Bankruptcy and creditor’s rights

Mackenzie Hughes represented one of the world’s largest insurance companies in litigating claims by a U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee arising from the debtor’s fraud scheme that exceeded $1 billion, making it the most substantial and highly publicized bankruptcy litigation in the region’s history. The firm aggressively protected the insurer’s interests and successfully reached a court-authorized settlement after extensive and complex negotiations.

Mackenzie Hughes attorneys servicing the Bankruptcy & Creditors' Rights Practice area include:

Clayton H. Hale Jr.
Neil J. Smith

Armed with a great deal of experience in bankruptcy law, our team of professionals can advise businesses through the most extreme financial hardships. We’ve represented a broad spectrum of clients, including banks and credit unions, manufacturers, construction companies and developers, hotels, retailers, and professional services firms.

Our knowledge of the law will see debtors through workouts — negotiating repayment terms of loans with creditors, whether or not bankruptcy has been filed. And when dealing with reorganization, we make it part of our job to know and understand our clients and to make choices that will be the right ones now and for years to come. These decisions are made considering a multitude of issues ranging from bankruptcy, litigation planning, document review, and priority issues to liability considerations.

When bankruptcy occurs, debtors aren’t the only ones at a loss. We also apply our experience and expertise to creditors. Many times creditors believe they do not have any rights or alternatives with respect to debtors’ claims. We can advise them of their rights to share in any distribution from the bankruptcy estate, be heard by the court in matters concerning the debtor’s plan, challenge an individual debtor’s right to a discharge and assist them in litigation of such matters.

• Commercial litigation
• Counseling of debtor corporations
• Special counsel for debtors in possession
• Representation of banks in litigation for foreclosures and recovery of defaulted loans
• Litigation in complex adversary proceedings, including objections to discharge
• Counseling workouts when negotiating final resolution with multiple creditors
• Defending creditors from claims for violations of the automatic stay, preferential transfers and fraudulent transfers