The Financially Troubled Company

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Business Bankruptcy Issues Recent Developments The Financially Troubled Company

The Monetization Of Intellectual Property In Bankruptcy And Restructuring

ABI Panel. Last month I had the honor of speaking on a panel at the American Bankruptcy Institute’s 2022 Annual Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C. The topic of our panel was the Monetization of Intellectual Property in Bankruptcy and Restructuring.

  • I was joined by four distinguished panelists, Leslie Zmugg, General Counsel of Gordon Brothers (who was our moderator); Arthur Daemmrich, the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Director at the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the Smithsonian Institution; Bradley Limpert at Limpert & Associates; and Joshua Pichinson, Managing Director at Sherwood Partners, Inc./agencyIP.
  • The panel covered a range of issues, including an historical perspective on intellectual property and the way business failures impacted technological development, the impact of licenses on IP sales in bankruptcy, due diligence issues in distressed IP sale transactions, and cross-border implications in certain intellectual property transactions.

Video Available. The American Bankruptcy Institute has now made the the video of the panel discussion available for your viewing pleasure — just follow the link in this sentence to watch it.

I hope you find it helpful.

 

 

Image Courtesy of Flickr by Alejandroxwq

Recent Developments The Financially Troubled Company

Fiduciary Duties And Financial Distress In The Time Of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented economic disruption, creating sudden financial distress across industries. Companies are now facing impacts ranging from a dramatic decline in revenue of uncertain duration, to potential setbacks to M&A transactions, to delayed or canceled financing rounds.

With even some previously well-performing companies potentially entering the so-called zone of insolvency, it’s important to review the fiduciary duties owed by directors and officers and how discharging those duties may change in the face of financial distress.

A Refresher On Fiduciary Duties. Let’s start with a high-level overview of the fiduciary duties of directors and officers of a Delaware corporation. This primer is not a substitute for specific legal advice but may help provide context for discussions with counsel.

  • The Key Duties. Under Delaware law, directors and officers owe fiduciary duties of due care and loyalty.
    • The duty of due care requires directors and officers to make informed decisions in good faith and in the best interests of the company.
    • The duty of loyalty requires directors and officers not to engage in self-dealing and to put the interests of the company ahead of their own.
  • Solvency. Under Delaware law, when a company is solvent, the directors and officers owe their fiduciary duties of due care and loyalty to the corporation and to the stockholders.
    • This remains true even for a company in the zone of insolvency (more on that concept below).
    • Stockholders of a solvent company have standing to bring derivative claims for breach of fiduciary duty against directors and officers.
  • Insolvency. When a company is insolvent, meaning it’s not able to pay its creditors in full, the directors and officers still owe their fiduciary duties of due care and loyalty to the corporation.
  • Zone of Insolvency. The zone of insolvency is a term used to describe a company that is still solvent but is approaching insolvency.
    • For a number of years the courts suggested that if a company entered the zone of insolvency, fiduciary duties expanded to include creditors (as well as shareholders).
    • That’s no longer the case. The Delaware Supreme Court clarified that the key inflection point for fiduciary duties is actual insolvency, not the zone of insolvency. Upon actual insolvency, fiduciary duties are still owed to the corporation (rather than being expanded to include creditors) but creditors gain the right to bring derivative claims for breach of fiduciary duty.
    • However, it can be challenging to determine whether a company is still solvent or has already crossed into actual insolvency. The zone of insolvency concept therefore can serve as a useful “caution flag” for directors and officers assessing the issue.
  • Discharging Fiduciary Duties in Insolvency. With that refresher in mind, how should directors and officers best discharge fiduciary duties for a company that has become insolvent? This is a very fact-intensive analysis, and directors and officers should seek specific legal advice for their company’s particular situation, but here are some issues to consider.
    • Generally, the focus should be on maximizing enterprise value without taking undue risk, which will maximize recovery for creditors as the new residual rights holders.
    • Maximizing value may also benefit stockholders but care should be taken if pursuing an upside for stockholders puts creditor recoveries at greater risk.
    • Directors should assess all aspects of the company’s business, seek input from legal and financial advisers where helpful, hold Board meetings as often as needed, follow good corporate process, and continue to avoid conflicts of interest.
    • This will allow directors to enjoy the protection of the business judgment rule, which provides that courts will not second guess a director’s good faith business judgment made with due care.
    • Many companies may have to make immediate or longer-term reductions in expenses and cash burn in an attempt to extend the runway for a turnaround, financing, or sale transaction.
    • If the company has borrowed money from a bank or other secured lender, it’s also critical to assess the lender’s rights, potential remedies, and prospects for a restructuring.
    • Even in difficult situations, maximizing value may mean continuing operations — even though that burns cash — for a limited period to allow the company to complete a sale that the directors believe is likely to close and produce significant value for creditors.
    • In other cases, it may mean winding down (or even shutting down) operations quickly to conserve cash, especially if any asset sale is not expected to generate more than the cash required to pursue it.
    • Restructuring and wind-down alternatives, including Chapter 11 bankruptcy and assignments for the benefit of creditors, may need to be considered as well.

