BANKRUPTCY PREFERENCE LITIGATION
I recent years, l sui seeki the return of “pref n aw ts ng erenti ” paym ents m ade by bankruptcy al debtors have grow n i nto a l arge, and of ten hi dden, expense f m any com pani or es. The Bankruptcy C ode perm i a trustee or debtor i possessi to sue credi ts n on tors to recover certai n paym ents m ade to them duri the 9 0 days precedi a bankruptcy f lng. C om pani that return ng ng ii es pref erenti paym ents generaly recei an unsecured cl m agai the bankruptcy estate, and al l ve ai nst of end up recoveri onl a sm al porti of thei cl m at the concl on of the case. ten ng y l on r ai usi D ebtors’ counsel around the country have begun usi the servi ng ces of sophi cated consul sti tants that speci i i expl ti the pref alze n oi ng erence avoi dance provi ons of the Bankruptcy C ode to si generate revenue f the debtor’ estate. Because the am ount at i or s ssue i each case i of l , n s ten ow and the cl m s ari i courts al over the country, l ai se n l arge com pani of retai l es ten n ocal counsel and are sati i to settl the cl m s f a nom i sf ed e ai or nal di scount bel ow the am ount dem anded. W hen l ooked at i the aggregate how ever, the annual cost to a l n arge com pany of settlng these cases i can qui y add up to m ilons of dolars a year. ckl li l C arl ton Fi ds’ Bankruptcy and C redi el tors’ Ri ghts Practi G roup has devel ce oped a program f or def endi pref ng erence avoi dance cl m s nati ai onw i that has yi ded trem endous resul f our de el ts or clents. The program alow s us to ef i entl handl a l i l f ci y e arge vol e of pref um erence cases and dram ati l reduce the settl ent am ounts. W e utii com puter anal s to revi paym ent and caly em lze ysi ew bilng hi li story and uncover def enses, hel ng to ensure accuracy and reduci expenses. The pi ng hi vol e of cases w e handl alow s us to m i m i def gh um e l ni ze ense costs, and use hi y trai ghl ned paral egal and j or associ s uni ates w henever appropri ate. W e al provi trai ng f our clents’ so de ni or i i n-house l egal staf that enabl them to parti pate i the process and f f es ci n urther reduce outsi de counsel expenses. A recent anal s of our perf ance f one l ysi orm or arge clent reveal that i l than a year C arl i ed n ess ton Fi ds reduced thei average cl m payout f el r ai rom 8 0 % of the dem and am ount to l ess than 5 % , savi the clent over $ 7 m ilon. The f ng i li ees pai to C arl Fi ds duri that peri w ere l d ton el ng od ess than $ 5 0 ,0 0 0 . N ot every clent can expect such dram ati resul but as com pani l i c ts, es ook f or w ays to reduce expenses, C arl Fi ds can hel uncover w hat m ay be an untapped source f ton el p or savi ngs.
Pl ease contact Bob G ibert (5 6 1 -6 5 0 -8 0 0 7 or rgibert@ carl i ds.com ) or Ji Bal nger (5 6 1 .6 5 0 .8 0 2 6 or l l tonf el m di j di bal nger@ carl i ds.com ) n C arl Fi ds’ Bankruptcy and C redi tonf el i ton el tors’ Ri ghts Practi G roup f m ore i orm ati ce or nf on.
W PB# 5 7 8 1 8 5 .1