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>Return to Main Practice Areas
Unsecured Creditors' Committees
Official unsecured creditors' committees are established in most major chapter 11 cases to represent and protect the interests of trade creditors, bondholders, and other holders of unsecured debt. Members of the firm have represented committees in numerous significant cases, including:
Adesta Communications
The firm represented the creditors' committee of Adesta Communications, a fiber-optic network systems integration company with approximately $450 million in debt . A reorganization plan was confirmed within a year of the filing.
Agway
The firm served as counsel to the creditors' committee of unsecured creditors of Agway, Inc., one of the largest agricultural cooperatives in the
America West Airlines
America West, a major, Phoenix-based regional airline, confirmed a consensual plan of reorganization based on a path-breaking strategic alliance with Continental Airlines. Creditors who received stock in the reorganized airline were repaid in full with postpetition interest.
Bugle Boy
The firm represented the creditors' committee in the Bugle Boy Industries bankruptcy case. Bugle Boy was a clothing manufacturer and operated several hundred retail stores throughout the country. Although a distribution to general unsecured creditors seemed unlikely when the cases were filed, a liquidating plan was confirmed in June 2002 that provided for a distribution to creditors.
B.U.M. International
As committee counsel, the firm conceived and confirmed a plan of reorganization for the owner of the world recognized B.U.M. Equipment® mark. The committee plan placed B.U.M.'s assets and operations under the control of a corporation owned 100% by B.U.M.'s unsecured creditors.
Caribbean Petroleum
Caribbean Petroleum Corporation controlled 19% of the retail petroleum market in Puerto Rico through approximately 220 service stations, a 48,000 barrel-per-day refinery, a 2.2 million barrel tank farm, pipelines, and the only privately owned dock and terminal facility in San Juan Harbor. Notwithstanding in excess of $80 million of secured debt, the committee was successful in negotiating a consensual plan that provided for an effective-date distribution of 40% and distributions of an additional 30% over the three-year period following the effective date.
Cimms
Counsel to the creditors' committee of one of the largest Burger King franchisees in the country, with approximately 100 restaurants in California, Washington, Hawaii, Texas, and Virginia.
Country Home Bakers
The firm represented the creditors' committee in the Country Home Bakers case pending in Connecticut bankruptcy court. Country Home Bakers manufactured cookies, cakes, and bread-related products. A liquidating plan was confirmed in June 2004 and creditors are expected to receive more than a 40% distribution on account of their claims.
Crescent Jewelers
Crescent is a leading West Coast-based specialty jewelry chain comprised of 123 stores located in 3 states with scheduled assets of $128 million and liabilities of $164 million. The firm represents the creditor's committee in this ongoing case, which currently features a sale process aimed at both strategic and financial buyers, together with efforts toward a negotiated plan of reorganization.
DAK Industries
The firm served as c ounsel to the creditors' committee of this consumer electronics catalogue company, which had annual sales of over $200 million.
Direct TV Latin America
The firm represented the creditors' committee in this chapter 11 case involving unsecured debt in excess of $2.5 billion. We successfully negotiated a consensual plan of reorganization that was confirmed less than twelve months following the petition date. The plan received the support of holders of in excess of 99% of unsecured claims.
DJK Residential
In these cases pending in the Southern District of New York, involving more than 60 debtors, the firm represented the creditors' committee and assisted it in slowing down the debtors' and secured lenders' attempt to quickly steamroll a prepackaged plan to confirmation, extensively litigating various confirmation and other issues, and ultimately forcing the debtors and lenders to settle on the terms of a reorganization plan. The debtors are leaders in the global relocation industry, providing relocation and moving services.
Empire Beef
In this chapter 11 case, the firm represented the creditors' committee, comprised of meat suppliers, a union, and a trucking company.
Fedco
Counsel to the creditors' committee in the chapter 11 bankruptcy case of Fedco, which operated a chain of general merchandise retail stores in Southern California with annual sales of several hundred million dollars and approximately $150 million of debt as of the petition date.
First Capital Holdings Corporation
A holding company whose insurance subsidiaries were seized by state insurance regulators, the bankruptcy of this multi-billion dollar concern was one of the nation's largest and most complex insurance-related insolvencies. In addition to billions of dollars of contingent and disputed claims, the company had bank and public debt in excess of $400 million. The firm played the lead role in confirming a committee-generated plan of reorganization.
First Executive Corporation
We initiated and confirmed a committee-generated plan of reorganization for this holding company whose principal subsidiaries, including Executive Life Insurance Company, were seized by insurance regulators. The debtor had assets prior to the filing of nearly $20 billion and unsecured debt, including contingent and disputed claims, in the tens of billions of dollars.
Foss Manufacturing
Foss makes non-woven fabrics used in the automotive industry as well as other applications.
