John J Cruciani

/Home/Bankruptcy Attorneys: Kansas City MO

A full-service litigation and business services law firm with a client base of domestic, international and multinational corporations.

John J Cruciani
Husch Blackwell LLP
4801 Main St #1000
Kansas City MO 64112
Tel: 816 983-8197
Fax: 816 983-8080
E-mail: john.cruciani@huschblackwell.com

Board Certified in Business Bankruptcy & Consumer Bankruptcy - American Board of Certification

Practicing in bankruptcy, insolvency, creditors' rights and commercial litigation, John is board-certified in business and consumer bankruptcy law by the American Board of Certification and is a CPA in Missouri.

John has authored periodic articles on bankruptcy topics in KC Counselor, the official publication of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association. He has also been a speaker on bankruptcy topics at the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, Kansas Bar Association and the Kansas City Bankruptcy Bar Association.

John joined the firm as a partner in 2003.

Insolvency

Our Insolvency attorneys represent clients dealing with financially distressed enterprises regarding commercial financial issues. Our attorneys have represented all of the major constituencies in bankruptcy proceedings and non-bankruptcy restructurings, including senior secured lenders, mezzanine lenders, bondholders, real and personal property lessors, unsecured trade creditors, creditors’ and bondholders’ committees, debtors and asset purchasers. We also have unique experience in representing clients in international insolvency proceedings, food and energy industry bankruptcy matters and insurance insolvencies.

Our practice covers the full spectrum of creditor and debtor representations and includes:
- Creditors’ rights and extraordinary remedies
- Bankruptcy
- Workout and out-of-court restructurings
- Insurance insolvency
- International insolvency
- Commercial dispute resolution and litigation
- National and regional lead counsel

Creditors’ Rights and Extraordinary Remedies

Our team has extensive experience representing secured lenders, other secured creditors, landlords, lessors and vendors in commercial creditors’ rights matters. Our experience in this area includes:
- Recovering collateral for secured creditors and lessors
- Obtaining temporary and permanent protective orders
- Obtaining receiverships
- Foreclosing mortgages, deeds of trust and other security interests
- Utilizing pre- and post-judgment remedies
- Pursuing and enforcing judgments in commercial matters
- Pursuing and preserving reclamation, recoupment and set-off rights

Bankruptcy

Our attorneys have experience in complex financial restructurings and liquidations. We have represented clients in some of the largest and most complex bankruptcy cases filed in recent years, such as Farmland Industries; Payless Cashways; Solutia, Inc.; Doskocil and Wilson Foods cases; Fleming Companies, Inc.; Interstate Bakeries Corporation; Huntco Inc.; Thermadyne Corporation; President Casinos, Inc.; Union Financial Services, Inc.; Federal-Mogul Corporation; Dana Corporation; Homeland Stores, Inc.; Just for Feet; Musicland and the Bombay Company.

Our team has extensive experience representing purchasers of assets in Section 363 sales, secured and unsecured creditors, landlords, lessors and trade vendors in all aspects of bankruptcy cases and bankruptcy-related litigation including preference and fraudulent transfer actions, claims and priority disputes, stay litigation and plan confirmation issues.

Workout and Out-of-Court Restructurings

We advise clients on all aspects of workouts and out-of-court restructurings, including refinancing issues, out-of-court restructuring agreements, forbearance agreements, and corporate restructurings and purchasing of assets from troubled businesses.

Insurance Insolvency

Our attorneys have substantial experience in all aspects of insurance company insolvency proceedings, including ancillary bankruptcy proceedings. We have negotiated and drafted rehabilitation and liquidation petitions, plans and orders; management services contracts; asset sales; and merger transactions. In recent years, we have identified and recovered in excess of $100 million in both U.S. and international proceedings and helped to resolve or adjudicate a significant amount of claims against insolvent estates.

International Insolvency

Our firm has significant experience in international insolvency proceedings including representation of secured creditors in cross-border transactions and in tracing and recovering assets from offshore jurisdictions. One of our attorneys is the ABA representative to UNCITRAL, a United Nations organization devoted to international and cross-border insolvency issues.

Commercial Dispute Resolution and Litigation

Our attorneys have extensive experience representing clients in all aspects of litigation in state and federal courts across the country. In addition to representing clients in enforcing loan documents and leases and contract actions, we have participated in various forms of alternative dispute resolution, often finding that this course of action enables our clients to reduce litigation costs and to resolve differences more creatively than is possible in a courtroom. Other attorneys often involve our team and our debtor/creditor expertise in various stages of intellectual property, employment, tax and other litigation matters.

National and Regional Insolvency Counsel

In our role as national and regional insolvency counsel for clients, we manage insolvency matters in other jurisdictions across the country and internationally. We have developed a case management system in conjunction with our national and regional clients tailored to the information and reporting needs of those clients and allowing secure, 24/7 access to information on their cases. We have developed and managed a network of local counsel to ensure our clients receive the best legal representation on a cost-effective, value-added basis throughout the United States and internationally.