bankruptcy filing

Ten Retailers Possibly Filing for Bankruptcy in 2024

2024 holds much anticipation. The Fed rate hikes have started to reduce inflation, yet some prices remain high. Unemployment figures persist at record lows despite many large employers cutting back. Continuing supply chain issues persist as China reopens in the face of its COVID crisis. And consumer spending is tightening in preparation for bumps in the year ahead. Will we avoid a recession and have a soft landing? This volatile mix of economic data may lead several retailers to use the bankruptcy process to stay viable.

Following are our top 10 retailers to watch for a possible Chapter 11 filing in the year ahead.

  1. Petco – Is Fido Chasing a Chapter 11 Bone? According to Retail Dive, the company has a high long-term debt load of $1.7 billion. According to iHeart, the company’s FRISK Score at the end of last year was 2 with CreditRiskMonitor, which represents a 4% to 10% chance of bankruptcy in the next 12 months. These factors could lead the 1,500 store chain to think about reducing its footprint through a bankruptcy filing.
  2. JOANN – Crafting a Chapter 11 Plan? Retail Wire reports that Jo-Ann Fabrics, now known as JOANN, continues with declining sales,
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March 8, 2024 by ATTORNEY

Rudy Giuliani files for bankruptcy following $146 million defamation suit judgment

Former New York City mayor and Donald Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani filed for bankruptcy Thursday, according to a court filing. 

Giuliani filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy less than a week after a jury ordered him to pay $146 million in damages to Fulton County election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, who sued him for defamation. He estimates his liabilities are between about $100 million and $500 million. The damage award was originally set at $148 million, but the federal judge presiding over the case later reduced it to $145,969,000.

“This maneuver is unsurprising, and it will not succeed in discharging Mr. Giuliani’s debt to Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss,” Michael Gottleib, a lawyer for the two women, said in a statement.

On Wednesday, Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, ordered Giuliani to compensate the pair of election workers immediately, expressing concern that he may have been dishonest about his finances and that he might not comply with the judgment.

Giuliani had falsely claimed in the wake of the 2020 presidential election that the election workers engaged in a fake ballot processing scheme. His attorney recently signaled that his pockets weren’t deep

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January 3, 2024 by ATTORNEY

WeWork seeks bankruptcy protection in stunning fall for a firm once valued at close to $50 billion

NEW YORK (AP) — WeWork has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, marking a stunning fall for the office sharing company once seen as a Wall Street darling that promised to upend the way people went to work around the world.

The New York company said late Monday that it had entered into a restructuring agreement with most of its stakeholders aimed at slashing its debt, while it looks to trim its commercial office lease portfolio.

The agreement is expected to erase about $3 billion of WeWork’s debt, CEO David Tolley told The Associated Press.

WeWork is paying the price for aggressive expansion in its early years. The company went public in October 2021 after its first attempt to do so two years earlier collapsed spectacularly. The debacle led to the ouster of founder and CEO Adam Neumann, whose erratic behavior and exorbitant spending spooked early investors.

“I feel like (WeWork) has been imploding in slow motion,” Nicole Schmidt, an attorney and managing partner at investment banking firm Oberon Securities, said while pointing to Neumann’s actions that lead up to the company’s first IPO failing.

“WeWork as a company may survive, but they’ve got a tremendous amount of baggage,” she

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November 12, 2023 by ATTORNEY

WeWork seeks bankruptcy protection in stunning fall for a company once valued close to $50 billion

NEW YORK (AP) — WeWork has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, a stunning fall for the office-sharing company that once promised to upend the way people went to work around the world.

The filing comes at a time of incredible disruption in the commercial real estate market. The COVID-19 pandemic led to a spike in vacancies and major markets, from New York to San Francisco, are still struggling.

But it was an aggressive expansion in WeWork’s early years, that led to the bulk of its current troubles. The company went public in October 2021 after an attempt two years earlier collapsed spectacularly. The debacle led to the ouster of founder and CEO Adam Neumann, whose erratic behavior and exorbitant spending spooked early investors.

Despite efforts to turn the company around since Neumann’s departure — including significant cuts to operating costs and rising revenue — WeWork has struggled in a commercial real estate market that has been rocked by the rising cost of borrowing money, as well as a shifting dynamic for millions of office workers now checking into work remotely.

“I feel like (WeWork) has been imploding in slow motion,” said Nicole Schmidt, an attorney and managing

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November 8, 2023 by ATTORNEY

Parishes, schools to be shielded from lawsuits in Archdiocese of Baltimore bankruptcy for now

A federal bankruptcy judge on Tuesday agreed to shield the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s parishes and schools from lawsuits, at least for now, in order to protect insurance policies that are likely some of the archdiocese’s most important assets.

The decision means that childhood sexual abuse survivors will not be able to file lawsuits against an individual parish or school if the institution was covered by the same insurance policy as the archdiocese.

The judge’s order shielding those institutions is preliminary. A legal fight over the church’s assets is almost certain to come later as plaintiff’s lawyers seek compensation and other benefits for sexual abuse victims in the bankruptcy.

The archdiocese’s lawyers on Tuesday presented the move as an effort to shield assets that will later be distributed among victims with claims against abusive members of the clergy and church officials that protected them.

RELATED: Maryland’s Child Victims Act takes effect: What to expect in the days ahead

If survivors file lawsuits against individual parishes that are covered by the same insurance policies as the archdiocese, their potential winnings in court would diminish the total amount available for distribution from the policies later, they said.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michelle M. Harner

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October 5, 2023 by ATTORNEY
April 2024
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