Financial Services Case Studies

Financial Services Case Studies

Silicon Valley Law Group's  (SVLG) Financial Services Group won a judgment against a shareholder who had diverted large sums from his corporation while it was in Chapter 11. SVLG represented one of the largest banks in the United States as well as the bankruptcy trustee.  The court awarded our clients $1,000,000, including all of their legal fees.

Silicon Valley Law Group structured, negotiated and documented secured loans by our commercial bank clients to a variety of enterprises, from software companies to a national golf course operator.  SVLG's Financial Services Group crafted security interests in non-standard collateral, including intellectual property and a concession contract with a government-owned corporation.

Silicon Valley Law Group's client, a parent corporation of a chapter 7 debtor, had invested more than $1,000,000 in capital and made more than $12,000,000 in loans and advance to the subsidiary before the bankruptcy. The bankruptcy trustee sued our client to invalidate its security interest in the assets; to deny the client's right to recover and to force the client to pay back large sums of money it had received from the bankrupt subsidiary.  The Financial Services Group settled the case.  Our client was not responsible for paying back any of the debts or any of the money it had received, and the bankruptcy trustee was ordered to pay our client a substantial sum.

Silicon Valley Law Group represented a long-haul trucking company that was not licensed to provide pickup or delivery services in California.  It learned of an opportunity to acquire the operating assets of a firm that provided such services.  The target company was in Chapter 11 reorganization.  The deal had to be done quickly to preserve the customer base and to minimize the loss of key personnel.  Our Financial Services team helped to complete the acquisition in near-record time.  They worked with the client and the seller's counsel to negotiate and document the transaction, to address the concerns of the employees, customers and creditors; to overcome the objections of a competitor and a lender who opposed the sale; to prepare for the contingency of competing bids for the assets; to obtain bankruptcy court approval of the sale procedures and the sale itself; and to close the deal - all in less than six weeks' time.  Our client achieved its most important objectives: (1) it can now deal directly with its long-haul customers instead of having to rely on others to pick up and deliver their cargo in California; (2) it had the option, during an evaluation period after the closing, to transfer back to the seller any leases or contracts that proved to be undesirable; (3) by acquiring the assets through the bankruptcy court, our client did not assume any of the seller's unwanted liabilities, and it is protected against successor liability; and (4) by getting the deal done so quickly, the key relationships with employees and customers, and the going-concern value of the business, were preserved.