Day in the Life of a Bankruptcy Lawyer: 20 Tips for a Bankruptcy Lawyer

Day in the Life of a Bankruptcy Lawyer: 20 Tips for a Bankruptcy Lawyer

Bankruptcy lawyers are masters of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and work across disciplines as explained at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, bankruptcy/restructuring has become busier than ever, making it an attractive practice for many up-and-coming lawyers as well as experienced lawyers who want to explore another area. If you are wondering what a bankruptcy lawyer’s day-to-day looks like, then this article has got you covered.

There is no typical day

Straight off the bat, let’s start by saying that there is no typical day as a bankruptcy lawyer as per RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com. This is because restructuring is such a hybrid practice, and you could have different duties to do daily.

Prioritizing

As a bankruptcy lawyer, prioritizing tasks is a major part of your workday. The age of a case dictates an attorney’s activities. Newer cases may require more attention than cases that were filed months or even years earlier.

Who you work with

Junior associates primarily work with senior associates as articulated at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com. In some smaller firms, a junior associate may work directly with a partner. For large cases, the bankruptcy department may set up a team comprised of junior- and senior-level associates and partners.

Working with other professionals

In their day-to-day life, bankruptcy attorneys confer with financial advisors and accountants representing clients and adversaries. Other non-lawyer professionals with whom a bankruptcy attorney may work include appraisers, auctioneers, and trustees. You may also work with other attorneys in the firm specializing in different practice areas.

Preparing and reviewing court filings

As a bankruptcy lawyer, especially if you are a junior bankruptcy attorney, you will be required to prepare and review court fillings – petitions, statements of financial affairs, schedules of assets and liabilities, and all types of motions such as the use of cash collateral and relief from the automatic stay.

Telephone conferences

According to RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com, part of the day as a bankruptcy lawyer involves participating in telephone conferences with clients and adversaries to discuss pending portions and other requests for relief to amicably resolve disputes.

Strategy meetings

Strategy meetings also form a major part of your workday as a bankruptcy lawyer. Here, you strategize with co-counsel or colleagues on seeking relief, opposing relief, coordinating discovery, or oral argument on a motion seeking relief.

Other duties

There are lots of other duties that you will be required to carry out as a bankruptcy lawyer as captured at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com. Some of them include drafting responses to motions and other filings and engaging in discovery in a contested matter or adversary proceeding, among others.

Variety is the spice of life

For a bankruptcy lawyer, variety is the spice of life as this is an area where variety abounds. As a bankruptcy attorney, you can be called on to address corporate, tax, environmental, employment, real estate, finance, securities, class actions, and litigation issues in the bankruptcy case.

Motion practice

In addition to the different legal issues that arise, bankruptcy involves a large amount of motion practice. most bankruptcy motions are fact-sensitive and, therefore, tend to vary by the parties involved. Bankruptcy attorneys must craft the motion or objection by applying the law to the facts of each case.

The venue is not fixed

As a bankruptcy lawyer, where you will be working for the day is not fixed as covered at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com. Some days, you will be at a client’s offices, working with the client and its other advisers to formulate a restructuring strategy and prepare the company for a Chapter 11 filing, for instance, while some other days you might be in court seeking confirmation of a Chapter 11 plan.

More meetings

In addition to strategy meetings, you will also be required to attend lots of other meetings throughout the day as a bankruptcy lawyer. These include internal and external meetings, including with fellow professionals on a given case, both on the same side and across the aisle.

Working with others

From senior management to younger associates, a day in the life of a bankruptcy attorney involves lots of instances where you have to work with others as described at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com. If you are a senior attorney, you will be required to work with and mentor the junior attorneys in the team.

Demanding days

Bankruptcy is extremely fast-paced. Cases generally move very swiftly through the courts. Additionally, at the onset of a case, it is common for the debtor to file a large number of first-day motions seeking many different forms of relief. The speed at which a case proceeds can be daunting at times and attorneys must make sacrifices to meet the demands of the practice.

Intellectually stimulating

Both the lawyers and judges in bankruptcy law tend to be smart and competent. The intellectual stimulation from working with or against such attorneys or appearing before the bankruptcy bench is one of the main rewarding aspects of the working day.

Keeping up with the latest trends

The field of bankruptcy law is always changing as discussed at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com. Therefore, you must set aside time during your workday to go through popular sites to keep up with the latest news and trends.

Time in court

Bankruptcy is a courtroom process, with a bankruptcy judge overseeing each bankruptcy proceeding and approving all major decisions. Therefore, a bankruptcy attorney spends much of their time in court, arguing for or against debtor and creditor motions and often participating in full-time trials.

DIP financing agreements

In Chapter 11 cases, where the debtor continues operating as a “going concern”, a primary focus of the weeks before and immediately after the bankruptcy filing is negotiating DIP financing as outlined at RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com. Bankruptcy attorneys negotiate and draft these DIP financing agreements, fluent in the provisions of the Code and case law governing these facilities.

Negotiations

The negotiations that you will attempt as a bankruptcy attorney with creditors include budget forecasts, dealing with the spending of DIP money, budget carve-outs for debtors/creditors committee counsel, and many others.

Winding-up

As the day comes to an end, a bankruptcy attorney will look back at the day they have had and review the tasks they were supposed to do and see if they got all of them done. One will then plan for the next day so that they hit the road running when they report to work the next day.

These are some of the things to expect in a day in the life of a bankruptcy lawyer, with the excellent RunRex.com, guttulus.com, and mtglion.com being your best bet when looking for more on this topic and much more.