Thelen LLP

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The Business Reorganization and Creditors' Rights practice of Thelen LLP encompasses every facet of bankruptcy law and creditors' rights. Thelen's attorneys have an impressive record in representing banks, hedge funds and other financial institutions, creditors' committees, debtors, bondholders, Chapter 11 and 7 trustees, indenture trustees, purchasers, and other stakeholders in formal and informal domestic and international insolvency proceedings.

Our Business Reorganization and Creditors' Rights attorneys are seasoned professionals who are well equipped to represent clients in restructurings of debt and recapitalizations through out-of-court workouts, bankruptcy proceedings, bankruptcy-related litigation, and acquisitions throughout the country. Thelen's attorneys provide a wide range of services that consistently prove salutary to business restructuring and insolvency situations. We recognize that, in addition to bankruptcy expertise, the successful representation of a party-in-interest in an out-of-court workout or bankruptcy proceeding requires significant legal capabilities in ancillary areas, such as business transactions, finance, litigation, real estate, intellectual property, tax, securities, and other concentrations. Our skills in handling reorganization and other insolvency matters are enhanced by the fact that Thelen is a fully integrated firm in which attorneys from different practice areas routinely function as a team.

Institutional and Other Creditor Representation
We regularly represent banks, hedge funds, special servicers, and other institutions on issues relating to secured and unsecured loans and other forms of investments in distressed companies throughout formal and informal restructurings. In many instances our representation extends to negotiating and documenting debtor-in-possession loans (DIP loans) to Chapter 11 debtors on behalf of pre-petition lenders or lenders who are interested in developing a new relationship with a company that is either entering or exiting from Chapter 11 proceedings.

Thelen also represents major Wall Street investment banks and other lenders in a wide variety of sophisticated real estate financing and restructuring transactions. Members of the Business Reorganization and Creditors' Rights group work closely with the firm's real estate and project finance lawyers in connection with structured finance transactions, including mezzanine loans, loan participations, and mortgage-backed securities.

Thelen also regularly represents landlords, ground lessors, parties to executory contracts, and other similarly situated interest holders in Chapter 11 proceedings.

Official and Ad hoc Committees
Our bankruptcy attorneys have also represented numerous creditors' committees (official and ad hoc) and bondholders in Chapter 11 cases. Attorneys in the Business Reorganization and Creditors' Rights group recognize that skilled and aggressive representation of a creditors' committee or bondholder group, both before and after a bankruptcy filing, can mean the difference between a meaningful recovery and no recovery at all. Given the depth of Thelen's employment practice and expertise in handling ERISA matters, the group has also represented official section 1114 retiree benefits committees and others in connection with the bankruptcies of national airlines and other large employers, including related pension and collective bargaining agreement litigation.

Thelen's complementary corporate, litigation, tax, employment, and commercial finance practices enable us to bring all necessary resources to our representation of creditors' committees, bondholders, and retiree benefits committees.

Financially Distressed Companies
The group's attorneys have also successfully handled reorganizations, restructurings, and liquidations for troubled companies, large and small, in Chapter 11 cases and out-of-court workouts nationwide. In representing financially distressed companies, the attorneys in the Business Reorganization and Creditors' Rights group often utilize the depth of the experience of Thelen's broad range of practice areas, such as corporate, real estate, litigation, commercial finance, telecommunications, construction, energy, intellectual property, e-commerce, employment law, franchising, healthcare, tax, and securities. A multidisciplinary approach to complex situations can make all the difference in achieving a successful outcome.

Bankruptcy Litigation
The Business Reorganization and Creditors' Rights group also represents clients in all aspects of bankruptcy-related litigation and contested matters, including fraudulent transfer and preference actions, alter ego, subordination, valuation and "cramdown" issues, use-of-cash collateral, and lender liability actions. Thelen's litigation strength in such matters also enables us to represent clients in structuring their transactions to minimize their exposure to such claims.

Sales and Other Dispositions
Our attorneys also have substantial experience in representing purchasers, sellers, and other interested parties in connection with the sale or disposition of assets, debt, securities, and other interests of distressed companies. We regularly represent purchasers in bankruptcy sales of both traditional "old economy" and "new economy" assets, and are knowledgeable about the difficult fraudulent transfer, preference, and bulk transfer issues that can arise in such transactions.

Technology
The extraordinary strength of Thelen's core technology practice also enables us to represent users of technology and parties to outsourcing agreements in bankruptcy and out-of-court restructurings. This expertise enables us to creatively advise and represent clients in the often difficult issues that confront licensees and licensors of technology and intellectual property.

Members of Thelen's Business Reorganization and Creditors' Rights group regularly write and speak on a host of bankruptcy-related topics. Our articles appear in the National Law Journal, the Journal of Bankruptcy Law and Practice, and the New York Law Journal.

To learn more about Thelen's Business Reorganization and Creditors' Rights practice, please contact the following: