Bankruptcy, Reorganization, Creditor/Debtor Rights, and Troubled Suppliers

We have a leading national restructuring, bankruptcy, and troubled supplier practice.  Our attorneys work at the forefront of addressing legal and business issues resulting from the financial turmoil and tight credit in the automobile industry, including developing strategies to help automotive companies and suppliers reorganize, protect value, and ensure the continuity of supply.

Honigman deals daily with the legal and business issues involved when a client, a customer, or a supplier of a client is faced with a bankruptcy, an insolvency, or a workout situation. Our firm was among the first to represent the interests of purchasers of goods and services from non-performing, financially troubled and bankrupt suppliers. We pioneered strategies and tools that, today, are used widely to maintain the continuity and integrity of the supply chain. Our team has extensive experience representing secured and unsecured creditors, creditors’ committees, trustees, debtors and other interested parties in debtor/creditor relationships. Additionally, we regularly represent investors in acquiring financially troubled companies and purchasing assets from bankrupt entities through bankruptcy sales or novel plans of reorganization.

Our lawyers represent OEMs, Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers, as well as lenders, creditors and investors involved with distressed companies. Our representation of these various constituencies significantly enhances our ability to understand, anticipate, and guide matters, rather than simply react to them. We are nationally recognized for our mature and well-honed skills in bankruptcy and other judicial proceedings, in out-of-court restructuring and liquidations, and in the transactional side of the debtor/creditor practice.

• Extensively represented OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers, including the development of strategies for protection of just-in-time supply of component parts produced by non-performing, financially distressed, or bankrupt suppliers; the negotiation of contracts among suppliers, customers, creditors' committees, and secured creditors; and the maintenance of supply relationships, including negotiating supply contracts, reviewing and drafting purchase order terms and conditions, and providing general advice regarding commercial transactions
• Represented purchasers and sellers of businesses and operating divisions, both in and out of bankruptcy and including both domestic and international corporations with assets throughout the United States and abroad
• Represented manufacturing companies, creditors’ committees, creditors, and lenders in bankruptcy proceedings and out-of-court workouts
• Developed tailored strategies for protecting the supply of goods produced by non-performing, financially distressed and/or bankrupt suppliers
• Negotiated customized contracts among suppliers, customers, creditors, and lenders
• Advised regarding taking of security interests, risks associated with maintaining ongoing relationships with troubled suppliers and ways such risks can be avoided or managed
• Litigated matter regarding the enforcement of rights under purchase orders, supply contracts, and other key agreements, as well as with respect to preference and fraudulent transfer actions
• Represented suppliers and customers in connection with the Michigan's Special Tool Lien Act and Michigan's Molder’s Lien Act