Adversarial Corporate Dissolution
When a Company dissolves it sometimes cannot cover all its obligations which will implicate a host of issues for those with claims against its assets, including Officers and other employees who may have severance or other contract or statutory based claims or certain priorities under contracts or statutes. Unless you have competent counsel, you are unlikely to be abreast of what your obligations may be if you are a company or what your rights may be if you are an officer or other employee. In addition, secured and unsecured creditors of the company may have claims as well that need guidance from counsel.
Adversarial Bankruptcy Litigation
When a Company files for bankruptcy protection, it generally will notify all its Creditors. If you are a Creditor, you will need to take certain specific steps if you have a claim you wish to pursue unless the Trustee does it otherwise. The Trustee may argue that the schedules were not filled out accurately or filed timely, or the Trustee may seek to collect money from another creditor improperly paid by the debtor, or who received an unlawful or fraudulent conveyance or transfer. Often when a creditor files an adversary proceeding, it is because the creditor is contesting discharge of the debt in bankruptcy on any number of grounds, including that the debt was procured through fraud, willful or malicious injury, or personal injury caused by drunk driving. Depending on a number of circumstances, including the size of the bankruptcy estate and the claim, including the type of relief sought, an adversarial proceeding in bankruptcy court may be advisable. To reiterate, sometimes the trustee will initiate an adversarial proceeding itself and other times a creditor may have to initiate their own. If the case cannot be resolved by the parties informally through settlement then the bankruptcy judge will adjudicate the issues.