Insolvency & Corporate Recovery

We can advise you on any aspect of contentious corporate and personal recovery and insolvency. Our specialist team will guide you through bankruptcy proceedings, debt restructuring and rescheduling, and winding up proceedings.

We act for, among others:

• Insolvency practitioners
• Banks
• Senior lenders
• Directors
• Indivudals
• Creditors

Our team, led by Karen Dobson, will provide clear and helpful answers to your questions. You may also find it useful to check our FAQs further down the page.

Bankruptcy Proceedings

We advise on all bankruptcy issues, whether for insolvency practitioners, individuals, creditors or others affected by bankruptcy.

If you’re a Trustee in Bankruptcy, we’ll explain and support you with all aspects of personal insolvency and securing the bankrupt’s assets for creditors. This could include:

• Possession and orders for sale applications and recovery of assets. This involves liaising with the bankrupt and/or a third party to sell their property, or applying to court to obtain an order to sell it.
• If a bankrupt does not co-operate with the official receiver or their trustee in bankruptcy, we can apply to court to suspend their automatic discharge from bankruptcy.
• The bankrupt may have disposed of assets prior to bankruptcy or repaid some of their creditors but not others. These are called ‘antecedent transactions’ or ‘preference claims’ and we can help trace these assets or apply to court to restore the position as it was before the transaction.
• We’ll help you apply to court to resolve ‘principles of equity of exoneration and equitable accounting claims’. This means a spouse or co-owner of a property jointly owned with the bankrupt has claimed a larger share, or that either owner has taken equity out of the property for their sole benefit.
• We can apply to the Land Registry to place restrictions on the title of bankrupt’s property, so it cannot be disposed of without you being alerted. These restrictions should be removed once the bankruptcy is concluded.
• If you’re unable to realise the property in a bankrupt’s estate, we can apply to court to secure your interest in it.
• We can apply for freezing orders on assets that are subject to litigation, and trace them in the UK and overseas, using our extensive global network of professionals.

We regularly advise individuals and their businesses on the impact of personal insolvency, such as:

• Challenging statutory demands and bankruptcy petitions
• Supporting or opposing principles of equity of exoneration and equitable accounting claims (explained above)
• Defending antecedent transactions and preference claims (explained above)
• Annulments of bankruptcy order
• Defending claims for possession
• Generally advising on all aspects of bankruptcy.

If you are a creditor owed money by an individual, we can issue statutory demands and bankruptcy petitions to help get it back.

We can help prove the debt owed to you and explain how getting it repaid could be affected by aspects such as an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) or bankruptcy. We can also challenge the actions of trustees and their costs.

Debt Restructuring & Rescheduling

We provide clearly explained, practical advice on debt restructuring, rescheduling and recovery for:

• insolvency practitioners
• borrowers and lenders,
• professional advisers
• directors and members of companies
• partnerships and individuals, whether creditors or debtors.

We also have a specialised debt recovery team and you can find out more about their business debt recovery scheme here.

Winding Up Proceedings

Winding up a company is clearly a significant action and consequently the court procedure to obtain an Order has to meet to strict statutory provisions and is often complex.

Whether you’re a debtor, secured or unsecured creditor or an insolvency practitioner, we’ll guide you through on all the stages of winding up, from initiation to issue of the Order and beyond.

For insolvency practitioners or debtors/directors involved in proceedings following the winding up Order, we can help with:

• recovery of assets
• antecedent transactions,
• wrongful or fraudulent trading
• director disqualification
• and other insolvency issues.

What is an IVA? 

An individual voluntary arrangement (IVA) is an arrangement which an individual enters into with their creditors. We can put you in touch with a suitable licensed insolvency practitioner, who will help you to draw up the proposal, become the nominee, and arrange the necessary creditors’ meeting.

Can you help with LPA Receivers?

If you’re a secured creditor, we can use our connections to help you appoint an appropriate LPA receiver. We also advise LPA receivers on their duties or alternatively can help you if you want to contest the actions of an LPA receiver.

What is a Statutory demand?

It’s a written warning, to an individual or company, from a creditor. If you’re a creditor we can help you prepare a statutory demand and, if the individual or the company still doesn’t pay, our debt recovery team will advise you on the legal processes involved in petitioning for bankruptcy or winding-up.

What does ‘Directors’ liabilities’ mean?

Directors are obliged by law to act in the best interests of their company and the company’s creditors and must also meet their equitable and general duties.  A director who breaches their duties could:

• be disqualified as a director
• be sued by either the company or the appointed insolvency practitioner
• have to pay the company’s debts themselves
• face sanctions which could include fines or even imprisonment.

What is Liquidation?

Liquidation is an insolvency procedure where the appointed liquidator realises the assets of a company and distributes them to creditors. Liquidation can be compulsory or voluntary.

Compulsory liquidation is instigated by a creditor and follows a court order. Voluntary liquidation is instigated by the members or creditors of the company. Unlike administration, liquidation always results in the company being dissolved.

We can advise on the best possible way to put your company into liquidation while protecting the directors and shareholders, and where necessary, liaise with insolvency practitioners.

What does it mean when a company goes into Administration?

Administration is a means of rescuing a company by protecting their assets from any type of creditor action, for a set period.

We advise companies, company directors, shareholders, creditors and insolvency practitioners on the issues involved with administration. We also provide guidance for landlords, creditors with existing security and creditors with retention of title.

If you are a director trying to steer your company through tough times, we can tell you whether administration is right for you and explain the alternatives. Our close ties with insolvency practitioners ensure we give you up to date, pragmatic advice and we can put you in touch with one to begin the process.

We also advise insolvency practitioners acting as administrators on all aspects of insolvency law, such as:

• the legal aspects of group re-organisations and restructurings
• schemes of arrangement
• business and property sales
• pre-packs
• investigating prior transactions entered into by the company or its directors.