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Bankruptcy, Restructuring & Insolvency

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Strategic guidance before, during, and after financial distress.

Financial distress brings legal complexity, operational pressure, competing stakeholder interests, and the prospect of fast-moving litigation. Clients need a strategic partner who can assess risk, protect and enforce rights, develop an early case strategy, and pursue solutions that preserve value. Whether the challenge involves payment or performance defaults, changing fiscal or market circumstances, liquidity constraints, distressed assets, contested claims, or uncertainty about next steps, we provide practical, coordinated guidance and advocacy across restructuring, insolvency, financing, bankruptcy, and related litigation.

HOW WE HELP

Seyfarth’s multidisciplinary Bankruptcy, Restructuring & Insolvency team advises on financial and operational restructurings, debt restructurings, reorganizations, special situations, loan workouts, distressed financings and asset transactions, orderly liquidations, going-concern sales, abrupt closures, and bankruptcy litigation. We represent clients in contested matters and adversary proceedings from the earliest assessment through discovery, trial, and appeal, while also positioning disputes for efficient resolution when appropriate. Our national practice handles complex and multijurisdictional matters across industries, courts, and stakeholder perspectives.

We represent stakeholders across the restructuring landscape, from creditors, debtors, lenders, and borrowers to investors, trustees, committees, insurers, boards, management teams, and private equity sponsors. Drawing on integrated transactional and litigation experience, we develop practical, creative strategies for complex special situations and disputes, including contested restructurings, operational challenges, nonperforming units, liquidity constraints, strained supplier and vendor relationships, hostile shareholders, insider fraud or misconduct, and assets frozen because of compliance violations.

Our attorneys bring experience in bankruptcy litigation, commercial and consumer finance litigation, distressed transactions, creditor and debtor matters, and bankruptcy opinions. We appear in federal bankruptcy and district courts nationwide, as well as state courts and appellate forums, and draw on knowledge of federal law, local procedural rules, and the practical considerations that shape litigation in distressed situations. We also collaborate with colleagues across Seyfarth’s Real Estate, Corporate Finance, Mergers and Acquisitions, Environmental, Labor and Employment, and Litigation practices to address the full range of issues that can accompany a restructuring, insolvency, or bankruptcy-related dispute.

OUR SERVICES

Financial, corporate, and operational restructurings. We advise on debt restructurings, financial and business reorganizations, loan workouts, liquidity constraints, operational challenges, nonperforming units, supplier and vendor issues, shareholder disputes, misconduct, and assets frozen because of compliance violations. Our team helps clients evaluate financing and restructuring options and develop plans to protect value and support business viability.

Bankruptcy proceedings, contested matters, and adversary litigation. We represent clients in voluntary and involuntary cases and in Chapter 7, 9, 11, and 15 matters, including reorganizations and liquidations. We prosecute and defend contested matters and adversary proceedings involving involuntary petitions, claims allowance and priority, plan confirmation and objections, contested asset sales, settlement approval, stay relief, avoidance, preference, and fraudulent-transfer claims, discharge and dischargeability, equitable subordination, lender liability, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, and other bankruptcy-related claims and remedies. Our litigators develop strategy from pre-suit investigation and emergency relief through discovery, dispositive motions, evidentiary hearings, trial, and appeal in bankruptcy, federal, and state courts.

Creditor rights, debtor relations, and workouts. We counsel lenders, creditors, debtors, and other stakeholders on defaults, workouts, enforcement strategies, insolvency issues, and the impact of debtor-creditor matters on operations and long-term viability. When disputes arise, we pursue and defend claims involving contract rights, collateral, guarantees, priorities, remedies, and recovery strategies. Our work includes creditor rights actions, complex commercial and multistate foreclosures, receiverships, non-real estate receiverships, and assignments for the benefit of creditors.

Distressed real estate and servicing. We represent borrowers, sponsors, and lenders in the purchase and sale of nonperforming mortgage loans and promissory notes, loan servicing, real estate and loan acquisitions, workouts, and litigation across asset classes. We coordinate with Seyfarth’s Real Estate and Servicing & Special Servicing practices on securitization, tax, securities law, defeasance, loan assumptions, and related issues.

Distressed transactions and asset sales. We assist asset purchasers and other parties in distressed transactions in and out of court, negotiating terms and facilitating the transfer of property rights. Our experience includes sales under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code and Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code, going-concern sales, orderly liquidations, and transactions designed to preserve investment value.

Trustee, board, and constituency representation. We work with trustees across bankruptcy matters and advise clients who have been appointed as trustees or are considering serving in that role. We also counsel boards of directors and creditor constituencies on insolvency, credit risk, and restructuring-related duties.

Insolvency proceedings and proactive counseling. We handle insolvency proceedings, including SEC receiverships and insurance company insolvencies. We also help clients avoid insolvency where possible, maximize recovery, protect against clawback litigation, and enforce rights when dealing with financially distressed or insolvent companies.

THE SEYFARTH EXPERIENCE

We recognize that each distressed situation is different. We work with clients to define scope, establish expectations, and promote transparency and predictability. Regular review meetings, document reviews, and process assessments help identify opportunities to streamline work, address security and enforcement concerns, and improve efficiency.

Known for delivering tailored and creative solutions, we protect and enforce clients’ rights in and out of the courtroom. Our attorneys combine bankruptcy fluency with disciplined case strategy, persuasive advocacy, and practical judgment about when to litigate, negotiate, or pursue an alternative path. We invest in long-term relationships with our clients and build solutions designed to support enduring success. Our cross-disciplinary model brings together transactional, litigation, real estate, finance, and employment experience to help clients manage complex stakeholder dynamics and pursue durable outcomes.