Practice Areas

Debtors' and Creditors' Rights

OVERVIEW

Hill Farrer & Burrill LLP aggressively represents its clients in federal and state courts in bankruptcy and collection matters that are likely to result in bankruptcy filings, including:

Fraudulent transfer litigation to pursue assets diverted or concealed by debtors to avoid paying multi-million-dollar obligations.
Significant collection matters, from pre-filing investigation and pre-judgment attachments to obtaining and enforcing judgments.
Receivership and judicial foreclosure actions for secured lenders.
Adversary proceedings in Bankruptcy Court, such as objections to discharge, the determination of the dischargeability of debts, preferential transfer actions, fraudulent transfer lawsuits, successor liability claims, and lien priority disputes.
Protection of secured lenders in Bankruptcy Court through motions for relief from automatic stay, plan confirmation disputes, objections to the use of cash collateral, and valuation determination.
Landlord representation in Bankruptcy Court in connection with the assumption and assignment of leases, the rejection of leases, the collection of lease payments, and obtaining relief from the automatic stay to proceed with state court eviction remedies.
Motions to compel turnover of estate assets in bankruptcy.
Objecting to and defending creditors’ claims in bankruptcy.
Objecting to fee applications in bankruptcy.

Representative matters

Debtors’ and Creditors’ Rights

Prevailed at trial in legal malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty action against client, a large law firm, which was accused of failing to competently represent creditor in underlying bankruptcy proceeding. Judgment affirmed by Ninth Circuit on appeal.
Acted as counsel in a matter involving a December 2007 opinion published by the Bankruptcy Court, which was affirmed by the District Court on appeal in 2009, in which we obtained permission to sue a Chapter 11 trustee on behalf of a bankruptcy estate for the alleged improper handling of estate assets. It resulted in alleged losses that reduced the potential payout to creditors. the matter was settled in 2015 by a $500,000 payment by the trustee’s insurance carrier.
Represented celebrity client as a debtor-in-possession in his individual Chapter 11 case. When that case and the companion case of his company were converted to Chapter 7, acted as special litigation counsel in 2007 and 2008 to the court-appointed Chapter 7 trustees in connection with a claim based upon a $104,000,000 default judgment against the debtors. Result was court-approved settlement of that claim that was very favorable to the Chapter 7 estates.
Took over the defense of a defendant group in a $40 million fraudulent transfer case in which the defendants were the subject of an onerous preliminary injunction issued by the Bankruptcy Court that was accompanied by very prejudicial findings against the defendants. The case turned upon a complex accounting of monetary transfers. In a complete turnaround, within a year, brought and obtained a summary judgment motion through which the clients completely prevailed in the case on all claims and the preliminary injunction was vacated.
Went to trial before the Bankruptcy Court in 2013 to successfully defend $10 million fraudulent transfer litigation brought by Chapter 11 trustee, which was affirmed on appeal.
Defended an individual client at trial in Bankruptcy Court against a creditor’s objection to discharge under Bankruptcy Code § 727, resulting in a favorable settlement of remaining dischargeability claim based upon fraud under Bankruptcy Code § 523(a).
Regularly handle general business litigation of all types, contract disputes, commercial real estate disputes, business related fraud.
Represent clients in high-dollar collection activities for clients with seven-figure judgments.