A company’s financial distress challenges all of its relationships, including lenders, landlords, investors and vendors. Creditors need clear guidance and practical advice to obtain the best outcome in a distressed situation, where time is tight and resources are scarce.
Kelley Drye’s bankruptcy team represents individual creditors, creditor committees, landlords, financial institutions and indenture trustees in out-of-court and court-supervised insolvency proceedings throughout the U.S. and foreign jurisdictions, crafting solutions in a variety of industries, including retail, energy, financial services, gaming, telecommunications, manufacturing, technology, chemical and steel.
We put ourselves in our clients’ shoes to understand their business objectives and develop tailor-made strategies to maximize recovery, minimize exposure and achieve successful results. Although building consensus and negotiating practical solutions generates substantial savings, when necessary to advance our clients’ goals, we are always prepared to aggressively litigate the most complex bankruptcy disputes.
Our clients tell us that one of our greatest strengths is clear, direct communication with them and other stakeholders. This allows us to set clear priorities, bring together diverse constituents and implement creative solutions to disputes that often arise in sophisticated restructurings. Drawing on our colleagues in litigation, corporate, securities, real estate and tax, we provide a comprehensive, business focused approach to restructuring matters.
Clients turn to us time and again to guide them through all types of challenging insolvency matters. Representative clients include:
- Creditors’ Committees. We are nationally recognized for our representation of official creditor committees in numerous industries, including retail, technology, food and beverage, energy, telecommunications and manufacturing. Our recent creditor committee engagements include: CEC Entertainment (food/beverage), NPC International (food/beverage), Medley (financial), In-Shape (consumer), BH Cosmetics (consumer), APDI (automotive), GT Advanced Technologies (manufacturing), The Collective Group (retail), True Religion (retail).
- Retail Landlords. For almost four decades, our team has represented landlords, owners and developers of shopping centers in virtually every retail bankruptcy case filed across the country. Our team has confronted every issue that arises in a retail bankruptcy. Deep industry expertise and established relationships with liquidators, consultants, asset based lenders and counsel to retail debtors enables us to facilitate prompt resolutions, maximize our clients’ ability to control their real estate and realize value from their transactions. A selection of our recent experience in prominent retail cases includes 24 Hour Fitness, Alex & Ani, Ascena, Belk, Guitar Center, J.C. Penny, L’Occitane, Lord & Taylor, Neiman Marcus, Ruby Tuesday, Sears, Stage Stores and Tailored Brands.
- Indenture Trustees. Indenture trustees turn to us to protect their interests in multi-billion dollar, complex out-of-court restructurings and bankruptcies throughout the U.S. and around the world. We represent indenture trustees in principal chapter 11 proceedings and related litigation across numerous industries. A selection of our indenture trustee representations includes Intelsat (satellite), J.Crew (retail), Hexion (chemical), Orexigen (pharmaceutical), Whiting Petroleum (oil/gas), Caesars Entertainment (gaming/hospitality), iHeart Media (media), James River Coal (mining), Residential Capital (mortgage servicing), and Sears (retail).
- Trade Creditors. Suppliers and service providers rely on us to protect their interests in chapter 11 cases nationwide. From the first sign of distress, we help clients protect their rights under executory contracts, vigorously enforce postpetition payment rights, prosecute prepetition proofs of claim, and defend preference and fraudulent transfer litigation.
- Post-Confirmation. Our attorneys work with post-confirmation trustees and plan administrators to efficiently recover assets, liquidate and reconcile claims, pursue litigation, and distribute recoveries. A selection of our recent post-confirmation work includes NPC International (food/beverage), Entrust (energy), Medley (financial), CEC Entertainment (food/beverage), FTD (retail), OneWeb (satellite), Ascena (retail).