Avoidance Actions
Pursuit and defense of preferences and fraudulent transfer litigation is vital to bankruptcy practice. Lakelaw’s attorneys have had substantial experience both pursuing and defending these actions. Among the leading cases in the field of fraudulent transfers is Leibowitz v. Parkway Bank (In re Image Worldwide), 139 F.3d. 574 (7th Cir. 1998), a case taken to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals where David Leibowitz recovered over half a million dollars in fraudulent transfers to a bank in derogation of other creditors rights. This case has been rather important in the development of the law, having been cited in numerous other reported decisions.
Case Study:
Lakelaw recently represented a Wisconsin firm which learned that an Illinois firm was being liquidated for the benefit of its bank and to the detriment of unsecured creditors. Lakelaw learned that the bank had only recently perfected its security interest and filed an involuntary bankruptcy case against the debtor. The trustee hired Lakelaw to avoid the preferential transfers in favor of the bank allowing the bankruptcy estate to sell machinery and equipment free and clear of the bank’s lien and also to recover hundreds of thousands from the bank for the benefit of unsecured creditors.
