Bankruptcy Litigation

Stone & Baxter is well known for its involvement in many of Georgia’s most difficult, complex, and contentious bankruptcy, insolvency, and restructuring litigation matters. As skilled bankruptcy practitioners and experienced commercial trial lawyers, Stone & Baxter’s attorneys do not shy away from the courtroom when a judicial resolution is unavoidable. That approach creates settlement opportunities, even in high stakes matters, because opposing parties understand early on that Stone & Baxter is fully-equipped and willing to try cases.

Whether on the debtor or the creditor side and whether in a mediation, an arbitration, a contested matter or adversary proceeding in bankruptcy, a state or federal lawsuit, or an administrative, state, or federal appeal, there are few bankruptcy and business issues that Stone & Baxter has not litigated. For each of the following disputes, Stone & Baxter is just as comfortable engaging in pre-litigation planning as it is responding to an urgent litigation crisis with little notice:

  • Suits on promissory notes and guaranties
  • Post-judgment collection (including foreign judgment registrations)
  • Veil-piercing and alter ego disputes
  • Foreclosures and related confirmation proceedings
  • State court receiver appointments and related proceedings
  • Complex issues of bankruptcy court jurisdiction
  • Often esoteric questions regarding property of the bankruptcy estate and turnover
  • Matters regarding relief from and the scope of the bankruptcy automatic stay
  • Litigating and defending bankruptcy discharge and discharge-ability issues
  • Litigating all types of bankruptcy claims, including administrative claims
  • Cash collateral and adequate protection disputes in bankruptcy
  • Collateral valuation disputes, in and out of bankruptcy court
  • Debtor-in-Possession financing and other bankruptcy financing matters
  • Effectuating and participating in all aspects of bankruptcy asset sales and auctions
  • Treatment of pre-petition agreements in bankruptcy (including lease, employment, franchise, license, operating, dealership, supply, and services agreements)
  • Pursuing and defending avoidance of judgment liens in bankruptcy
  • Litigating bankruptcy issues of equal subordination and recharacterization
  • Litigating issues regarding creditor status in bankruptcy, including secured status
  • Issues regarding bankruptcy dismissals and conversions
  • Issues regarding the appointment of trustees and examiners in bankruptcy
  • All post-bankruptcy litigation, including renewed collection efforts
  • Substantive issues in bankruptcy, including tax, corporate, governance, employment, ERISA, real estate, insurance, environmental, and regulatory issues
  • Appeals, including bankruptcy appeals, arising from any of the above

Not only is Stone & Baxter routinely asked to represent clients in almost all varieties of restructuring and insolvency litigation, Stone & Baxter is also deeply-experienced in bankruptcy avoidance actions and their state law counterparts. Specifically, Stone & Baxter’s attorneys have prosecuted and defended hundreds of state and federal fraudulent conveyance and preference actions, ranging in amount from less than $10,000 to in excess of $100 million. Stone & Baxter is as passionate about evaluating and minimalizing avoidance risk as it is about defending avoidance actions. Protecting clients and their assets when transactions come under scrutiny is almost impossible without an extensive and always evolving knowledge of this area of the law.

In short, Stone & Baxter is a sought after trusted advisor for all manner of debtor-creditor litigation, particularly when crisis demands an immediate action or response, when complex disputes require creative solutions and a steady, undaunted resolve, and when a high-stakes matter requires the breadth of experience and weight of response typical of a larger law firm and the personalized service, accessibility, and cost-savings typical of a smaller firm. Stone & Baxter is proud of its reputation for shouldering the burdens of initiating and defending debtor-creditor litigation with an efficacy and efficiency that is as little disruptive to its clients as possible.

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