Services

Bankruptcy Consulting Services

The professionals in the Bankruptcy Consulting Group at HSSK serve as consultants, financial advisors, and/or expert witnesses for debtors, creditors and other parties in bankruptcy proceedings. The firm has been involved in over 1,000 bankruptcies, including Braniff, Continental Airlines, National Gypsum, Members of First Mortgage Investment Association, Shearn Moody, McFadden Interest, Fleming Foods, Lomas Mortgage, Heartland Steel and WRT. Marc Schwartz also served as a Chapter 11 Trustee.

Bankruptcy Litigation
Experience in the Firm’s Bankruptcy practice makes HSSK particularly valuable to attorneys in bankruptcy litigation as an advisor to parties and as trustee. The Bankruptcy Litigation practice includes preference and avoidance action litigation as well as trustee claims against professionals and officers and directors of the bankrupt entity. HSSK professionals have provided expert testimony in bankruptcy court on numerous occasions and our credibility is enhanced by our depth of experience and credentials as CPAs, CFEs and ASAs.

Preference & Avoidance Actions
Identifying potential preference and avoidance actions and defending against them requires an understanding of the applicable sections of the bankruptcy code, the ability to establish the debtor's customary practices in dealing with its creditors, and the ability to work closely with counsel to apply the law to specific transactions. Because of their extensive experience in working with debtors, creditors and trustees, HSSK performs these analyses, understand the relationship of cost to benefit in this type of work, and are accustomed to defending their work on the stand.

HSSK professionals are experienced in administering bankruptcy estates as well serving as trustees and debtors in possession. They are exceptionally skilled at investigating and assisting the attorney in pursuing preferences, fraudulent conveyances and other avoidance and disgorgement actions on behalf of the estate.

Financial Advisors
Parties involved in the bankruptcy process must often make financial decisions which are critical to the creditors' ultimate recovery. For Committees, these decisions must frequently be made quickly, particularly as they relate to proposed sales of non-core assets by the Debtor. HSSK brings to clients involved in the bankruptcy process its extensive bankruptcy experience along with its expertise in financial forensics and business asset valuation. HSSK can assist its clients throughout this process, from analyzing the value of certain assets to investigating the factors leading up to bankruptcy.

Troubled Companies
Working with troubled companies either as a debtor or creditor requires unique skills and knowledge of the debt resolution process and of the values available to work with. Our personnel are experienced in working with bankrupt and financially distressed companies to develop a workable strategy to maximize the recovery of the creditors, either through the restructuring and continued operation of the debtor or through a whole or partial liquidation.

Solvency Analysis
It is often critical to the successful prosecution or defense of a preference or avoidance action to show that the debtor was either solvent or insolvent at the time a transaction occurred and continued in such state to the filing of bankruptcy. This requires not only an understanding of the principles underlying the debtor's financial records but also the ability to value component assets, and the debtor itself in some cases, in order to determine solvency. HSSK is experienced in performing these complex analyses and testifying as to conclusions.

Plan Related Services
HSSK performs feasibility studies, evaluates business units, and prepares business valuation reports, as well as providing expert witness testimony in connection with proposed plans of reorganization.

Other Bankruptcy Services
HSSK serves as consultants to secured creditors by overseeing the protection and maintenance of facilities, rolling stock, and other major estate assets, including analyzing Monthly Operating Reports, monitoring reports or professionals, and supervising sales of significant estate assets to ensure that full value is received by the estate. HSSK can also assist debtors in preparing bankruptcy schedules and, post petition, Monthly Operating Reports.

For more information

Jeff W. Spilker, JD, CPA/ABV
jspilker@hssk.com or (713) 771-5011

W. Marc Schwartz CPA, CFE
mschwartz@hssk.com or (713) 771-5011

Christopher J. Kelly, CFE
ckelly@hssk.com or (214) 741-5360