High street's loss is lawyers' gain as insolvency rates soar
As several high street companies file for administration, lawyers look forward to busy 2006
January 11, 2006 at 07:03 PM
3 minute read
After three years in which a prolonged institutional slump has failed to deliver the expected work for the legal profession's resident vultures, insolvency lawyers are finally sharpening their talons in anticipation of a busy 2006.
With the New Year hangovers barely fading, rumours are already rife that the British high street is to soon see a major bankruptcy after recent weeks that have seen Kookai, Unwins, MVC and Golden Wonder file for insolvency.
Securing one of its most high-profile insolvency instructions for years, Eversheds partner Louise Pheasant is advising corporate restructuring specialist Kroll, which was this week appointed as administrator for Golden Wonder. Denton Wilde Sapte partner Martin Kitchen is advising the company.
Ashurst insolvency chief Nick Angel is leading a team for Kookai, trading as Adjustbetter, which went into administration last week.
Angel, who was called in to advise the company before Christmas on its trading obligations, was instructed by Deloitte last week when the company went into administration.
Angel told Legal Week that the past two months have seen a sharp increase in the number of enquiries from companies concerned that they could be trading while insolvent.
DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary's Simon Neilson-Clark is leading two teams acting for Unwins administrators KPMG and MVC administrators Kroll, which appointed the firm in December.
Unwins, an off-licence chain with around 350 stores, last month sold 200 stores to Thresher Group, advised by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.
Ironically, the travails on the high street come as most major law firms are benefiting from a dramatic upturn in transactional work.
Neilson-Clark commented: "The UK economy is slowing down. While there is unlikely to be anything like a recession, the leisure and retail sectors have been hit and it is quite possible the real estate sector is next."
The expectation of increasing work from insolvency practices, which, in contrast with US advisers, largely missed out on a wave of major restructurings during the lean years of 2002 and 2003, is backed up by the latest industry figures.
Statistics issued by the Department for Constitutional Affairs for the third quarter of 2005, show that winding up, creditors and debtors petitions were up respectively by 17%, 28% and 36% compared with the same period in 2004.
Peter Sargent, a fellow of business recovery group R3, told Legal Week: "The insolvency profession is going to have a busy 12 months."
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllSkadden to Close in Shanghai and Make Cuts to China Corporate Practice
DWF Group's Canadian Firm Set to Add Fourth Office With 16-Lawyer Montreal Team
UK Law Firms Face £75M Money Laundering Investigations Alongside Russia Scrutiny
3 minute readTrending Stories
- 1The Law Firm Disrupted: Playing the Talent Game to Win
- 2A&O Shearman Adopts 3-Level Lockstep Pay Model Amid Shift to All-Equity Partnership
- 3Preparing Your Law Firm for 2025: Smart Ways to Embrace AI & Other Technologies
- 4BD Settles Thousands of Bard Hernia Mesh Lawsuits
- 5A RICO Surge Is Underway: Here's How the Allstate Push Might Play Out
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250