In February 2017, Strack and Van Til Supermarkets (SVT) retained the authors’ firm to address liquidity challenges and performance issues. Little did anyone appreciate at the time the severity of the issues the grocery store chain faced or that this case would become such a complex and multifaceted...

Six out of every 10 businesses are experiencing the same or higher levels of losses to online fraud compared with a year ago, according to “The 2018 Global Fraud and Identity Report” from Experian. Fraud was cited as a growing concern by 72 percent of businesses that participated in the study...

In a typical Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, the initial terms of a debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing arrangement likely include a provision granting the DIP lender a lien on the bankruptcy avoidance actions and/or the proceeds of such actions, and one of the first things a committee of unsecured...

“It is a longstanding principle of American law ‘that legislation of Congress, unless a contrary intent appears, is meant to apply only within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States.’” 1 A number of cases involving avoidance actions have been brought against overseas defendants in recent...

Despite the strong stock market performance and the low interest rate environment, financial distress, as measured by the number of Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings, is gradually increasing in both general Chapter 11 and real estate. The exception to this “gradual” increase is in healthcare, which has...

The average duration of large, public company bankruptcies has fallen sharply since the financial crisis. Remarkably, it took just over seven months in 2017 to administer a case. 1 While this trend lowers costs and provides other benefits to the bankruptcy estate, it means that unsecured creditors...

Section 546(e) of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code limits the avoiding powers of trustees and debtors in possession. 1 Often called the “safe harbor provision,” the purpose of the limitations, as expressed in the legislative history accompanying the 1982 amendment that added this provision to the...

I was the state-appointed emergency manager for the City of Lincoln Park, Michigan, from July 2014 to December 2015. Lincoln Park is a built-out inner ring suburb of Detroit with a population of 38,000. It is primarily a low to moderate income residential community with little industry and a modest...

A customer’s bankruptcy often results in a sharp reduction to the value of the receivables owing from the customer. However, in addition to the drop in asset value, there can also be further liability when the bankruptcy trustee later demands the return of a significant amount of money that the...

U.S. Bankruptcy Code Section 363 asset sales have become a favored bankruptcy alternative to the traditional Chapter 11 reorganization. One big reason is perceived cost savings. Because Section 363 sales generally are concluded much sooner than confirmation of a Chapter 11 plan, the associated...