Chapter 22
The Troubled Business and Bankruptcy*
22.1 Introduction
Bankruptcy-related work is a specialized profession because bankruptcy has its own court system, laws, language, and fraternity. Before becoming a bankruptcy specialist, one must understand how to apply the Bankruptcy Code and speak the language of the bankruptcy laws. The term specialist does not reflect a designated title as a licensed specialist, but rather refers to someone who has experience in this practice area. Those who wish to specialize in bankruptcy-related work should consider becoming members of the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors (AIRA) and take advantage of its educational resources and its Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor (CIRA) program.
As described in more detail in this chapter, many of the parties in a bankruptcy proceeding—including the debtor or debtor-in-possession, trustee, individual creditors or committees of creditors, individual equity holders or committees of equity holders, or court-appointed examiners—will retain financial advisors and experts. These financial experts often perform the following tasks:
- Assist the debtor in analyzing operational problems, designing a turnaround strategy, and implementing the strategy;
- Provide organization and management evaluations;
- Perform consulting activities (i.e., management advisory services), including the development of a business plan, that provide information ...