The Unique Impact of COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic and government orders precluding non-essential business operations have produced widespread financial impacts.

  • Companies that have been performing well previously, but are now experiencing financial distress primarily because of COVID-19, may need to assess factors that go beyond those of a traditional distressed company.
  • These could include, among others: financial contingency planning based on the possible duration of the pandemic and stay-at-home or similar orders; negotiations with lenders for short or near-term debt service extensions, additional liquidity, or a restructuring of loan facilities; and potential changes in customer preferences or supplier availability once the pandemic eases.
  • In addition, COVID-19 has prompted federal, state, and local governments to consider assistance programs for specific industries and potentially for businesses across the economy.
  • If these programs are enacted, companies will have to assess whether they are eligible for financial assistance, the conditions placed on receiving assistance, and how long it could take before relief would actually be received.

Conclusion. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted businesses across the economy and caused unexpected and immediate financial impacts. Directors and officers faced with managing through these issues will benefit from specific legal advice about their fiduciary duties and how best to discharge them in these newly uncertain times.

 

 

Photo by Drew Beamer on Unsplash

The Financially Troubled Company

The Venture-Backed Company Running Out Of Cash: Fiduciary Duties And Wind Down Options

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Many start-up companies backed by venture capital financing, especially those still in the development phase or which otherwise are not cash flow breakeven, at some point may face the prospect of running out of cash. Although many will timely close another round of financing, others may not. This post focuses on options available to companies when investors have decided not to fund and the company needs to consider a wind down.

Fiduciary Duties And Maximizing Value. Let’s start with a refresher on the fiduciary duties of directors and officers of a Delaware corporation in financial distress. Please note that this high-level overview is no substitute for actual legal advice on a company’s specific situation.

  • Under Delaware law, directors and officers owe fiduciary duties of due care and loyalty. The duty of due care requires directors and officers to make fully-informed, good faith decisions in the best interests of the company. The duty of loyalty imposes on directors and officers the obligation not to engage in self-dealing and instead to put the interests of the company ahead of their own.
  • When a company is solvent, the directors and officers owe their fiduciary duties of due care and loyalty to the corporation and its stockholders. That remains true even if the company is in the so-called “zone of insolvency.”
  • When a company is insolvent and will not be able to pay its creditors in full, the directors and officers still owe their fiduciary duties of due care and loyalty to the corporation. However, upon insolvency, the creditors have the right to bring derivative (but not direct) claims for breach of fiduciary duty against directors and officers.
  • Follow this link for more on the key Delaware decision discussing the fiduciary duties of directors and officers in the insolvency context.
  • Remember, it can be challenging to determine whether a company is just in the zone of insolvency (meaning still solvent but approaching insolvency) or whether it has crossed the line into actual insolvency.
  • Discharging fiduciary duties when a company is insolvent means a focus on maximizing enterprise value. This is a highly fact-dependent exercise with no one-size-fits-all approach. In some cases, maximizing value may mean continuing operations — even though that burns dwindling cash — to allow the company to complete a sale that the directors believe is likely to close and produce significant value for creditors. In other cases, it may mean winding down (or even shutting down) operations quickly to conserve cash, especially if any asset sale is not expected to generate more than the cash required to pursue it.
  • These complexities make it critical for directors and officers of a company in financial distress to get legal advice tailored to the specific facts and circumstances at hand.

