Creditors' Rights, Out-of-Court Workouts & Commercial Litigation
The attorneys of Stites & Harbison’s Creditors' Rights & Bankruptcy Service Group advise and represent clients in workout negotiations, default and foreclosure and actions in state courts, and in contested matters and adversary proceedings arising under Chapters 7, 11, 12 and 13 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. We also handle creditor defense and bankruptcy litigation.
Our experience includes:
- Financial institution representation
- Creditor defense and bankruptcy litigation
- Work for secured creditors, trade and other unsecured creditors, landlords, insurance companies, equipment lessors, creditors' committees, indenture trustees, liquidating trustees and preference- and fraudulent-conveyance defendants
Members of the Creditors' Rights & Bankruptcy Service Group regularly partner with members of other Stites & Harbison practice groups including Environmental and Natural Resources, Intellectual Property, Construction, Real Estate and Banking, and Health Care to negotiate and litigate complex issues in United States Bankruptcy Courts from coast to coast.
Representative Matters:
- Represented the D-I-P lender and successful purchaser in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of a hospital.
- Successfully negotiated an 11 U.S.C. Section 363 sale of all of the hospital's assets to the client within 90 days of the petition.
- Handled two foreclosures of entire subdivision developments in Southern Indiana.
- Representing a hedge fund, obtained a favorable judgment against the guarantor to recover fraudulent transfer.
- Representing a title insurance company in litigation brought by Chapter 11 debtor's mortgage warehouse lender.
- Seeking judgment and possession of Limobus in Jefferson County, Kentucky.
FCBA’s Women Lawyers’ Association Names Elizabeth Lee Thompson as Woman of the Year for 2021
LEXINGTON, Ky.—The Fayette County Bar Association’s Women Lawyers’ Association (FCBA WLA) has named Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorney Elizabeth Lee Thompson as its Woman of the Year for 2021.
Knowing When to Walk Away
The law governing the repossession of collateral is similar to Kenny Rogers’ advice in his classic, “The Gambler.” Like the old-time card players in Rogers’ ballad, secured parties who utilize self-help to repossess collateral must know when to walk away . . . and when to run. Indiana, like most states, allows secured parties to use “self-help” to repossess collateral securing a defaulted debt.
Secured Lenders Fail to Manage the Risk of “Springing Liens” at Their Peril
“Springing liens” are first priority statutory liens on property that spring into existence when certain obligations remain unpaid. Springing Liens can attach to real estate, for example, when the following obligations are not paid: taxes, condominium association dues, or claims for construction labor or materials.
Elizabeth Lee Thompson Appointed to NKU Board of Regents
LEXINGTON, Ky.—Governor Andy Beshear has appointed Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorney Elizabeth Lee Thompson as a member of the Northern Kentucky University (NKU) Board of Regents.
The Draconian Statute Rears Its Head Again
While a colleague has likened Kentucky’s guaranty statute to Lewis G. Carroll’s Jabberwocky, the statute that frightens us more is Kentucky’s failure to release statute. It is a statute that comes with draconian penalties ($500/day plus attorney’s fees) and a lack of judicial interpretation.
Timing is Everything: A Creditor’s Errant Conclusion as to an Executory Contract Leads to Claim Denial
Although the Bankruptcy Code does not define “executory contract,” the widely adopted definition explains it as a “contract under which the obligation of both the bankrupt and the other party to the contract are so far underperformed that the failure of either to complete performance would constitute a material breach excusing the performance of the other.” Bankruptcy Judge Martin Isgur of the Southern District of Texas, In re Cornerstone Valve, LLC, et al, Case No. 19-30869, recently held that a creditor’s failure to properly analyze its contract with the debtor resulted in its otherwise valid unsecured claim being untimely filed.
Keeping up with the Changing Landscape of the FDCPA
Due to foreclosure and eviction moratoriums, voluntary forbearances, or the influx of government stimulus, the anticipated wave of creditor actions as a result of the pandemic have been held at bay.
Stites & Harbison Welcomes Corey Dunn
LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Stites & Harbison, PLLC welcomes attorney Corey Dunn to the firm’s Louisville, Ky., office.
I Mailed It . . . But Can I Prove It?
The U.S. Postal Service has seen increased demands on its services over the last year. In fact, the majority of us have had an experience with a piece of mail that took a little longer than expected to get to its destination.