Unsecured Trade Creditors

Co-Chair Corner: Unsecured Trade Creditors Committee

The Unsecured Trade Creditors Committee (UTC) was hard at work once again in 2016. Among other things, the UTC hosted multiple committee-wide conference calls and webinars on wide-ranging topics of interest to its members and ABI members generally, published quarterly newsletters containing articles on hot legal issues, organized panels at both national ABI conferences, and wrote a practice manual that was published by ABI. Once again, the UTC was a multi-channel distributor of knowledge and information to its members, and provided great networking and leadership opportunities.

Unsecured Trade Creditors November 2016

Proxy Games; Is It Merely an Unfair Advantage or an Ethical Violation to Serve as a Member of the Creditors’ Committee and Then Become Co-Counsel?

Competition among law firms to be selected as counsel to an Official Committee of Unsecured Creditor is notoriously stiff. The financial rewards are substantial and work begets more work. Every new engagement is another line in the pitch book, and one less for the competition.

The EOUST View

By making official committees of creditors mandatory, Congress recognized that committees can be vital to the success of a chapter 11 case. That is why the United States Trustee Program (“USTP”) expends great effort to solicit and to appoint a “representative” group and to provide its members with a charge that explains their important fiduciary duties to act on behalf of their constituency. Most committees operate very well and faithfully carry out their fiduciary obligations, thereby benefitting all stakeholders. Sometimes, however, issues do arise, and the USTP addresse

Bankruptcy in the Country's Busiest Courts

The ABI Unsecured Trade Creditors’ Committee held their most recent Tips of the Trade Call to cover bankruptcy procedure in the country’s busiest business courts. Professionals who represent unsecured trade creditors inevitably find themselves practicing from time to time in the country’s busiest bankruptcy courts, the District of Delaware and the Southern District of New York.

Unsecured Trade Creditors July 2016

Unsecured Trade Creditors June 2016

Unsecured Trade Creditors May 2016

The Power to Disband Committees: A Difference of Opinion

In chapter 11 cases, the U.S. Trustee’s power is prominently showcased throughout the process of appointing official creditors (and equity) committees. The Code instructs that the U.S. Trustee “shall appoint a committee of creditors holding unsecured claims and may appoint additional committees ... as the United States trustee deems appropriate.”[1] While the U.S. Trustee controls much of the appointment process, bankruptcy courts do retain some statutory authority over the formation and monitoring of committees.

When Worlds Collide: Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code and Chapter 11

[1]Picture the scene: A vendor has just received word that its customer has filed chapter 11. The vendor put the customer on a cash-before-delivery basis and demanded assurances of performance. The vendor was successful in reducing the accounts receivable owed and avoiding preference liability in doing so.

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