Insolvency is a process, not a verdict. Entered deliberately, it is one of the more orderly things the law does.
The approach
The department represents debtors and creditors in all chapters — individual Chapter 7 and 13, business Chapter 11 including subchapter V — together with creditor rights, adversary proceedings, and out-of-court workouts for parties who would rather not file at all.
A great deal of value is decided in the weeks before a petition: which assets are exempt, which transfers will be scrutinised, whether a workout remains available. Clients who telephone early have options. Clients who telephone after a judgment has been entered generally have fewer, and pay more for them.
Major areas within the department
Individual Chapter 7 liquidation and Chapter 13 repayment plans for a person whose debts have outrun what can be managed voluntarily.
Chapter 11, including the streamlined subchapter V available to smaller businesses, and the out-of-court restructuring that sometimes achieves the same result.
Proofs of claim, relief from the automatic stay, preference defence, and adversary proceedings brought on behalf of a creditor in someone else’s bankruptcy.
Negotiated resolution of distressed debt — forbearance, assignment or restructuring — for parties who would rather not file at all.
Resources
Representative matters
Details are altered to preserve confidentiality.
Questions
Will I lose my house?
In Florida, usually not. The homestead exemption is unlimited in value, though acreage limits and timing rules apply and both are unforgiving.
What is subchapter V?
A streamlined Chapter 11 for smaller businesses — faster, cheaper, and without a creditors’ committee. It has made reorganization realistic for companies that could not previously afford it.
Should I file, or work it out?
That depends on how many creditors there are and whether they will act in concert. A workout with two lenders is plausible; a workout with forty trade creditors rarely is.
The first conversation costs nothing, and commits you to nothing.
