McDowell Rice has maintained a vigorous and diverse bankruptcy practice for more than half a century. The attorneys in this group are led by R. Pete Smith, an elected Fellow of the prestigious American College of Bankruptcy Attorneys. The bankruptcy group includes capable attorneys who can provide early development of proactive strategies. They offer comprehensive document preparation and aggressive prosecution of litigation for all bankruptcy-related matters.

The Firm is particularly renowned for its expertise in complex and contested corporate bankruptcies and its representation of debtors and secured creditors in the Chapter 11 arena. McDowell Rice is among the select “go to” firms for distressed businesses seeking debt restructuring both inside and outside Chapter 11. The bankruptcy group is composed of attorneys with vast experience in the formulation and implementation of strategies leading to the successful reorganization of financially challenged businesses as well as the enforcement of creditor rights and remedies in both bankruptcy court and state court. In addition to serving as trustee in over 5,000 commercial bankruptcy cases, the firm has represented a wide array of parties, including debtors, secured creditors, unsecured creditors, government agencies, and creditor committees, and trustees. The bankruptcy group’s representation has encompassed the largest Chapter 11 cases in the metropolitan Kansas City area as well as major commercial cases throughout the country.  

Areas of concentration include: 

• Documentation and Enforcement of Creditors Rights and Remedies
• Representation of Distressed Businesses in Workouts, Financial Restructuring and Chapter 11 Bankruptcies
• Representation of Secured Creditors, Creditor Committees and Trustees in Bankruptcies
• Dealer/Franchisee and Supplier Bankruptcy

Examples of our work include:

• Representation of real estate company in $100 million Chapter 11 bankruptcy
• Representation of regional trucking company in ongoing Chapter 11 reorganization
• Representation of consortium of lenders on $400,000,000 credit facility in the largest Chapter 11 case in the region
• Representation of lender on $250,000,000 credit facility in billion dollar construction materials company bankruptcy