Expert Analysis

• A Lender's Guide To Fraud: Safeguarding Collateral

  

  Recent bankruptcies illustrate that lenders should strengthen credit covenants, collateral field exams and third-party verification in order to detect double-pledging, fabricated assets and documentation fraud enabled by artificial intelligence before losses become unrecoverable, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

• Lessons For Banks When A Fintech Partner Fails

  

  Recent fintech bankruptcies highlight best practices for how banks can strengthen third-party oversight, data-access rights, wind-down planning and customer communications to limit regulatory exposure and consumer harm when a fintech partner collapses, say attorneys at Barack Ferrazzano.

• Voyager Ruling Maps Out Ch. 11 Exculpation Lessons

  

  Chapter 11 plan proponents drafting exculpation provisions may benefit from contrasting the exculpatory language recently invalidated by a New York federal court in the Voyager Digital Holdings case with successful recent use of these provisions in confirmed bankruptcy plans, say attorneys at Debevoise.

• Juggling And Unicycling Make Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Because I juggle (sometimes with fire) and ride the unicycle, friends and family used to joke that I should join the circus, but I pursued the practice of law instead and learned that my hobbies benefit my profession in several important ways, says Morgan Eddy at Smith Currie.

• SVB Parent's Claim Loss To FDIC Bears Bond Wording Lesson

  

  A North Carolina federal court’s recent ruling that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., as receiver for the collapsed Silicon Valley Bank, solely owns a $73 million fraud claim illustrates why parent financial institutions should scrutinize joint assured provisions in fidelity bonds to prevent a failed subsidiary's covered losses going to a receiver, say attorneys at McGuireWoods.

• How Subchapter V Bill May Change Restructuring Analysis

  

  While a recently passed Senate bill would expand the pool of businesses eligible to use the streamlined Subchapter V process, its more significant influence may be on how distressed businesses and their lenders evaluate restructuring alternatives long before a bankruptcy petition is filed, says Robert Charbonneau at Agentis.

• Ballet Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  A lifetime of learning and performing ballet taught me that success — whether in dance or practicing law — comes only through hours of thorough preparation, boundless energy and relentless effort, says Sharon Katz-Pearlman at Greenberg Traurig.

• How Jackson Walker Settlement Will Affect Conflict Checks

  

  Jackson Walker's recently filed $15 million settlement with the U.S. Trustee is effectively a contract between one firm and the government that will nevertheless serve as a template of conflict disclosure practices for all firms practicing in the bankruptcy courts, says attorney Ken Rosen.

• How The Uniform ABC Act Reframes The Ch. 11 Choice

  

  In states where the Uniform Assignment for Benefit of Creditors Act has been enacted — now including Delaware — qualifying distressed companies have a lower-cost, bankruptcy alternative that provides fiduciary oversight without invoking the formal Chapter 11 process, says Robert Saunders at Pachulski Stang.

• Taekwondo Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Taekwondo has taught me to recognize when to fight for a position and when to focus on finding a solution, and that the best outcomes are often achieved by solving problems — all of which has improved my work as a bankruptcy lawyer, mediator and Subchapter V trustee, says Amy Denton Mayer at Berger Singerman.

• New Fortress Ch. 15 Adds Fuel To English Restructuring Trend

  

  After New Fortress Energy recently became the third Nasdaq-listed company to successfully undertake an English restructuring plan and gain Chapter 15 recognition, U.S. debtors should not overlook this most recent of English exports as a highly effective tool for resolving balance sheet issues, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

• Early Action Can Benefit Distressed Restaurant Franchisees

  

  As rising costs put increased pressure on restaurants, as evidenced by recent bankruptcy filings by Popeyes, Farmer Boys and Applebees franchisees, distressed businesses should move early to preserve profitable locations, reject uneconomic obligations, manage brand defaults and choose the appropriate restructuring path, says Christopher Caplinger at Kean Miller.

• NY Ch. 7 Ruling Continues Cash Advance Recharacterization

  

  A New York bankruptcy court recently ruled in the Kossoff Chapter 7 proceedings that a merchant cash advance agreement was not a true asset sale, joining a growing number of decisions in concluding that such transactions are disguised loans and therefore subject to avoidance actions, says Schuyler Carroll at Manatt.