Creditors’ Committees
Profile
Like the department’s practice generally, our committee practice focuses on the Eastern and Midwestern United States, though we have not hesitated to expand on such geographical boundaries. We currently represent committees or post bankruptcy unsecured creditor trusts in Ohio, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.
Our Attitude
We love our jobs and we believe that you will enjoy working with us. We identify with our clients, who are often the businesses that fuel a debtor entity’s operations but are usually left out of the pre-bankruptcy planning process and “in the dark” in the early stages of Chapter 11 cases. We get personal value and professional pride by using our legal skills and creativity to achieve the best possible results for our clients.
Our Approach
Creditors’ committees succeed best when they are informed, aggressive and ready to fight hard for their rights, while seeking consensual business solutions that can work for every constituency in a Chapter 11 case. This has become our model for how to approach a case when representing a committee. We are active, aggressive dealmakers, but we are also prepared to litigate when necessary to protect the rights of unsecured creditors.
Client Service
Communication is critical to great client service and we take this as gospel. We consider it our job, and not the job of committee members to keep informed about every aspect of a case. We distill this information and counsel our clients regarding it, allowing them to make informed business decisions.
Our Support
McDonald Hopkins is a full-service law firm with deep core competencies in all areas relevant to representing committees. In addition to our bankruptcy expertise, we constantly draw on other members of the firm to assist our committee clients meet their goals. This includes:
- Banking/Secured Transactions. Our secured transactions lawyers investigate liens allegedly held by secured creditors in bankruptcy cases. On numerous occasions, we have found flaws in those liens, which have given us leverage to create value for our clients.
- Commercial Litigation. We have a strong practice we commonly use to assist our clients. For example, we recently won a $6 million judgment on behalf of unsecured creditors in trial against FedEx Ground.
- Mergers and Acquisitions. Our M&A expertise allows us to develop a deep understanding of asset sales in Chapter 11 cases, a practice becoming a more common “exit strategy” for debtors.
- Trusts. We have an exceptionally strong trusts practice. Trusts are an increasingly utilized structure to deposit non-liquid assets and distribute them over time to unsecured creditors.
- Other Areas. Other practices that we have utilized to benefit committee clients are: general corporate (debtor corporate governance issues); government relations (lobbying for recovery of assets assigned to a creditor liquidating trust), and environmental (analyzing asset value in light of environmental issues).
Representative Creditors’ Committee Engagements
McDonald Hopkins has served or is currently serving as counsel to creditors’ committees and debtors in many large and mid-sized bankruptcy cases. Some representative examples of McDonald Hopkins’ most significant bankruptcy and restructuring matters are listed below.
- Huffy Corporation, et al. (Dayton, Ohio) Leading distributor of bicycles and other wheeled products; over $220 million of revenue; publicly traded
- North Oakland Medical Center, et al. (Detroit, Michigan) Large intercity hospital; over $95 million of revenue
- James River Coal Company, et al. (Nashville, Tennessee) Coal mining company; over $280 million of secured debt
- Amcast Industrial, et al. (Dayton, Ohio) Leading cast aluminum wheel manufacturer to automotive industry; over $185 million of revenue; publicly traded
- Ideal Electric Company (Cleveland, Ohio) Manufacturer of diesel engines and medium power generators for turbines
- Spinnaker Industries, et al. (Columbus, Ohio) Leading provider of pressure sensitive adhesive roll and sheet products; over $155 million of revenue
- ProCare Automotive Service Solutions LLC, et al. (Cleveland, Ohio) Automotive service 82 store chain
- Medina Glass Block, et al. (Akron, Ohio) Northeast Ohio manufacturer and installer of glass block windows: $10 million of revenue
- Trim Trends Co., et al. (Detroit, Michigan) Tier I and II automotive parts manufacturer; over $25 million of revenue
- American Paper Group, Inc. (Youngstown, Ohio) Envelope manufacturer; over $35 million of debt
- Eagle Trim (Detroit, Michigan) Tier I automotive subsidiary of Eagle Picher; over $20 million of annual revenue
- DT Industries (Dayton, Ohio) Assembly products manufacturer and automotive supplier; over $200 million of revenue
- Federal Forge, Inc. (Grand Rapids, Michigan) Tier II Automotive supplier; over $45 million in annual revenue
- Tri-Cast, Inc. (Grand Rapids, Michigan) Automotive turbo engine component forger
- PLC Fountainwalk (Detroit, Michigan) A large suburban mall with $55 million in secured debt
- The V Companies, et al. (Cleveland, Ohio) Construction management and architectural firm; over $20 million of debt representation by McDonald Hopkins member prior to joining firm
- Cold Metal Products, Inc. (Youngstown, Ohio) Steel processing company; over $150 million of revenue
- Air Nail Company, et al. (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) Manufacturer of commercial nails, staplers, carton systems, and collated fasteners
- AG Industries, Inc. (Youngstown, Ohio) Steel industry service company; over $40 million of debt
- Pittsburgh-Canfield Corp., et al. (Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel) (Youngstown, OH) Noteholders’ committee co-counsel steel manufacturer; over $1 billion in annual revenue; representation by McDonald Hopkins member prior to joining firm
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