Legal Options For A Wind Down. When the board decides that the company needs to wind down, options range from an informal approach all the way to a public bankruptcy filing. Note that if the company owes money to a bank or other secured creditor, the lender’s right to foreclose on the company’s assets could become a paramount consideration and affect how the wind down is accomplished. Although beyond the scope of this post to analyze each wind down option in detail, the following is a brief overview of different approaches, together with links giving more information.

  • Informal wind down: In an informal wind down, the company typically tries to find a buyer for its assets, eventually lays off its employees, and shuts down any unsold business operations, but does not complete a formal end to the corporate existence. This lack of finality can leave legal loose ends, so alternatives should be carefully considered.
  • Corporate dissolution: A corporate dissolution is a formal process under Delaware law, typically managed by a company officer, for winding up the affairs of the corporation, liquidating assets, and ending the company’s legal existence. A company may choose to do a corporate dissolution when it doesn’t need bankruptcy protection (and prefers not to file bankruptcy) but wants a formal, legal wind down of the corporate entity. Follow this link for more details on corporate dissolution.
  • Assignment for the benefit of creditors: Many states, notably including California and Delaware, recognize a formal process through which a company can hire a professional fiduciary and make a general assignment of the company’s assets and liabilities to that fiduciary, known as the Assignee. In California, no court filing is involved. The Assignee in turn is charged with liquidating the company’s assets for the benefit of creditors, who are notified of the ABC process and instructed to submit claims to the Assignee. If a buyer has been identified, an Assignee may be able to close an asset sale soon after the ABC is made. Follow this link for a an in-depth look at the ABC process.
  • Chapter 7 bankruptcy: A Chapter 7 bankruptcy is a public filing with the United States Bankruptcy Court. A bankruptcy trustee is appointed to take control of all of the company’s assets, including the company’s attorney-client privilege, and the directors and officers no longer have any decision-making authority over the company or its assets. A Chapter 7 trustee rarely operates the business and instead typically terminates any remaining employees and liquidates all assets of the company. The filing triggers the bankruptcy automatic stay, which prevents secured creditors from foreclosing on the company’s assets and creditors from pursuing or continuing lawsuits. The trustee has authority to bring litigation claims on behalf of the corporation, often to recover preferential transfers but sometimes asserting breach of fiduciary duty claims against directors or officers. Unlike a dissolution or an ABC, the bankruptcy trustee in charge of the liquidation process is not chosen by the company.
  • Chapter 11 bankruptcy: A Chapter 11 bankruptcy is also a public filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, and it similarly triggers the bankruptcy automatic stay. Unlike a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, in Chapter 11 — often known as a reorganization bankruptcy — the board and management remain in control of the company’s assets (at least initially) as a “debtor in possession” or DIP. Business operations often continue and funding them and the higher cost of the Chapter 11 process require DIP financing and/or use of a lender’s cash collateral. One primary use of Chapter 11 by a venture-backed company is to sell assets “free and clear” of liens, claims and interests through a Bankruptcy Court-approved sale process under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code. Follow this link for a discussion of how a Section 363 bankruptcy sale in the right circumstances can maximize value for creditors and shareholders.

Conclusion. When a company’s cash is running out and investors have decided not to provide additional financing, the board may conclude that a wind down is required to fulfill fiduciary duties and maximize value. The discussion above is a general description of certain wind down options. Determining whether any of these paths is best for a particular company is fact-specific and dependent on many factors. Be sure to get advice from experienced corporate and insolvency counsel when considering wind down or other restructuring options.

The Financially Troubled Company

You Say You Want A Dissolution: An Overview Of The Formal Corporate Wind Down

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Winding Down. If a corporation’s board of directors decides that the business needs to be wound down, there are a number of legal paths to consider. Determining the best approach is fact-dependent, and the corporation and its board should get legal advice before making a decision. Sometimes a bankruptcy filing is needed, either a Chapter 11 reorganization (perhaps to complete a going-concern sale) or a Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy (in which a trustee will be appointed to liquidate the business). In other cases, an assignment for the benefit of creditors might be a good choice.

