Perkins Coie bankruptcy attorneys regularly counsel corporations in distressed situations and assist them in developing comprehensive restructuring strategies. If filing a petition for bankruptcy is advantageous, Perkins Coie represents its debtor clients in their Chapter 11 cases, from prebankruptcy planning through financing and operations and, ultimately, to plan confirmation.

Perkins Coie attorneys regularly represent secured creditors whose borrowers are in financial distress. These representations often involve workouts and informal debt restructurings, but they may also require representation in bankruptcies, receiverships and other insolvency proceedings. Our lender clients include all of the largest CMBS special servicers, with the entire range of commercial properties as collateral.

Creditors seeking repayment from debtors turn to Perkins Coie attorneys for advice on how to obtain the maximum return on their claims. Perkins Coie attorneys have substantial experience representing official creditor committees formed by the Office of the United States Trustee in nearly every industry, including retail, financial services, health care, travel, technology, manufacturing, energy, airline and electronic commerce. We also represent individual unsecured creditors in bankruptcies and other insolvency proceedings, from filing a proof of claim to monitoring the proceedings and litigating preference and other avoidance actions.

Perkins Coie attorneys frequently represent third parties seeking to buy assets out of a distressed situation, including bankruptcy. Experienced in working with both strategic and financial buyers, as well as debtors and creditors, our attorneys understand the risks associated with these acquisitions and know how to take preemptive measures to mitigate those risks. We have a wealth of experience with stalking horse bidders, bid protections, breakup fees and credit bidding in a sale or plan process. We also know how to develop solutions that give our clients advantages in competing with other bidders. Our attorneys develop novel approaches to solving legal problems relating to acquisitions, such as the effects of foreign insolvency proceedings on intellectual property rights.

Bankruptcy often involves wide-ranging litigation, including claims for breach of fiduciary duty, corporate waste, intellectual property rights, director and officer liability and employment law questions. We can draw on the substantial strength of Perkins Coie’s other practice areas, such as patent prosecution and litigation, insurance coverage, business litigation, labor law, tax and corporate governance in protecting our clients’ rights in litigation.

Our attorneys frequently serve as counsel to trustees in Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 cases. We have significant experience representing trustees in the bankruptcies of law firms, museums, art galleries, real estate developers, retail jewelry chains, telecom companies, outlet stores and numerous other industries.

Perkins Coie attorneys also represent equity holders in all aspects of restructurings and bankruptcy proceedings. We have represented official Chapter 11 equity committees, ad hoc committees, individuals, private equity and venture capital funds, and strategic and family office investors.

Our business practice is nationally recognized for its quality representation of corporate trust companies and the corporate trust departments of major banking institutions serving in the capacity of indenture trustees and agents for publicly issued debt. We have played prominent roles in representing these institutions in the context of bond defaults and issuer bankruptcy cases across the country. Working closely with Perkins Coie corporate trust and litigation attorneys when appropriate, our bankruptcy attorneys provide a rare depth of experience and capability in this area, providing skilled counseling, advice and representation for our corporate trust clients.

Our attorneys regularly represent parties in bankruptcy appeals before federal district courts, bankruptcy appellate panels and circuit courts of appeals. Perkins Coie bankruptcy attorneys also represented the Chapter 11 debtors before the Supreme Court of the United States in the high-profile case RadLAX Gateway Hotel, LLC v. Amalgamated Bank, 132 S. Ct. 2065 (2012), involving a secured creditor’s right to credit bid at the sale of its collateral through a Chapter 11 plan.