Functional Restoration Medical Center
The firm represented the committee in the chapter 11 case of this owner and operator of a chain of MRI centers throughout Southern California. In light of evident management issues, the committee successfully sought the appointment of a chief restructuring officer and thereafter participated in an extensive marketing of the debtor's assets. With the assistance of the committee, the debtor was able to negotiate significant reductions in the secured debt held by various secured creditors. Within three months, the debtor was able to sell its assets at the market's maximum value.
Future Media Productions
Prior to the petition date, this DVD and CD replicator had significantly reduced its labor force and entered into an agreement for the sale of substantially all of its assets. The creditors' committee, represented by the firm, determined that the proposed sale, subject to an auction and certain other restrictions, would maximize the recovery for the general unsecured creditors. The firm was also successful in identifying certain assets of the debtor that could be monetized through litigation, and is currently involved in litigation in an attempt to maximize the recovery for general unsecured creditors.
General Cinemas
At the time of its chapter 11 filing, General Cinemas was the eighth largest theatre chain in North America with approximately 750 screens mostly in the Midwest and Northeast.
Guy F. Atkinson Company
One of the largest construction companies in the United States, with revenue in excess of $450 million in 1996, Atkinson built the Grand Coulee Dam, the United Nations headquarters and the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant.
iLogistix
The firm represents the creditors' committee of Software Logistics Corporation d/b/a iLogistix. Prior to a going-concern sale of its assets in which the committee and the firm played a pivotal role, iLogistix was in the business of providing global supply chain management services to some of the largest technology companies in the world. The committee proposed a plan of liquidation for iLogistix that resulted in substantial recoveries for unsecured creditors.
Irving Tanning
We served as counsel to the official committee of unsecured creditors in the case of Irving Tanning Company , which is engaged in the business of treating and finishing cow hides into leather sold to manufacturers of leather products in the United States and worldwide. At the beginning of the case, the company's secured lender was insisting on a liquidation, and opposed the debtor's request to use cash collateral. The committee uncovered a potential claim against the secured lender and otherwise sought to resist efforts to liquidate the company. Ultimately, an orderly process for selling or reorganizing the company was established that resulted in a confirmed plan of reorganization funded by a financial buyer for the company, thereby sparing it from outright liquidation.
Key3Media
We represented the official committee of unsecured creditors in negotiating a restructuring of over $100 million of secured debt and $290 million of bond debt, all of which was accomplished in approximately four months.
Keys Fitness and Keys Backyard
We represent the committee in Keys Fitness, a designer and manufacturer of exercise and fitness equipment such as weightlifting equipment, treadmills, elliptical machines, and home gym weight machines, which sells its products through over 3,000 retailers, including some of America's largest retailers such as Costco, Wal-Mart, Amazon.com, and Home Depot. Keys Backyard, a sister corporation, was a spa manufacturing business that had sold substantially all of its assets before the bankruptcy filing in Texas.
Loews Cineplex Entertainment
Loews is the nation's second largest film-distribution company with over 3,500 screens and revenues exceeding $1 billion.
Lynx Golf
Lynx was a well-known manufacturer of high-end golf clubs and related equipment. The committee actively participated in negotiations of a "new value" plan with the company's equity holders, which is expected to generate a return to general unsecured creditors of approximately 55%.
Mariner Post-Acute Network
The firm represented the creditors' committee in the bankruptcy case of Mariner Post-Acute Network and its affiliated debtors. In this case involving one of the nation's largest operators of skilled nursing facilities, the firm successfully negotiated for a distribution to general unsecured creditors in a case where no such distribution was expected.
Mercury Plastics
The firm represented the committee in the chapter 11 case of Mercury Plastics in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California. Through the Firm's efforts, the committee negotiated a consensual plan with the debtor's principals and outside investors that resulted in an 80% distribution to general unsecured creditors on the effective date of the plan.
Metricom
The firm represented the creditors' committee of Metricom, a wireless modem-based internet access provider with more than 60,000 subscribers in 13 markets nationwide. The committee directed the liquidation of the debtor's assets.
Northpoint Communications
The firm represents the committee for Northpoint, a nationwide provider of DSL internet services to 100,000 subscribers, with unsecured debt exceeding $520 million. The company's assets were sold to AT&T for $135 million.
Organized Living
The firm represents the committee in this case, which involves twenty-six retail stores selling products designed for organizing the home and office.
Orange County
A member of the firm served as counsel to the master unsecured creditors' committee in the county's chapter 9 case and played an active role in Sacramento in formulating, negotiating, and supporting passage of the county's pivotal recovery legislation.
Pannell Kerr Forster
This national accounting firm had over thirty offices, and liquidated and contingent liabilities in excess of $800 million. The firm's efforts resulted in post-confirmation injunctive relief through a novel theory integrating a class-action suit against the former partners with the plan of reorganization, and which resulted in a published decision: In re Madison Associates, 183 B.R. 206 (Bankr. C.D. Cal. 1995).