A Delaware Corporate Dissolution. This post takes a high-level look at another, often simpler option: the corporate dissolution.  It assumes that the business is a Delaware corporation, since many corporations incorporate there. The laws of the state of incorporation govern the dissolution process, so it’s important to remember that the process described below will differ if the business is incorporated in another state.

Why A Corporate Dissolution? Corporations typically choose to do a corporate dissolution when they don’t need bankruptcy protection (and prefer to avoid filing bankruptcy) but want to have the corporation formally wound down. The dissolution process can be less expensive than other alternatives, particularly when litigation or disputes over claims is unlikely.

  • When properly conducted, a dissolution can bar late claims against the corporation and provide directors with protection from personal liability to claimants.
  • Unlike a bankruptcy filing (but similar to an assignment for the benefit of creditors), a dissolution requires shareholder approval; that often makes it a better fit for privately held corporations.
  • A dissolution typically requires at least one director to supervise the process and at least one officer to manage the wind down and liquidation, although some professional firms will step into those roles.
  • Corporations often elect to dissolve at a point when they anticipate being able to pay creditors in full and return some funds to shareholders or, if they are insolvent, find their creditors generally to be cooperative. If the corporation has a bank or other secured creditor, it helps if they are willing to work with the corporation to liquidate the assets without a foreclosure.

A Corporation In Dissolution. Under Delaware law, once the dissolution commences the corporation is no longer permitted to operate as a normal business. Instead, as the Delaware statute provides, the corporation continues only “gradually to settle and close their business, to dispose of and convey their property, to discharge their liabilities and to distribute to their stockholders any remaining assets, but not for the purpose of continuing the business for which the corporation was organized.” The corporation is allowed up to three years to complete the dissolution process; if more time is required, a request has to be made to the Delaware Court of Chancery (although a corporation in dissolution remains in existence, without having to go to the Chancery Court, to complete lawsuits that are pending when the three year period expires).

Key Aspects Of A Dissolution. To give you a sense of the process involved, below is a list of some of the main steps in a dissolution. However, please note that important details go beyond the scope of this post. Examples include special voting procedures that may be required if preferred stock has been issued, possible alternatives to the claims process, establishing reserves for claims, payment of the costs of the liquidation, winding down subsidiaries, and the impact of foreign affiliates. It bears repeating: a corporation considering a dissolution should get legal advice on all aspects of the process.

With that caveat, a dissolution generally involves the following:

  • Board approval of a decision to dissolve and adoption of a plan of liquidation;
  • Shareholder approval of the dissolution and plan of liquidation in requisite majorities as provided under the corporation’s then-current Certificate of Incorporation;
  • Filing of a Delaware Annual Franchise Tax Report and payment of franchise taxes, including a partial-year final franchise tax report;
  • Filing a Certificate of Dissolution with the Delaware Secretary of State’s office;
  • Timely reporting to the Internal Revenue Service of the dissolution;
  • A formal claims process, with at least 60 days notice to potential claimants of the dissolution and deadline to file claims, together with publication of the notice in required newspapers;
  • Review of filed claims, with appropriate offers to claimants or rejections of claims;
  • Resolution of any lawsuits, including any timely-filed by claimants whose claims the corporation rejected;
  • Liquidation of remaining corporate assets in accordance with the plan of liquidation;
  • Preparation and filing of all final tax returns;
  • Withdrawals or surrender of qualifications to do business in other states; and
  • Final distributions to creditors and, if funds remain, to applicable shareholders.

Conclusion. In the right situation, a dissolution can be the best approach to formally wind down a corporation’s business and corporate existence. As with all corporate governance matters, however, the corporation’s board and management should get legal advice tailored to the corporation, its business, and creditors, and guidance throughout the dissolution process.

 

Image courtesy of Flickr by JBrazito

Business Bankruptcy Issues The Financially Troubled Company

A New Way Of Looking At Termination On Bankruptcy Contract Clauses

Contract photo

Image Courtesy of NobMouse

Ken Adams, Professor Adrian Walters, and I recently collaborated on an article about the ubiquitous “termination on bankruptcy” or ipso facto clauses in contracts. The article was just published by the American Bar Association’s Business Law Section in its online publication, Business Law Today. It’s titled “Termination-On-Bankruptcy Provisions: Some Proposed Language” and is available by following the link. You can also download a PDF of the article.

