Creditors’ Rights and Bankruptcy Lawyers

Thompson Burton's Bankruptcy and Creditors' Rights law firm is full service, meaning that we assist clients in all manners of insolvency proceedings. Our attorneys specialize in bankruptcy, receiverships, commercial loan workouts, creditors' rights, Ponzi schemes, and complex commercial litigation, with the ability to represent parties on all sides of a dispute including creditors, debtors, receivers, and trustees. As part of our creditors' rights practice, our bankruptcy attorneys represent financial institutions, corporations, governmental entities, and individuals in complex workouts, bankruptcies, receiverships, state and federal court litigation, and judgment enforcement. Our attorneys are recognized for their ingenuity, experience, and practicality in representing the interests of commercial creditors.


Chapter 11 and Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Lawyers

Thompson Burton's bankruptcy lawyers also have extensive experience in representing corporate debtors in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Chapter 7 bankruptcy, receiverships, and outside of court debt restructuring. Our bankruptcy law firm has the tools to represent every kind of debtor, from a small, single-member LLC to a large, publicly-traded corporation to successfully and efficiently achieve their restructuring goals.


Bankruptcy Attorney Near Me

Our bankruptcy lawyers are frequently retained to represent court-appointed bankruptcy trustees and receivers in evaluating and pursuing litigation assets in state court, federal court, and bankruptcy court. Thompson Burton is recognized as one of the leading insolvency litigation law firms in the Mid-South region due to the breadth of its experience and its success in such litigation. Thompson Burton's multi-faceted approach to its insolvency practice enables its attorneys to examine complex legal problems from all angles and to craft legal strategies and solutions that are most effective and efficient for its clients. Contact our bankruptcy law center to learn how we can serve you. 

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Judgment Enforcement: Are Abstracts Reality for Execution?


You’ve reached the end of the actual litigation and received a judgment.  Now what? The initial answer is simple: enforcement and collection! There are many steps to take on the path to converting the judgment to cash.  Some of the prior articles on this blog illustrate the complexity of converting the judgment to cash, but one of THE most important steps to take is the creation of a judgment lien.  This article provides some hints and recommendations on how to subject a judgment debtor’s assets to a judgment lien. The Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure provide general insight into this process.  Rule 69 sets forth the various ways to execute on a judgment.  At first blush, these rules seem complete yet there are specific statutes that should also be considered to make sure the creditor is fully encumbering a debtor’s interests.  The general belief among most creditors is that recording […]

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“Comfortably Numb”: Five Pink Floyd Songs relating to Creditors’ Rights Issues


First, let me state this disclaimer:  Each of the following songs by Pink Floyd are copyright-protected.  As a result, to avoid infringement on any marks or protected works, no artwork or song links are included. Sorry, you’ll have to dust off your LP’s, CD’s or digitally stored music library to listen to these songs. Second, you are undoubtedly wondering how in the world the music of Pink Floyd relates to Creditors’ Rights issues.  Actually, they don’t. I just wanted to grab your attention.  Now that I have it, here are five things issues that you should be wary of when preparing or drafting loan documents in Tennessee.  It is very easy to become “comfortably numb” to these issues over time since much of the financial process becomes rote. “Us and Them” (The Dark Side of the Moon 1973):  UCC and Real Estate Title Searches.   It is essential to spend […]

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Charging Orders: The Key to Reaching a Judgment Debtor’s LLC Interest (Part II)


II.        Reconciling Unintended Statutory Conflicts This is the second part of the two-part series examining Tennessee’s sole remedy for creditors seeking to exercise post-judgment rights against a debtor’s interests in limited liability companies.  In this part, we examine some of the issues arising with the interpretation and interplay of the Limited Liability Act and the Revised Limited Liability Act. One potential argument against issuing a charging order against a judgment debtor’s interest in a limited liability company is an apparent statutory conflict in the provisions of the Act and the Revised Act.  As previously stated, §§ 48-218-105 and 48-249-509 both provide that the sole remedy of a judgment creditor seeking to enforce a judgment against the membership interests of a judgment creditor is a charging order but this remedy is tempered by limiting the available rights to an assignee (the Act) or a transferee (New Act). Of interest, and in […]

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Dischargeability and Trademarks: Injury to the Trademark Results in Non-Dischargeable Judgment


  Intellectual property is a cornerstone of modern-day commerce.  In the past century, we’ve seen an explosion not only in the number of protected intellectual property rights but the type, too.  As the diversity of intellectual property increases, so do the risks that such property will be misappropriated and the accompanying rights damaged.  One of the growing areas of law involving intellectual property rights is in bankruptcy law.  A recent case highlights and defines the rights and protections afforded to intellectual property rights’ owners by solidifying that injurious actions by a debtor will result in a non-dischargeable judgment under 11 U.S.C. Sec. 523(a)(6)’s “willful and malicious injury” standard. In Goaz v. Rolex  Watch U.S.A. (In re Goaz), Case No. 13-10282 (5th Cir. Mar. 19, 2014), the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that “[k]nowingly selling merchandise bearing counterfeit trademarks necessarily causes injury to the trademark,” thereby affirming the bankruptcy court’s summary judgment of […]

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Ethics rulings tell lawyers to seek security when in the cloud


Check out this new ABA article on ethics rulings relating to attorneys’ use of the cloud for data management.  Tennessee has yet to opine on this issue but, according to the article, 18 states have already issued ethics decisions on the need for enhanced security for use of the cloud.  It is only a matter of time before Tennessee chimes in on this issue.  This is important not only for attorneys but any business that utilizes the cloud for data management and storage! There are 5 “safe harbor” items essential to making sure your cloud use is properly protected.  With advanced technology comes new ethical issues.  Just because your data is in the cloud doesn’t mean your head should be, too!! Click here to review the ABA article about cloud security.

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