Michael D Fielding

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

Michael D Fielding
Husch Blackwell LLP
4801 Main St #1000
Kansas City MO 64112
Tel: 816 983-8197
Fax: 816 983-8080
E-mail: michael.fielding@huschblackwell.com

Board Certified in Business Bankruptcy - American Board of Certification

Michael defends creditors and enforces their rights in business bankruptcy and commercial litigation matters on a national basis. He regularly represents secured and unsecured creditors, unsecured creditors committees, Chapter 7 and 11 trustees, and Chapter 11 debtors in complex bankruptcy proceedings. Michael also prosecutes and defends commercial litigation matters, and he has tried several cases (including jury trials). Throughout his career he has represented the receivers of insolvent insurance carriers on novel matters including a landmark tax refund case and prosecution of a state-law based preferential transfer claim against the United States government.

Over the years, Michael has prosecuted or defended hundreds of preferential transfer and fraudulent conveyance actions. As part of his extensive work in this area, he has developed a sophisticated computer program which enables him to quickly analyze a client’s payment history and identify optimal defensive positions to take. By combining technology with his vast experience in this area of the law, Michael has been able to negotiate very favorable settlements for his clients while simultaneously minimizing their litigation expenses.

Michael is just one of a small group of attorneys licensed in Kansas and Missouri who is Board Certified in Business Bankruptcy by the American Board of Certification.

He has spoken at national, regional and local conferences on topics dealing with bankruptcy, avoidance actions, landlord tenant issues, evidence, electronically stored information, arbitration, international litigation and ethics. He has published several articles nationally and internationally in various well-respected bankruptcy publications.

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.