The article offers proposed language for agreements governed by U.S. law and also by foreign law. I have posted on termination on bankruptcy provisions in the past, discussing how U.S. bankruptcy law usually — but not always — renders those clauses unenforceable. This new article recognizes those limitations but suggests proposed model language to address settings in which the provision is enforceable, together with an analysis of the specific language proposed.

I hope you find the article of interest.

Business Bankruptcy Issues The Financially Troubled Company

DIP Financing: How Chapter 11’s Bankruptcy Loan Rules Can Be Used To Help A Business Access Liquidity

Cash Is King. An army may march on its stomach, but for companies, it’s liquidity that keeps the business going. For many companies, typical sources of liquidity, beyond cash flow from sales or other revenue, are (1) financing from banks or other secured lenders, (2) credit from vendors that can reduce immediate liquidity needs, and (3) when needed, loans from owners, investors, or other insiders.

When A Liquidity Crisis Hits. Companies in financial distress often find that their need for liquidity goes up just as the availability of traditional financing goes down. The borrowing base may shrink, the ability to get further advances may be cut off, and loans may go into default. Worse, new lenders may be unwilling to make loans given the distress. For many distressed businesses, revenues may also be declining and insufficient to cover expenses without additional financing. A liquidity crunch can quickly snowball into a liquidity crisis.

Insider Loans. Even if an owner, investor, or other insider might be open to making a loan, the company’s distress may raise a red flag because of the extra scrutiny often given to insider loans to a distressed company. Insiders may be concerned that if they make the loan, creditors or a bankruptcy trustee could later challenge it (and any security interest granted) in an attempt to recharacterize the loan as an equity contribution or have the debt equitably subordinated — and therefore never repaid — in a bankruptcy. 

A Potential Solution: DIP Financing. A company in financial distress is probably already looking at a workout, restructuring, or sale of the business. Out-of-court workouts should be considered and may succeed. However, in the right situation a Chapter 11 bankruptcy can provide powerful options, including the ability to facilitate financing. If a company needs a loan but a potential lender is unwilling to make it, including because of concern about a legal challenge, the Bankruptcy Code offers a way to give the lender comfort that the loan will not be challenged, even if the lender is an insider or a potential purchaser.

  • To explore this further, we first need to review a little bankruptcy terminology. When a company files a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the company’s management and board of directors remain in possession of its business (unless a trustee is later appointed). For that reason, the company in Chapter 11 is called a "debtor in possession" or a "DIP" for short. The special Chapter 11 bankruptcy financing is known by this acronym: DIP financing.
  • When the debtor company has lined up a lender, it files a motion seeking Bankruptcy Court approval of the DIP financing. Typical DIP financing terms include a first priority security interest, a market or even premium interest rate, an approved budget, and other lender protections. Creditors have a right to object to the DIP loan, and may do so if the proposed lender is an insider, and the Bankruptcy Court will ultimately decide whether to approve it.
  • If the company already has secured debt, to borrow funds secured by a lien equal or senior to the existing lender (often called "priming" the existing lender), the company either will need the existing lender to consent or will have to convince the Bankruptcy Court that the existing lender’s lien position will be "adequately protected" (essentially meaning that the existing lender will not be worse off if the DIP loan is approved).
  • An existing lender itself may be willing to make a DIP loan, even if it has refused to make further advances outside of bankruptcy. In fact, when DIP loans are made they often come from a company’s existing lender. That lender may have its own reasons to use the DIP financing process, for instance, to finance a sale process on specific timelines or otherwise to enhance its position.
  • Unlike a loan outside of bankruptcy, if the Bankruptcy Court gives final approval to a DIP loan and finds that the loan was made in good faith, the new DIP loan will no longer be subject to legal challenge. Put differently, with that approval in hand, a loan that could have been challenged outside of bankruptcy will not be subject to challenge inside of bankruptcy. That’s true even if the lender is an insider or a "stalking horse purchaser" seeking to buy the company’s assets. 
  • The takeaway is that while it isn’t easy, in the right case a distressed company may be able to use Chapter 11 bankruptcy’s DIP financing procedures to get the liquidity it needs, to run a sale process or finance a formal Chapter 11 restructuring, even if it could not get a new loan outside of bankruptcy.

