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.
Brian Bennett Appointed to Greater Louisville March of Dimes Board
LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The Greater Louisville Market of the March of Dimes has appointed Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorney Brian Bennett to its Board of Directors.
Mid-South Commercial Law Institute Elects Erika Barnes to its Board of Directors
NASHVILLE, Tenn.—The Mid-South Commercial Law Institute (MSCLI) recently elected Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorney Erika Barnes as a director of its 25-member Board of Directors.
Stites & Harbison elects three attorneys to Management Committee
LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Stites & Harbison, PLLC recently elected three members to the firm’s six-member Management Committee, replacing three attorneys who completed their terms of service. The new committee members are attorneys Erika Barnes, Carol Dan Browning and Richard Wehrle.
New Bankruptcy Law May Increase Small Business Filings
On Wednesday, February 19, 2020, the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 creating a new Subchapter V for small-business debtors (less than $2,725,625 in debt) becomes effective. The purpose of this act is to eliminate some of the costly elements of a business bankruptcy reorganization and streamline the procedures.
Enforcers of Security Interests in Nonjudicial Foreclosure Proceedings Are Not Subject to Many Provisions of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
In March 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a narrow holding that debt collectors enforcing security interests in nonjudicial proceedings are subject to only one section (Section 1692f(6)) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).
Denial Of Stay Relief “Forms A Discrete Procedural Unit” That Must Be Immediately Appealed
On January 14, 2020, in a 9-0 ruling, the United States Supreme Court held that a creditor’s failure to appeal a stay relief denial within 14 days of the order’s entry renders the appeal untimely under 28 U.S.C. § 158(c)(2) and Fed. R. Bankr. P. 8002(a).
Stites & Harbison Promotes Six Attorneys
LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Stites & Harbison, PLLC announced that six attorneys have been promoted within the law firm effective January 2020.
Into the Weeds of the USDA Hemp Regulations
The long-awaited hemp industry regulations have finally (mostly) dropped. At the end of October, the United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) finally issued its Interim Final Rule implementing the hemp-related provisions of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (“the 2018 Farm Bill”).
Aaron Klein named as an ABA TIPS Now! Fellow
LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The American Bar Association (ABA) recently named Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorney Aaron Klein as a 2019-20 TIPS Now! Fellow.
Stites & Harbison welcomes Elizabeth Anne Bowden to the Nashville office
Stites & Harbison, PLLC welcomes attorney Elizabeth Anne Bowden to its Nashville, Tenn., office.
U.S. Supreme Court Rejects "Unreasonable but Good Faith Belief" Defense for Creditors in Violation of Discharge Injunction
Co-Author, Ameena R. Khan, Summer Associate. At the conclusion of a bankruptcy, the court typically enters an order discharging the debtor from personal liability for most pre-bankruptcy debts. This “discharge order” bars creditors from attempting to collect any debt covered by the order from the debtor personally. 11 USC § 524(a)(2).
Kentucky General Assembly Approves Electronic Recording and Notarization
The General Assembly recently passed Senate Bill 114 into law, which will reform Kentucky’s recording and notary laws in two significant ways: county clerks will soon be able to record real estate deeds, mortgages and other documents electronically, and notaries public will be able to notarize real estate documents electronically and remotely.