Committee

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Committees are appointed in chapter 11 bankruptcies to represent the interests of similarly situated parties.  The most commonly appointed is the official committee of unsecured creditors, though committees may also be appointed to represent other groups of stakeholders such as tort claimants or shareholders.  Ask yourself:

  • Does your company frequently find itself a creditor of customers that file bankruptcy?
  • Have you gone through a chapter 11 case as an unsecured creditor and wondered what it would be like to have a real voice in the case? 
  • Have you wondered what the creditors’ committee does in a chapter 11 case? 
  • Have you considered if your company should sit on a creditors’ committee, given the opportunity, but worried what that would mean for your company’s claim as an individual creditor?
  • Are you a shareholder of a corporation or a member of an LLC which has filed chapter 11  and considered whether a shareholder committee could give you a voice in the case? 

We Can Help

Sugar Felsenthal’s Restructuring, Insolvency, & Special Situations (“RISS”) attorneys are among the most experienced in the United States.

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For a free consultation, email turnaround@sfgh.com or call any of Jonathan Friedland (312.704.2770), Mark Melickian (312.704.2174), or Jack O’Connor (312.704.2178). All inquiries will be treated with absolute strict confidentiality.

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  • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors Quadrant 4 System Corporation, et al. (Bankr. N.D. Ill.).  Quadrant 4 System Corporation and its subsidiary, Stratitude, Inc., was a publicly traded company engaged in the business of selling IT products and services to clients in the retail, manufacturing, financial services and healthcare industries.  Our attorneys, currently representing the Committee, oversaw the sale of the Debtors’ business divisions as going concerns, increasing the likelihood of a distribution for unsecured creditors will ensuring the many of the debtors’ employees retained employment with the company, post-sale.

  • Official Committee of Equity Security Holders of AgFeed Industries, Inc. (Bankr. D. Del.).  AgFeed and its affiliates operated hog production and feed facilities in the United States and mainland China.  In the wake of a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into stock fraud that led to sanctions against the company and key officers and board members, the company filed bankruptcy and sold both its domestic and China-based assets in two transactions that resulted in 100% distribution to creditors and a distribution to the company’s defrauded shareholders.  After representing the Equity Committee successfully through confirmation of a chapter 11 plan of distribution, SFGH represented the Liquidating Trustee of the AgFeed Liquidating Trust in trust administration and litigation against certain former officers and directors for fraud and other claims.   

  • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Etcher Farms, Inc., et al. (Bankr. S.D. Iowa).  Etcher Farms and affiliates operate a large family-owned dairy cattle concern in southern Iowa.  SFGH has been retained by the Committee to work with the Debtors to pursue a restructuring transaction to bring value to the estates’ unsecured creditors.    

  • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Natural Pork Production II, LLP (Bankr. S.D. Iowa). Natural Pork was one of the Midwest’s largest locally owned hog production operations in the Midwest, with both domestic and foreign operations. On behalf of the Debtors’ unsecured creditors, our attorneys collaborated with the Debtors and various other parties in interest to effectuate the successful liquidation of the company’s assets and the settlement of a capital structure dispute that resulted in a consensual plan of distribution resulting in a 90% distribution to the estates’ unsecured creditors. 

  • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Lyon Workspace Products, LLC, et al. (Bankr. N.D. Ill.).  Lyon Workspace Products, LLC and its seven affiliated debtors were the largest and leading manufacturer and supplier of top quality lockers, industrial storage and workspace products.  As of the petition date, the debtors employed approximately 400 full-time employees and had net annual revenues in excess of $76 million.  SFGH represented the creditor’s committee through the confirmation of a liquidating chapter 11 plan.  

  • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Newton Manufacturing, Inc. (Bankr. S.D. Iowa).   Our attorneys served as lead counsel to the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Newton Manufacturing Company (Bankr. S.D. Iowa).  Newton customized promotional products, such as writing instruments, golf balls, apparel and travel bags.  On June 26, 2015, with the Committee's backing, the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Iowa approved the sale of substantially all of Newton's non-real property assets to HALO Branded Solutions, Inc., one of the largest promotional products distributors in the U.S.

  • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Trainor Glass Company (Bankr. N.D. Ill.). Our attorneys currently represent the unsecured creditors of Trainor Glass Company, the third largest construction glass company in the U.S., in its chapter 11 case. In this engagement, SFGH worked closely with the debtor and its primary secured lender to negotiate a settlement of the secured lender’s undersecured claim under which the lender agreed to segregate assets previously covered by its security interest, and specifically dedicate the proceeds of those assets toward the satisfaction of unsecured claims. 

  • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of World Marketing Chicago LLC, and affiliates (Bankr. N.D. Ill).  World Marketing was a large lettershop and commercial mail concern with operations in Chicago, Atlanta, and Dallas that served the public notice and healthcare industry, among others.  Continuing pressurs on the direct mail industry and overleverage led World Marketing into bankruptcy in 2015.  SFGH represented the creditor’s committee during the case through the confirmation of a liquidating chapter 11 plan.    

  • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Duke & King Acquisition, Inc. (Bankr. D. Minn.). Prior to its bankruptcy filing, Duke and King was one of the largest operators of Burger King franchises in the Midwest, with almost one hundred stores located in Minnesota, Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa and Kansas. A SFGH attorney served on the team representing the creditors’ committee as it worked with the debtor, its senior secured lender and Burger King Corporation to effectuate a sale of substantially all of the debtor’s assets through a competitive bidding procedure under section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code.

  • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Wagstaff Minnesota Inc., et al. (Bankr. D. Minn.). Before its bankruptcy filing, Wagstaff was one of the largest operators of KFC franchises across the nation, with over twelve hundred employees and seventy-seven restaurants located in Minnesota, Alaska, California, Idaho and Texas. One of our attorneys served on the team representing the creditors’ committee as it worked with the debtors and the debtors’ secured lenders to effectuate a successful reorganization. 

  • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of RWJ Management Co., Inc., et al. (Bankr. N.D. Ill.). RWJ was a family owned business operating 10 high profile, BP-branded, motor fuel sales and mini-market facilities pursuant to agreements and licenses with BP Products North America. One of our attorneys served on the team representing the committee as it successfully negotiated key concessions from RWJ and its lenders for the benefit of unsecured creditors.

  • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Agri-Best Holdings, Inc. (Bankr. N.D. Ill.). Agri-Best was a leading Chicago-based processor and distributor of portion control meat products to national restaurant chains, food distributors and consumers with annual revenues of approximately $150 million. One of our attorneys served on the team representing the creditors’ committee as it worked with the debtors to effectuate a sale of the company and pursued litigation claims against the debtors’ pre-bankruptcy secured lenders. 

  • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of In re Arch Aluminum & Glass Co. (Bankr. S.D. Fla.). Our attorneys served as special litigation counsel to the creditors’ committee in the chapter 11 cases of Arch Aluminum & Glass Co., one of North America’s largest architectural glass and aluminum fabricators and distributors.

  • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Midcom Communications, Inc. (Bankr. E.D. Mich.). One of our attorneys served on the team that represented the official committee of unsecured creditors to Midcom Communications, Inc., a national reseller of telecommunication services with over 100,000 subscribers on the petition date, in a successful 363 sale of substantially all of the debtor’s assets, ultimately resulting in over a 40 percent distribution on allowed unsecured creditor claims.

  • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of JS II, LLC (Bankr. N.D. Ill.).  An SFGH attorney represented the unsecured creditors of Chicago land developers JS II, LLC and its affiliates, owner and builder of a high profile residential community and industrial sites in Chicago’s Bridgeport area, in its chapter 11 case. 

  • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Golden Bear Oil Specialties, Inc. (Bankr. C.D. Cal.). An SFGH attorney represented the unsecured creditors committee of Golden Bear Oil Specialties, Inc., a California-based manufacturer of specialized petroleum products, in its chapter 11 case, and negotiated concessions with the company's secured lender that ultimately resulted in a distribution to unsecured creditors from the proceeds of a section 363 sale of the company's assets although the bank was not paid in full. 

  • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Builders Plumbing & Heating Supply Co. (Bankr. N.D. Ill.). A SFGH attorney represented the unsecured creditors of Builders Plumbing and Supply Co., a well-known Chicago-based distributor of plumbing and building supplies, in its chapter 11 case. 

  • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Telehub Communication Corporation (Bankr. N.D. Ill.). A SFGH attorney represented the unsecured creditors of Telehub Communication and its affiliates, an Illinois-based competitive local exchange provider of telecommunication services to businesses and residences, in its chapter 11 case.