bankruptcy and district courts and courts of appeal throughout the nation. In recent years, we have served as lead counsel on matters in bankruptcy courts in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, California, Massachusetts, Delaware, New York, Texas, Louisiana, and Florida. We are particularly experienced in litigating complicated preference, fraudulent transfer, and lender liability issues.
Barack Ferrazzano is highly skilled in representing lenders holding debt principally secured by income-producing real estate. Our bankruptcy and real estate attorneys frequently work on these matters together to represent clients involved in restructuring loans secured by leases of apartment complexes, shopping centers, industrial buildings, and office projects. Barack Ferrazzano also has a unique practice representing financial institutions in bankruptcy as creditors, debtors, or purchasers through a Section 363 sale process. In Chapter 11 proceedings, Barack Ferrazzano has represented both owners and creditors of single asset real estate entities and has litigated relief from stay, adequate protection, and plan confirmation issues in such cases.
Our Team
The attorneys comprising Barack Ferrazzano’s Bankruptcy & Creditor Rights Group possess decades of experience across a wide range of industries. We have obtained outstanding recoveries as well as minimized liabilities on behalf of many clients. Our clients value our approach to designing creative strategies with positive outcomes, and our record of success is indicative of our experience, creativity, and diplomacy in such sensitive matters.
Experience
Representative Experience
Regularly counsel automobile manufacturers and importers with respect to dealers that have filed for bankruptcy. These situations often involve sales of dealerships.
Represent bank holding companies in Chapter 11 reorganizations to resolve trust preferred securities (“TRuPS”) and subordinated debt obligations. We also have represented prospective purchasers of a bank holding company’s subsidiary bank in sales conducted under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code. As these situations require extensive bank regulatory knowledge and experience and present complicated tax issues, we work closely with members of the Firm’s Financial Institutions and Tax & Business Planning Groups in developing and executing on a plan to obtain timely regulatory approval of a bank sale and the preservation of a bank’s tax assets.
Have defended hundreds of preference, fraudulent transfer, and turnover actions brought by debtors and trustees.
Presently represent both agents and participants in workouts of $100,000,000+ credit facilities, including facilities secured by aircraft, equity interests in banks, office buildings, and partially developed residential projects.
In 2006-2009, represented two banks in separate cases brought by bankruptcy trustees asserting lender liability and deepening insolvency theories of liability. Succeeded in obtaining dismissal of the deepening insolvency claims and settled other claims for an exchange of releases.
Regularly counsel national retailers on consequences of landlord or supplier bankruptcy.
Presently represent an SEC-appointed receiver of a registered investment adviser in a case involving the embezzlement by a principal of the adviser of over $50 million of client assets. The case has involved the unwinding of investment partnerships and the litigation over the legality of general partner fee structures under partnership law and ERISA.
Representation of Sephora in negotiations with JCPenney regarding their long-standing partnership to operate Sephora inside JCPenney.
Regularly counsel suppliers and service providers to bankrupt companies on reclamation, Section 503(b)(9) claims, post-petition business, and claims selling issues.
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