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Bankruptcy is generally a mix of both transactional and litigation practice, correct? Are there general percentage figures on which type of work is more common? Do associates/lawyers in general tend to focus on one type of practice or the other, or is the nature of bankruptcy such that you will always be involved in both? If I am looking at firms that have well-reputed bankruptcy practices, how do I tell from the website whether the work they do is mostly transactional or litigation?

(Anon b/c identifiable from past posts/combined with info here.)

Bankruptcy will always require both transactional and litigation work. There is no way to enter that practice and expect to do only one or the other.

The nature of bankruptcy is mixed... when you as a lawyer file for a client's bankruptcy, you're dealing with the corporation's management and activities while also doing litigation work in bankruptcy court. It will not change significantly from firm to firm. The only way that bankruptcy work changes from firm to firm is whether you're working for the creditors or the debtors. If you are working for the creditors, you will probably be litigating more, since you're more involved after the debtor has filed, while if you're working on the debtor side, it's probably a more equal mix.

The general idea that you do both litigation and transactional is correct. Some places offer the opportunity to focus on one more than the other -- at some firms, there is both a general bankruptcy practice and BK as a sub-specialty of litigation; at others, you can find attorneys who focus on the deal-making aspects of BK. Check the bios of bankruptcy attorneys at the firms you're looking at. Do they discuss spinoffs and divestitures (transactional), or disputes with debtors/creditors (litigation)? The breakdown between creditor and debtor work in the post above this one seems accurate. As counsel for the debtor company (the company that files for bankruptcy), you are necessarily involved in everything. As counsel for creditors, you're usually going after the debtor in court to get your money. You can also work for third parties that wish to purchase distressed assets.

Exactly what I was looking for. Especially how to understand the bios. Thanks guys.

-OP

Mce252 wrote:Bankruptcy will always require both transactional and litigation work. There is no way to enter that practice and expect to do only one or the other.

That isn't true. My firm has about 30% dedicated bankruptcy litigators.

Ask them if they ever do some bankruptcy transactional work when they are working on a case. I can almost guarantee most of them will say yes, of course.

There are litigators that might handle an adversary proceeding in a bankruptcy court but for attorneys that are actual bankruptcy practitioners, you will probably not meet any that don't do some of both.

Mce252 wrote:Ask them if they ever do some bankruptcy transactional work when they are working on a case. I can almost guarantee most of them will say yes, of course.

There are litigators that might handle an adversary proceeding in a bankruptcy court but for attorneys that are actual bankruptcy practitioners, you will probably not meet any that don't do some of both.

I am telling you that at my firm there are "bankruptcy litigators" who only deal with adversary proceedings in BK courts. And other firms in my market.