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The Effective Use of Section 363 Sales

When a company is not likely to survive a restructuring, its assets may have value to a third-party buyer. Absent legal protection, a buyer of a financially distressed business will usually be concerned that the company’s creditors could pursue the acquired business on various legal theories, including “successor liability,&rdquo...
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Bankruptcy Round-Up: In The News

Members of the Bankruptcy, Reorganization and Capital Recovery Group at Greenberg Glusker have been turned to for their thought leadership by several news outlets this year. Here is a round-up of our activity thus far: Brian Davidoff was quoted in Law360 in the article " Bankruptcy Cases And Trends...
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Crypto Contagion

Cryptocurrency had a market cap of $10 million in early 2011; it rocketed to nearly $3 trillion in February 2022 and is now down to about $1.1 trillion today. Some of this year's more notable gyrations in crypto's fall from grace include the following:  In May there was a decline of...
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Vulnerability of Customers’ Crypto in Bankruptcy; Is Help on the Way?

The major cryptocurrencies have experienced significant declines in 2022; with the crypto market shedding $2 trillion of its peak $3 trillion market capitalization in November 2021. Amid this “crypto winter,” Terra Luna and its algorithmic stablecoin collapsed, triggering a domino effect of losses and illiquidity throughout the crypto industry...
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Bankruptcy & Restructuring Roundtable Highlights

Bankruptcy – and the restructuring process – are challenging and complex endeavors, requiring a variety of tactics and resolution mechanisms. For the parties involved, financial expectations can be at odds with the reality of the situation, and knowing when to compromise and how best to proceed for your organization’s...
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Announcements from Our Group

Firm News & Upcoming Events
Greenberg Glusker’s Bankruptcy, Reorganization & Capital Recovery Group is excited to share some announcements with our clients and colleagues. Firm News: We’re pleased to announce that Keith Patrick Banner was elevated to partner effective January 1, 2022. Keith focuses on business insolvency and distressed transactions with experience in a...
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Bankruptcy Venue Reform and Upcoming Conference Call to Discuss Proposed Bill

What do the Dodgers, American Apparel, Rubio’s Fish Tacos, California Pizza Kitchen, MGM Studios, and Pacific Sunwear have in common? Each is an iconic Southern California brand. But that’s not all they have in common. According to statistics, over the last 20 years 143 California based companies having over $32 billion in...
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A Decline In Chapter 11 Filings Allows Attorneys to Utilize Their Skills Elsewhere

Due to its relation to the state of the economy, a bankruptcy lawyer’s practice can be highly cyclical – actually, counter-cyclical. In the last 30 years or so we have seen a number of economic downturns – the bankruptcy boom of the late ‘80’s/early ‘90’s; the dot-com bubble of the...
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Purdue portends a change of bankruptcy venue laws

After agreeing to settle some 2,600 separate lawsuits over the company's involvement in fostering the nation's opioid crisis, Stamford-based Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, filed for bankruptcy protection in September 2019 — in White Plains, New York, of all places. After an intensely litigated bankruptcy case over a two-year...
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Why Bankruptcy Venue Reform Matters

Current U.S. bankruptcy law gives companies wide discretion to file a bankruptcy in the venue of their choice. A company can file for bankruptcy in any federal district where it has its “domicile, residence, principal place of business in the United States, or principal assets in the United States&rdquo...
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Bankruptcy & Restructuring - A Roundtable Discussion

Due in large part to the challenges brought on by the pandemic, Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings last year hit the highest level since 2010—a trend expected to continue throughout this year. Bankruptcy and restructuring is complex, full of twists and turns. Yet for all the expense, blame, negotiation, compromise...
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License Rights and Bankruptcy: No “Silver Linings”

The Third Circuit’s decision in Spyglass Media Company v. Cohen has added to what is already a tangled web of cases dealing with the rights of licensees and licensors when one of them becomes a debtor in bankruptcy. In Spyglass , Bruce Cohen, the producer of the acclaimed film...
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Bankruptcy Venue Reform

Late last year, I co-authored an article in the Los Angeles Daily Journal with fellow bankruptcy attorneys Elissa Miller and Zev Schectman on the need for bankruptcy venue reform. Even though we have not seen the onslaught of bankruptcy filings as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the essence...
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Private Retirement Plans as an Asset Protection Tool