Why Chapter 11? One of the key reasons companies file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy is because of the special legal protections it provides. For the company, those include the automatic stay and, in the right case, the ability to restructure its debts through a Chapter 11 plan of reorganization. Chapter 11’s protections for purchasers of assets can sometimes allow the seller to achieve through Chapter 11 a sale price that it never could have realized without bankruptcy. Likewise, Chapter 11’s DIP financing process for lenders may help the company generate liquidity — including from an existing lender, investor, or stalking horse purchaser — even if it could not do so outside of bankruptcy. 

Conclusion.  A company facing a liquidity crisis should get legal advice from an experienced restructuring and bankruptcy attorney to make sure it considers all options. A workout or other out-of-court restructuring may be able to solve the problem and get the business back on track. However, there are times when a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, despite its costs and disruptions, is the best tool in the toolkit. That’s especially true if Chapter 11’s DIP financing rules help a business access liquidity that it could not get outside of bankruptcy.

Business Bankruptcy Issues The Financially Troubled Company

The Privilege Is All Mine: What Happens To A Corporation’s Attorney-Client Privilege In Bankruptcy?

It’s well-established that a corporation has an attorney-client privilege and can assert it to keep communications between the corporation and its attorneys confidential. When a corporation is solvent, its officers and directors maintain the right to assert — or waive — the attorney-client privilege on behalf of the corporation, and control who has access to privileged communications.

The Attorney-Client Privilege In Bankruptcy. This raises a question: what happens if the corporation files bankruptcy? The answer depends on the type of bankruptcy filed and whether a bankruptcy trustee is appointed.

  • Chapter 11 Case. In a Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy, the corporation generally remains as a "debtor in possession," unless a trustee is appointed. As a debtor in possession, the corporation’s board of directors and management remain in control — literally "in possession" — of the company’s assets. Courts have held that this control extends to the continued right to assert, or waive, the corporation’s attorney-client privilege.
  • Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. In a Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy, a Chapter 7 trustee is appointed and the debtor corporation’s board and management is removed from control. The U.S. Supreme Court held in CFTC v. Weintraub, 471 U.S. 373 (1985), that it’s the Chapter 7 trustee alone who controls the ability to assert, or waive, the corporation’s attorney-client privilege. This means that the Chapter 7 trustee is given access to all of the corporation’s attorney-client privileged communications prior to bankruptcy.
  • Chapter 11 Trustee. The answer is less clear in the relatively few Chapter 11 cases in which the court appoints a Chapter 11 trustee. Several courts, however, have extended the Supreme Court’s decision in Weintraub and held that the appointed Chapter 11 trustee, like a Chapter 7 trustee, takes control of the debtor’s assets and therefore has authority to assert or waive the corporation’s attorney-client privilege and to access privileged communications.

Access To Attorney-Client Privileged Communications. It’s important for officers, directors, and attorneys for corporations to remember that the attorney-client privilege belongs to the corporation. Anyone who later gains control of the corporation will have access to its attorney-client privileged communications.

  • While nothing new, for solvent companies this means that, for example, future officers and directors will have access to attorney-client communications that took place in the past between corporate counsel and former officers and directors. The same is true when a corporation is acquired through a merger; the new ownership and management takes control of the corporation — and also of its past and present attorney-client privileged communications.
  • Likewise, when a corporation files bankruptcy, a bankruptcy trustee, certainly a Chapter 7  trustee and probably a Chapter 11 trustee, will be given similar access to the corporation’s attorney-client communications. This is true even if the trustee wants access to use previously privileged communications, as they sometimes will do, to bring causes of action against former officers and directors or others.

Conclusion. The attorney-client privilege is an essential part of the attorney-client relationship, fostering the ability of a corporation to get the full benefit of its counsel’s legal advice. While not always obvious, the privilege is held by the corporation, not specific officers or directors. Companies that file Chapter 11 bankruptcy and remain as a debtor in possession generally do not turn over the corporation’s attorney-client privilege to a third party. However, if the corporation files or ends up in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, or perhaps has a Chapter 11 trustee appointed, control of the corporation, and its attorney-client privileged communications, may well end up in the hands of the bankruptcy trustee.