Pennsylvania Fashions
As counsel to the creditors' committee, we uncovered litigation claims conveyed to a liquidating trust. Upon confirmation, the proceeds of the trust, together with a cash distribution from the reorganized debtor, yielded a 25 percent recovery for a position considered to be "under water" from the outset, as evidenced by the secured lenders recovering nothing on their large deficiency claim. The firm was awarded a bonus for the extraordinary result achieved.
Piknik Products Company
We were counsel to the creditors' committee in this chapter 11 bankruptcy case in Alabama. Piknik was a manufacturer and packager of condiments and beverages. As counsel to the committee, we participated in several successful asset sales for the debtor's bottling and condiment equipment, as well as the real property where its beverage operations took place. We successfully negotiated a liquidation plan with the debtor and other creditor constituencies.
Pizza Time Theaters
Pizza Time, aka Chuck-E-Cheese, operates a national chain of theme pizza restaurants and associated video-game parlors. The committee, represented by the firm, was instrumental in obtaining "consensual" confirmation of the debtor's plan of reorganization by aggressive pursuit of a competing plan of reorganization that offered substantially less to subordinated debentures holders.
Powerplant Maintenance Specialists
The firm represented the creditors' committee in this case where the debtor was a general contractor that refurbished power plants. Through a combination of litigation and negotiation by the firm, the anticipated distribution to creditors is currently estimated at 40 to 50%, significantly higher than expected at the beginning of the case.
Price Oil
Price Oil and its affiliates supply gasoline fuel to approximately 100 convenience store owners and operators throughout Alabama and the Florida panhandle. Although the debtors' secured lender has asserted first priority liens in substantially all of the debtors' assets and its claims are significantly undersecured, the Firm, as counsel to the creditors' committee, was successful in negotiating a global settlement by and among the lender, the debtors, major fuel supply companies, and other parties in interest. If the bankruptcy court approves the plan, unsecured creditors will receive a substantial recovery and other consideration, funded by the proceeds of the sale of the debtors' fuel contracts and other distribution assets,
Qintex Entertainment
This television production and distribution company and its related entities faced unsecured debt totalling more than $100 million. We participated in a successful asset sale and negotiated a complex consensual plan of reorganization.
Sega Gameworks
We are counsel to the creditors' committee in the chapter 11 bankruptcy case of Sega Gameworks, currently pending in Los Angeles bankruptcy court. Gameworks was formed in 1986 as a joint venture among SEGA Enterprises, DreamWorks SKG, and Universal Studios, and is headquartered in Glendale, California. The enterprise includes fourteen full-scale location-based entertainment centers and four traditional video arcades.
SeraCare
The firm is counsel to the creditors' committee in this chapter 11 case of a publicly traded biotechnology company. Unsecured creditors are expected to achieve a full recovery in the case, plus interest.
Specialty Restaurants
This owner and operator of forty-six restaurants nationwide was also involved in real estate development, owned one of the world's largest collections of vintage World War II airplanes, and faced creditor claims in excess of $30 million. The firm negotiated a reorganization plan that offered unsecured creditors 100% of their claims plus interest.
Spectrum Restaurant Group
The firm represented the creditors' committee for Spectrum Restaurant Group, Inc. Spectrum is the operator or former operator of such well-known casual dining chains as Grandy's, Prego, National Sports Grill, Harry's Bar & Grill,
Tom's Foods
The firm represented the creditors' committee of Tom's Foods, Inc. The debtor was a leading regional snack food manufacturer with a strong presence in the Southeast and Southwest, with manufacturing operations in
Twin Cities Avanti Stores
Twin Cities Avanti Stores owned and operated 95 gas stations and convenience stores located mostly in Minnesota. The case was very litigious because of the secured creditor's deficiency claim of approximately $30 million. Both the debtor and the secured creditor confirmed competing plans of reorganization. Under both plans, the general unsecured creditors received a 10% distribution.
Ultimate Electronics
The firm represented the creditors' committee (and, postconfirmation, the liquidating successor) in the chapter 11 case of this leading specialty retailer of high-end home entertainment and consumer electronics, operating more than 75 stores. In less than a year from the petition date, the debtors and the committee jointly proposed and confirmed a plan of liquidation, which continues to return distributions to unsecured creditors.
Waterlink
The firm represented the committee in negotiating the sale of the debtor's assets, and a joint plan that resulted in a significant distribution to unsecured creditors.
West Contra Costa Healthcare District
The firm represents the creditors' committee in the chapter 9 bankruptcy case of West Contra Costa Healthcare District. The District is a public agency created for the purpose of owning and operating a hospital in San Pablo, California.
Western Integrated Networks
The firm represented the creditors' committee of Winfirst, a "fiber to the home" provider of combined local telephone and cable-television service, together with high-speed internet access. Winfirst sold its assets to SureWest Communications as a going concern.
Wherehouse Entertainment, Inc.
The firm represented the committee for one of the largest retailers of prerecorded music in the United States in its second chapter 11 case. Substantially all of the assets of Wherehouse were acquired by Trans World Entertainment in a bankruptcy court-approved sale.