Creditor’s Rights

Given Stone & Baxter’s more than 170 years of combined experience representing business debtors all over Georgia, secured and unsecured creditors frequently engage Stone & Baxter for its unrivaled debtor perspective. Those creditors and non-debtor parties include trade creditors, landlords, smaller banks and financial institutions, loan servicers, asset-based lenders, equipment financers and lessors, finance companies, private equity groups, and asset purchasers.

Local creditors understand that our results-oriented approach to creditor’s rights strikes an optimal balance between aggressive advocacy, swift action, cost-benefit, and return on investment. In fact, Stone & Baxter’s very own Jerry Kaplan pioneered, decades ago, the model Georgia collection practice. That model positions us to handle a portfolio of accounts on an ongoing basis in a manner that is consistent with and compliments a creditor’s expected returns. However, it also positions us to serve as a close advisor in complex, high stakes creditor crises that require cross-disciplinary expertise more often associated with large firms.

Out-of-state creditors (including their in-house and outside counsel) learn that Stone & Baxter is that rare Georgia law firm that is equipped to navigate them through local creditor matters of any size, category, or complexity, anywhere in Georgia, on a tight budget. Our decades of experience in providing a sort of “creditor hotline” permits us to adapt to the varied roles that outside creditors require, even moments before a deadline or hearing.

Stone & Baxter’s creditor’s rights practice covers all aspects of the debtor-creditor relationship, including the initiation of that relationship with documentation, out-of-court election of remedies, enforcement, and negotiation, maximizing creditor protection and recovery in bankruptcy, and enforcing the bankruptcy bargain after bankruptcy. Specific coverage includes:

Pre-Bankruptcy

  • Negotiating loan modifications, forbearance agreements, and workouts
  • Direct suits on promissory notes, guaranties, and other debt instruments
  • Repossessions, real estate foreclosures, and other asset recovery matters
  • Gathering and liquidating creditor collateral
  • Pursuit of deficiency claims following foreclosures
  • Seeking the appointment of and representing receivers
  • Lease-related litigation, including dispossessory proceedings
  • Post-judgment collection (including foreign judgment registrations)
  • Investigating and pursuing fraudulent transfer, veil-piercing, and alter ego claims
  • Representing creditors in pre-bankruptcy appellate matters

Bankruptcy

  • Initiating involuntary bankruptcies against debtors
  • Participating in 341 Meetings of Creditors
  • Obtaining relief from the automatic stay
  • Litigating debtor exemptions, discharge, and dischargeability issues
  • Filing and defending proofs of claims and administrative claims
  • Defending creditors in creditor status, priority, and equitable subordination matters
  • Effectuating the purchase and sale of claims and interests in bankruptcy
  • Defending landlords and tenants in bankruptcy
  • Litigating cash collateral, adequate protection, and collateral valuation issues
  • Arranging for and challenging debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing
  • Participating in and challenging proposed bankruptcy sales, auctions, etc.
  • Litigating issues regarding property of the bankruptcy estate and turnover
  • Defending lien determination and avoidance matters
  • Defending creditors in fraudulent transfer and preference actions
  • Objecting to Chapter 11 plans and participating in the plan confirmation process
  • Initiating and participating in dismissal and conversion proceedings
  • Representing creditors in bankruptcy appellate matters

In addition to navigating creditors through pre-bankruptcy matters and the entire life-cycle of bankruptcy cases of every type, Stone & Baxter also represents creditors as their debtors emerge from bankruptcy. As a result of Stone & Baxter’s deep debtor and creditor practices, Stone & Baxter is uniquely positioned to protect post-bankruptcy creditors vigilantly while keeping in mind that bankruptcy cases can have a dramatic impact on creditor rights and remedies.

Practice Groups