Introduction

• Author: David J. Cook
• Pages: vii-x

Introduction: Insolvency Is a

Settled Expectation

Find What You Need Quickly

The mantra of every attorney, business person, financial professional, col-

lection agent, and banker is “What do I need to know?” Without an attorney

who cycles through insolvencies as a part of a practice, quickly assessing

the filing or other requirement for many professionals is burdensome.

This is the “Tell Me What I Need to Know” book. It is organized into two

major sections.

• The first section is a general discussion of insolvency and the

requirements that are common in each type of proceedings. Every

insolvency proceeding has its own claim requirements, distribution

procedures, risk of claim objections, and nuances that must be tack-

led. This first section offers a general overview to enable the reader

to better eyeball what is truly important.

• The second section looks at each type of insolvency. The headings

of each section provide the step by step overview.

Given each type of insolvency is a standalone process, the reader can

quickly find the section relevant to his or her needs, as opposed to wading,

page by page and chapter by chapter, through an entire tome. When faced

with a bankruptcy—whether as a creditor or as a debtor—the reader wants

to quickly learn the law of bankruptcy and, just as importantly, ignore the

law of bulk transfers, although it is highly entertaining.

Following the opening section of each topic is a discussion of the key

touchstones of each proceeding. Few practitioners care about fee applica-

tions in bankruptcy court, which is certainly a more important topic for

fee applicants. However, sales orders are important in bankruptcy, as we

learn in the General Motors case (the ignition switch case). On the other

hand, every practitioner becomes immersed in timely filing a proof of claim,

complying with the automatic stay, and learning how to defend a preference

lawsuit (in bankruptcy court). These topics of discussion are the hit parade.

The unbendable rule, whether you wish to plaster it on a T-shirt, carve

it in the marble mantle of the court, or offer it in a Chinese fortune cookie,

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