Bankruptcy & Restructuring Assignments

Bankruptcy & Restructuring Assignment

Bankruptcy & restructuring mandates often arise in emergency situations.

For example, one morning, there was urgency in the voice of the lawyer who came into my office with a mandate. He explained that financing for a major restructuring had just been granted, much to the relief of our client, a company facing bankruptcy. However, we only had two days to file a restructuring plan. We needed to draft the plan and a motion, present it to the court, and, most importantly be ready. My job was to draft the motion, while the lawyer would prepare the plan.

In the months that followed, I worked steadily on this restructuring, which was worth tens of millions of dollars and involved a major player in the Québec industry that routinely made regional headlines. Besides legal drafting and research on new points of law, I was assigned a variety of tasks, including communicating with the client, negotiating with the attorneys of the company financing the restructuring, and preparing the meeting with the creditors. I even accompanied the lawyer to court appearances.

This experience illustrates the types of mandates that students and articling students can expect from the firm's Bankruptcy & Restructuring Group. Because it is fast-paced, intense and highly diverse, this practice requires students to be autonomous and encourages them to analyze legal problems from practical and business perspectives. Aside from the deadlines involved in civil law, bankruptcy & restructuring cases often proceed at breakneck speed, dictated by the realities of the business world. This means that the legal problems raised by the cases assigned to students often go beyond the strict boundaries of bankruptcy & restructuring law to encompass corporate and banking law. All to say that bankruptcy & restructuring mandates are intense and incredible learning opportunities. And behind every administrative structure, there's always the unpredictability of human nature to contend with, which makes this adventure all the more exciting.

Such was the case with the restructuring mandate I was assigned. At the closing that would launch the restructuring, I was faced with one last challenge: in a case of last-minute jitters, our client's director suddenly had doubts about signing. After 15 minutes of cold sweats, explanations and rationalization, the director came back and the closing went ahead.

We breathed a sigh of relief … until the next emergency.

Alex Dobrota, Articling Student 2011, Montréal

From the very beginning of my relationship with McCarthy Tétrault, I have had many opportunities to work with the Bankruptcy & Restructuring Group. The lawyers who are part of this group do not only address bankruptcy & insolvency issues, they also deal with related matters. Case in point, during the summer, I was assigned a mandate related to an action to enforce suretyship.

The lawyer in charge of this file gave me a significant level of autonomy by giving me this mandate. He handed me the physical file and then asked me to shed light on a number of legal issues and produce several documents such as arguments, timelines and summaries. In order to complete the mandate, I had to analyze and identify the relevant issues of the file on my own, which was challenging. Throughout the process, I would provide progress reports to the lawyer in order to discuss the results of my analysis, identify any outstanding issue and strategically plan the file going forward. I also attended discussions between the lawyer and our client.

Upon completion of this mandate, I had the pleasure of accompanying the lawyer to court on the day of the hearing. I was able to talk with the client, not only about the case at hand but also about his company in general as well as its market position. It was a very enriching experience. During the hearing, I had the privilege of sitting next to the attorney, at the plaintiff's table, to assist him during the presentation of the case and to provide the relevant documents as the case progressed. The highlight of this adventure: a decision was rendered in our client's favour, allowing our motion. Although I did not plead the case myself, in the end I truly felt I had played a significant role in obtaining this ruling, which was very rewarding.

Overall, I must say that those having difficulty in choosing between litigation and business law, might want to consider bankruptcy & restructuring. This area of expertise gives you the opportunity to mix the best of both worlds, by representing business clients both inside and outside the courts.

David Létourneau, Articling Student 2011, Montréal