Overview
Calfee has a sophisticated business restructuring and corporate bankruptcy practice, with professionals who devote their practices to helping distressed entities, as well as people who deal with distressed entities. We have represented debtor entities, creditors’ committees and parties engaged in the sale or purchase of distressed assets in Ohio, Delaware, Michigan, Tennessee, Florida, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Texas, California, Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina. Our direct experience includes representing:
- Debtors (in and out of court)
- Unsecured Creditors’ Committees
- Special Interest Committees
- Trustees (in and out of court)
- DIP Lenders
- Receivers
- Asset Purchasers and Investors
Our bankruptcy attorneys are experienced in representing all of the major constituencies in bankruptcy proceedings and out-of-court workouts. Our clients include large public corporations as well as small businesses, individuals and government. Our effectiveness is enhanced by this breadth of experience and our capability in virtually all aspects of the chapter 11 process.
In addition, we handle matters outside of bankruptcy. Our transactional attorneys are uniquely qualified to handle the problems and issues associated with representing clients in insolvency related transactions, such as:
- Assignments for the Benefit of Creditors
- Secured Party Sales
- Insurance Insolvencies
- F.D.I.C. Receiverships
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Debt Re-Financings
- Real Estate
- Workout
What We Provide
We spend our time representing chapter 11 debtors, buyers and sellers of distressed assets, DIP Lenders, unsecured creditors’ committees and creditors of all kinds. Calfee does not focus its Business Restructuring and Bankruptcy practice only on one or the other, but rather, we maintain a variety of insolvency related engagements at all times. This provides to us unique insight into how the other side is thinking, giving us and our clients an advantage.
Our goal is to provide qualified, experienced and effective representation. We view ourselves as part of a restructuring "team," and our advice is offered in that spirit. We strive to coordinate efforts, taking into account the skills, knowledge and expertise of management and other advisors. We begin and complete all of our advice with one question: What is the exit strategy?
The options for a company requiring a creditors’ rights representation may include something as simple as a phone call and a letter on firm letterhead. To that end, a client’s needs in a restructuring may include only renegotiation of its secured credit facility, as well as a refinancing of its debt, a debt/equity swap with junior debt, the infusion of a new equity capital or the sale of the business’ assets. Calfee’s Business Restructuring and Bankruptcy lawyers stand ready to recommend routine solutions when possible, but can also deliver strong advocacy skills when solutions become much more complex. Our approach is coordinated with the client, so as to maximize the results, case by case, with the exit strategy in mind.
We are able to offer our clients the legal expertise and the real-life experience that comes with having advised on dozens of restructurings, as well as a full grasp of the length and breadth of necessary and up to date bankruptcy law.
Our Support
Calfee is a full-service law firm with deep core competencies in all areas relevant to Business Restructuring and Bankruptcy services. We constantly draw on other members of the Firm to assist our clients meet their goals. This includes:
- Commercial Litigation. We have a strong practice we commonly use to assist our clients. For example, we have substantial experience in preferences and other avoidance actions, contested hearings, including on financing matters, stay litigation and other adversary proceedings.
- Banking/Secured Transactions. Our commercial transactions lawyers prepare debtors-in-possession credit agreements and related orders. We also investigate liens held by secured creditors in bankruptcy cases. When representing lenders, we have experience in all aspects of troubled company financing.
- Mergers and Acquisitions. Our M&A expertise allows us to develop deep understanding of asset sales in chapter 11 cases, a more and more common "exit strategy" for debtors.
- Creditor Trusts. We have a strong liquidating creditor trusts practice. Creditor Trusts are an increasingly used structure to collect and hold non-liquid assets and distribute them over time to unsecured creditors.
- Other Areas. Other practices that we have coordinated with to benefit our clients are: general corporate (debtor corporate governance issues); government relations (lobbying for recovery of assets assigned to a creditor trust); environmental (analyzing asset value in light of environmental issues); real estate; pension and other employee benefits; and insurance.
If you hire Calfee as business restructuring counsel, you will receive excellent technical legal advice blended with innovative thinking designed to meet your business objectives. We look forward to the chance to work with you.