To conduct a dynamic and sophisticated corporate restructuring, bankruptcy or workout, counsel must first work to understand a company’s business goals and objectives. That is the first step we take at Williams Mullen. From there our attorneys apply their decades of experienced insight to provide a thoughtful and constructive approach to address and resolve our client’s critical issues. We pride ourselves on our ability to develop customized, creative solutions to meet a client’s specific need.
Our attorneys regularly assist regional, national and international clients with insolvency-related issues of all types, including corporate restructures, corporate bankruptcies, out-of-court workouts, receiverships, assignments for the benefit of creditors, and creditors’ rights generally. We have experience in various industries including financial, energy, retail, communications, manufacturing, real estate, hospitality, technology and government contracts.
One of the benefits of working with Williams Mullen is our ability to draw on well-earned legal perspectives from across the firm. Our team regularly partners with other practices, including corporate and securities law, finance, real estate, tax, government contracts, government relations, intellectual property and labor and employment.
Financing, Restructuring, Sales, Acquisitions and Workouts
Williams Mullen represents clients in the planning, negotiation and documentation of debt restructurings, liquidation processes, the acquisition of assets and entities, and debt instruments. We represent lenders, landlords, receivers and other court-appointed fiduciaries, issuers and borrowers in a broad variety of restructuring transactions, including senior and mezzanine financings, forbearance agreements, and letter of credit financings. We assist clients in managing risk arising from the sale and acquisition of assets and from the debt of financially distressed businesses, foreclosures and other proceedings.
Bankruptcy
Williams Mullen represents creditors and parties-in-interest in complex bankruptcy cases in jurisdictions across the nation. We regularly represent secured and unsecured creditors, including banks, trustees, committees, trade vendors and landlords in complex reorganization and liquidation matters, and related litigation. We negotiate restructuring support agreements; debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing transactions; liquidation, auction, and sale terms; and plan confirmation matters.
We assist clients preparing for or responding to a borrower’s or customer’s bankruptcy filing, including navigating the intense and compressed demands of modern bankruptcy cases, from analyzing and negotiating debtors’ various requests for relief, understanding complex financing arrangements, and navigating auction processes to providing clarity in complex and rapidly unfolding case dynamics.
Williams Mullen also regularly litigates matters in bankruptcy court on behalf of our clients, including relief from stay motions, prosecuting claims and claim objections, disputes relating to fraudulent conveyances, equitable subordination, debt recharacterization, professional retention and compensation, disputed plan confirmation, substantive consolidation, director and officer liability issues, preference matters, and appeals, among other things.
Foreclosure of Security Interests and Asset Disposition
Williams Mullen represents secured creditors in real estate foreclosure sales and secured party sales under the Uniform Commercial Code. We represent banks, commercial lenders, mortgage companies and institutional lenders in executing deeds of trust through the conduct of foreclosure sales on all forms of commercial and/or residential property. We also advise lenders as to potential real estate title issues that may arise throughout the course of a foreclosure sale, including proper disposition of Federal tax liens and/or mechanic’s liens. Our attorneys also are familiar with alternative methods of real estate collateral disposition, including Deeds in Lieu of Foreclosure, short sales and similar arrangements. We also represent secured creditors with liquidating non-real estate collateral through public or private sales pursuant to Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code.
Creditors’ Rights
Williams Mullen also has extensive experience in the enforcement of creditors’ rights, including representing secured lenders following a borrower’s default, including negotiation of restructuring and forbearance agreements. When those efforts fail, we assist creditor clients with enforcement of their remedies, including post-judgment collection remedies.