After years of hard work and planning, or perhaps through the timely entrance into a fledgling market, your business is thriving.  With day-to-day operations running smoothly, you begin to consider how to best plan ahead to protect your newly-accumulated capital in a landscape of ever-changing consumer taste and hefty...
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SAREs Revisited

Clothing stores, restaurants, gyms and other businesses find themselves in a $52 billion and growing hole of unpaid retail rent that’s been missed since April 2020. According to CoStar Group Inc. TIAA Real Estate Account – run by the giant Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America – noted...
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Top 10 Takeaways: Predictions and Trends for Distressed Assets

On January 26, 2021, I participated in a distressed asset panel at the Dressed for Distressed Forum hosted by Commercial Observer along with Aaron Ratner of Empire State Realty Trust, Michael May of Silverstein Properties, and Robert Verrone of Iron Hound Management Company. Fred Berk of Friedman LLP moderated...
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Webinar Replay: Distressed Transactions

A Panel Discussion at ACG Los Angeles Virtual Conference
Brian Davidoff, Chair of the firm's Bankruptcy Group, moderated the panel "Distressed Transactions" during the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) - Los Angeles' Annual Business Conference. In addition to Brian, the panel featured: Paul L. Kessler, who is the Principal at Bristol Capital Advisors and Cynthia Nelson, who is a Senior...
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When to Consider Acquiring a Distressed Company

Lessons for Health, Beauty & Wellness Companies [Part 3]
In this short, three-part video series, Greenberg Glusker Partners Andrew Apfelberg and Brian Davidoff discuss important financial considerations for health, beauty and wellness companies in the wake of a pandemic. Part three looks at when to consider acquiring a distressed company, including the options on the table, the risks...
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What Options Exist for a Vendor During Bankruptcy

Lessons for Health, Beauty & Wellness Companies [Part 2]
In this short, three-part video series, Greenberg Glusker Partners Andrew Apfelberg and Brian Davidoff discuss important financial considerations for health, beauty and wellness companies in the wake of a pandemic. Part two looks at what options exist for a vendor during bankruptcy, including what a preference is, how to...
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What Steps to Take When Your Buyer is Financially Distressed

Lessons for Health, Beauty & Wellness Companies [Part 1]
In this short, three-part video series, Greenberg Glusker Partners Andrew Apfelberg and Brian Davidoff discuss important financial considerations for health, beauty and wellness companies in the wake of a pandemic. Part one looks at what steps a company can take when their buyer is financially distressed, including warning signs...
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To Ship or Not to Ship: 3 FAQ’s for Creditors Seeking Guidance Before or During a Retail Bankruptcy

COVID-19 has impacted an already shaky retail industry and pushed some of its participants into a rapid-fire series of bankruptcy filings. Although there was already a long list of prominent retail bankruptcies over the past several years prior to “shelter at home” orders – e.g. Toys “R” Us, Gymboree, Payless (twice), Forever 21, Barneys, Brookstone, Sears, Pier 1 (the list goes on) – it is unlikely that we have...
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COVID-19 Uncovered

Last week I posted an article about the difficulty for restructuring professionals to predict the environment into which they are trying to "right size" the companies they are working with. What will the industry look like in 2, 3 and 4 months? How much overhead do you need to...
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Will Hollywood find a special place in a government coronavirus bailout?

Variety asked my views on that recently. I don't think so. While the crisis is evolving on a day-by-day and hour-by-hour basis, I think that any financial relief to Hollywood will be more generic. Every industry that has been hard hit by the virus has its hands out to...
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9 Things for Businesses to Consider During a COVID-19 Cash Crunch

The abrupt mandatory closures of bars, coffee shops, restaurants, fitness centers and essentially any commercial location where people socially congregate has invoked surprise and unease in consumers throughout the country. For business owners, however, such news rises beyond mere concern or nuisance, as it may immediately create a cash...
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Nunc Pro Tunc Anyone?

On February 24, 2020, the United States Supreme Court ruled in a case Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Juan v. Feliciano in connection with removal of a state court matter to Federal court, something that may have a significant effect on bankruptcy practice. The Court stated: "Federal courts may...
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