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When Should a Small Business Owner File for Bankruptcy?

For small business owners, the decision to file for bankruptcy is often scary, stressful, and intimidating. It’s a critical choice that can have far-reaching implications for both the business and the personal lives of the owners and any employees who work for the business. Sometimes, it’s 100 percent the right choice. But it all depends on how you approach it. 

Understanding the Truth of Bankruptcy

First off, let’s tackle the stigma. Bankruptcy often comes with a shadow of failure, but in reality, it’s a legal tool designed to provide a fresh start. It’s about making a strategic choice to protect what can be saved and to rebuild on a more solid foundation.

As bankruptcy attorney Rowdy G. Williams explains, “We need to get over the notion that bankruptcy is embarrassing or a black mark on who you are as a person. Bankruptcy is a legal and ethical tool that exists to help people escape bad financial situations. See it as a tool – not a mistake.”

When you see bankruptcy as a tool – much like debt can be a tool – it starts to open you

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February 24, 2024 by ATTORNEY

Here’s how to get your money back if a business shuts down or files bankruptcy

NORFOLK, Va. — Phillip Coe, an Army veteran, says he was looking forward to escaping the day-to-day by taking a trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

He booked the trip in 2019 with a travel agency that specifically helps military members and their families.

Coe says the final cost, including airfare and a hotel, came out to $1,137.65. However, before the 21-year Army veteran could make the trip, there was the pandemic and then he was diagnosed with cluster headaches, in addition to his leukemia.

“They call them suicide headaches and if you’ve ever had one, you know why,” he says. “Cluster headaches are very painful. They come on one side of your head, and you never know when you are going to get them. It just ruins your whole life.”

He shared a medical statement from his neurologist with me, which says

“Mr. Coe is an active patient at this facility’s neurology clinic due to a diagnosis of cluster headaches. Traveling at high altitudes affects cerebral blood flow and is known to trigger an attack of cluster headaches. Due to this condition, Mr. Coe was advised and will no longer be able to fly on any aircraft.”

Coe

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January 17, 2024 by ATTORNEY

Father of Highland Park massacre suspect files for bankruptcy

The father of the Highland Park massacre suspect has filed for bankruptcy as he faces mounting legal costs related to the 2022 Fourth of July parade shooting.

Robert Crimo Jr. owes more than $1.6 million to more than 50 creditors, according to his October filing in federal bankruptcy court.

That total does not include the potential damages he could face in a dozen pending civil lawsuits from parade shooting victims and their families. A bank has already foreclosed on his Highland Park property.

Prosecutors say his son, Robert Crimo III, fired an assault rifle from a rooftop on July 4, 2022, killing seven people and wounding 48 more.

Crimo Jr.’s income has dried up, and he reported just over $200 in his bank accounts. He reported making $6,793 in 2023, far less than the $70,400 he reported in 2022, and $72,678 in 2021. He recently worked for three months at a Goodwill in Milwaukee, according to the filing.

His debts include a $2,800 unpaid dental bill, more than $2,600 in unpaid tickets in Chicago, thousands in unpaid utility bills and an unpaid car loan.

The largest chunk of debt is corporate loans totaling more than $1.4 million. Crimo Jr. once

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December 28, 2023 by ATTORNEY

Mercy arranging tours for potential bidders in its bankruptcy sale


Mercy Iowa City is shown Aug. 7 in Iowa City. in Iowa City,. The hospital, now in bankruptcy, has arranged tours of its health care facilities next week for potential bidders interested in competing for its assets against the University of Iowa. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
Mercy Iowa City is shown Aug. 7 in Iowa City. in Iowa City. The hospital, now in bankruptcy, has arranged tours of its health care facilities next week for potential bidders interested in competing for its assets against the University of Iowa. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

IOWA CITY — Mercy Iowa City has arranged tours of its health care facilities next week for potential bidders interested in competing for its assets against the University of Iowa — which last month made an initial “stalking horse” bid of $20 million to buy the 150-year-old community hospital.

During a hearing Wednesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court — following Mercy’s Aug. 7 filing for Chapter 11 protection — attorney Felicia Perlman, representing Mercy through her Chicago firm, McDermott Will & Emery, said, “We do have several parties who have signed (nondisclosure agreements) and are active in the data room, and we are providing diligence to and these tours for.”

“We’ll know more whether they are likely to be real bidders or whether they lose interest,” Perlman told Judge Thad Collins in response to his request for a status update.

She reported active recruitment and outreach to any individuals or entities that have expressed interest.

“We

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September 18, 2023 by ATTORNEY

Architect of Detroit’s bankruptcy filing 10 years ago says it was the best fix for a broken city | News, Sports, Jobs

Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Detroit on Dec. 12, 2013. The architect of Detroit’s bankruptcy filing admits it was a miserable process. But 10 years on, Detroit’s former emergency manager, Orr, maintains the restructuring of the Motor City is among his most important accomplishments. On July 18, 2013, Detroit became the largest city in the U.S. to file for bankruptcy. (AP photo)

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