Unsecured and Ad Hoc Creditor Committee Representation
Navigating through the complex Chapter 11 bankruptcy process as an unsecured creditor can be a daunting task. In many Chapter 11 cases, multiple groups and parties are going to be jockeying for value allocation in the context of the case. Unsecured creditors are often initially perceived as being out of the money, which can lead them to being underrepresented throughout the case. The appointment of an unsecured creditor committee is intended to give the unsecured creditors a seat at the table, which often results much more substantial distribution to the unsecured class. Selecting the right attorneys and other professionals to represent the committee is imperative in achieving that goal.
Jackson Walker’s bankruptcy and restructuring group has decades of experience representing unsecured creditors of all sizes across many diverse industries, including representing committees and individual members appointed to committees in complex Chapter 11 cases.
As committee counsel, we pride ourselves on our ability to work with other constituencies collaboratively when appropriate—offering fresh solutions and strategies designed to promote negotiated resolutions that preserve estate value rather than resorting to costly litigation that could have been avoided. When the interests of unsecured creditors are best advanced through litigation, our deep thinking, hard hitting litigation team is at the ready to fight aggressively on their behalf. In either scenario, we will be fighting alongside and against other professionals that we are matched up against every day. Those professionals respect us for our tenacity, level of thought, breadth of restructuring knowledge, and track record, especially in Texas.
Our goal as your committee counsel is to achieve the greatest recovery for the unsecured class as a whole though the fastest and most efficient restructuring as possible, as evidenced by many examples below.
- Northvolt—Represented member of the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors.
- Nitro Fluids/Straitline Pumps—Acted as counsel for the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors to an oilfield services debtor during its reorganization process.
- Chemical Exchange/Texmark—Acted as counsel for the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors through a sale process for a chemical plant and related assets in Texas.
- Energy Future Holdings—Acted as counsel for the largest unsecured trade creditor and co-chair of the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors.
- Southern Foods d/b/a Dean Foods—Acted as counsel for a member of the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors.
- Montco—Represented member of the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors.
- Panaco—Represented co-chair of the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors.
- Reichhold—Represented petrochemical company/trade creditor holding a multimillion-dollar unsecured claim against the debtor multinational paint manufacturer. Successfully achieved appointment to the Unsecured Creditors’ Committee (co-chair) and favorable recovery of claim (92%) through a negotiated asset sale.
- Continental Airlines—Represented the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors involving unsecured claims exceeding $100 million which resulted in a confirmed plan that provided for payment to unsecured creditors of 100%.
- North Texas Motorcars—Represented the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors involving unsecured claims of $57 million in a subprime automobile lender.
- Consolidated Fuel Corporation—Represented the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors with claims of $10 million, resulting in a plan that paid unsecured creditors in full, with interest.
