Business Restructuring and Bankruptcy
The twists and turns of business restructuring are complex and demanding. Our attorneys approach every case with creativity and insight to ensure the solutions are cost-effective and practical. At every turn, you can be confident that our attorneys will guide you through the process, always providing practical and informed advice. We are positioned to respond to the special demands of a variety of matters in a wide range of industries, including health care, automotive, retail/distribution, real estate/construction, telecommunications and mining/exploration.
Overview
McDonald Hopkins has one of the largest and most sophisticated bankruptcy and restructuring practices in the Great Lakes region. Consisting of 18 full-time professionals and paraprofessionals, the department reflects both the firm’s commitment to excellence and its recognition of the need to be more than remote legal advisors. We provide a multi-disciplinary approach to the problems inherent in a business restructuring or creditor engagement. In matters as diverse as employee benefits, tax, real estate, litigation, labor, and business counseling, the firm is able to provide a full range of services by calling upon lawyers who practice in all fields of law. Attorneys in the Business Restructuring Services Department are business counselors with expertise in a broad range of insolvency-related issues, who are committed to forming a team with our clients and their other advisors, so that through this collaboration we render the highest quality and the most complete legal advice.
Our Business Restructuring attorneys have developed a reputation as the advisors of choice for a businesses contemplating restructuring distressed sale, or bankruptcy. Our attorneys are able to call upon a wealth of experience in representing businesses in a variety of industries from primary health care to automotive supply and from restaurant franchises to health and beauty products. Particular specialties include:
Automotive
The automotive industry is poised for significant change and the present and future uncertainty facing many automotive suppliers can be overwhelming. Global competition, supply chain challenges, high labor costs and significant legacy liabilities have pushed the domestic automotive industry into an unavoidable restructuring mode. With over 20 separate supplier (tier 1 and tier 2) representations over the past 10 years, our attorneys are able to call upon their experience and relationships to forge creative and practical solutions to client issues. Our specialized attorneys in Cleveland and Detroit ensure that we are able to field one of the most experienced restructuring teams in the middle market.
Healthcare
Recently, the cost of healthcare has increased significantly, insurance coverage has become more limited and individuals are paying higher premiums. The confluence of these factors, among others, has eroded the profits of primary healthcare providers, therefore challenging even the most financially stable institutions. Our attorneys have served as counsel in three of the most significant hospital bankruptcies in the past several years; serving as debtor’s counsel in two and as creditor’s counsel in a third.
Healthcare Restructuring
The National Healthcare Restructuring Practice Group assists clients experiencing significant financial or operational issues requiring strategic legal advice or seeking acquisition opportunities in this current challenging environment. Our clients include hospitals and healthcare systems (for-profit and tax-exempt), long-term care facilities, surgicenters, imaging centers, physician practices and ventures, investors, and healthcare technology companies.
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Retail/Distribution
We are able to call upon the experience gained in representing a number of retailers, from a five-store bookseller to a billion dollar clothing store chain. In addition, we have also represented creditors in retail and distribution businesses including, most notably, the creditors’ committee for Huffy Corporation and The Antioch Company.
Telecommunications
McDonald Hopkins served as counsel to a regional PCS provider that was the seller in one of the largest distressed dispositions of a PCS provider in Ohio.
Summary
Regardless of the particular industry or business, our key service attribute is our client focus. That focus, in turn, translates into responsiveness and creativity. A client experiencing the challenges of a restructuring is not best served by technically correct but incomprehensible legal analysis or by vacillating counsel that is devoid of practicality. We believe, instead, that a client realizes significant value when its attorneys can provide clear, creative, and complete (but cost-effective) advice that takes into account the client’s objectives and limitations. We believe that industry knowledge is critical, but that ultimately, value-added restructuring advice turns on making the process comprehensible and bearable.
We have strong practices in the following areas:
- Creditors’ Committees
- Debtor Representation
- Distressed M&A
- Other Notable Services
Other Notable Services
The services provided by the Business Restructuring attorneys are not limited to Creditors’ Committees, Debtor Representation and Distressed M&A. In today’s volatile and uncertain marketplace, businesses may need to look outside the traditional means of addressing their financial difficulties. The significant experience and expertise of our attorneys can be of considerable assistance to a business in such a situation.
Receiverships
McDonald Hopkins provides skilled representation to receivers whom have been appointed by the court to take possession and control over a financially-troubled company. Our attorneys’ experience and expertise allows them to address the unique matters and situations that can arise during receiverships. We have represented receivers in receiverships involving various industries from dry cleaning to automobile dealerships and from food distribution to energy brokering.
Dealership Representations
McDonald Hopkins provides experienced representation to motor vehicle and equipment manufacturers of various sizes and levels of sophistication seeking legal advice with respect to dealership matters. We have represented dealerships, and lenders providing floor plan financing to dealerships, in a number of financing transactions, debt restructurings and workouts in multiple jurisdictions.
McDonald Hopkins has significant experience in drafting and/or reviewing floor plan financing documents, dealer sales and service agreements, termination and release agreements, post-termination repurchase agreements, and other complex settlement agreements involving dealer issues. We have represented various clients in connection with the voluntary closure of dealerships threatened with termination. In addition, our attorneys have extensive experience in examining and resolving “out of trust” positions, issues related to preserving blue sky, vehicle inventory disputes and facilitating the sale of troubled dealerships.