Case Studies : Bankruptcy and Creditor Rights

a clear path to resolution

The Bankruptcy and Creditor Rights practice has helped guide debtors, trustees, committees, and creditors through all types of bankruptcy cases. Our clients have included a wide variety of business debtors in Chapter 11 reorganizations, as well as other clients facing financial challenges. No matter how complex or daunting the situation, our experience gives us the ability to find a clear path to resolution for our clients.

    • Large Chapter 11 Cases

    • Ball Janik LLP has handled numerous high-profile Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases, representing large, multi-state companies facing complex reorganizations.

    • Community Lender Representation

    • Denise Case has represented multiple community lenders in negotiating and documenting various workout, loan restructuring, and forbearance plans.

    • ConocoPhillips – Olympic Pipeline

    • David Criswell represented ConocoPhillips in the Olympic Pipeline Chapter 11 case filed in Seattle, Washington. Through his efforts in bankruptcy court, the client achieved full payment of refunds due along with resolution of rate disputes.

    • Creative Bankruptcy Solutions

    • Ball Janik LLP represented the City of Portland in the high profile bankruptcy of the Rose Garden Arena, home to the NBA's Portland Trailblazers.

    • Epic Aircraft

    • David Criswell and Justin Leonard represented the Chapter 11 Trustee of the Epic Aircraft group of companies, helping the Trustee find bidders, conduct an auction of assets and secure a significant recovery.

    • Ex Parte Search and Seizure

    • In an action without precedent in Oregon (and likely in the 9th Circuit), Justin Leonard investigated and amassed sufficient evidence, coupled with a thorough legal analysis, for an ex parte claim and delivery order – essentially a “civil search warrant” – for a bankruptcy trustee to pursue suspected assets without giving any notice to the debtor.

    • Harder/Sunwest Management Inc. – Bankruptcy and SEC Litigation

    • We represented several secured lenders owed hundreds of millions of dollars in complex civil litigation spanning several bankruptcy cases and an SEC enforcement action. In this complex representation, Ball Janik LLP took the lead in coordinating the litigation efforts of several national and regional firms representing various banks and financial institutions. Ball Janik was also lead trial counsel in both the Bankruptcy Court and in the Federal District Court.

    • Lender Action Against Guarantor

    • Kevin Rosenfield represented a lender in a successful lawsuit against the guarantor of a multi-million dollar commercial loan to a failed developer, whereby the guarantor ultimately paid the lender nearly the full amount of the unpaid loan.

    • Real Estate Loan Workouts

    • Thor Tingey has provided advice and assistance to community banks and private lenders on a variety of real estate loan workouts and recoveries.

    • Sale of Businesses in Bankruptcy

    • Ball Janik LLP's Business and Corporate practice is regularly engaged in assisting clients with the sale of operating companies by receivers and bankruptcy trustees.

    • States Industries, Inc.

    • Tony Summers and Justin Leonard represented Eugene-based States Industries, Inc. as debtor-in-possession in a Chapter 11 case. 

    • Sunwest Management

    • David Criswell represented two groups of secured lenders in the SEC receivership and Chapter 11 case of Sunwest Management, ultimately helping his clients reach consensual loan restructurings that resulted in performing loans after the conclusion of the Chapter 11 case.

    • Unique Distress Situations

    • The Bankruptcy and Creditor Rights practice helped a manufacturing company facing a difficult set of challenges, representing them in administrative proceedings before the Consumer Product Safety Commission, negotiating a voluntary recall, settling a product liability class action suit, and securing insurance recoveries for environmental cleanup.