Rus Miliband & Smith : Representative Cases : Bankruptcy

In re Orange County Investment Pool/Orange County Chapter 9
The Firm was selected to represent a consortium of Orange County municipalities and special districts, including the Cities of Newport Beach and Fountain Valley and the Municipal Water District of Orange County, Yorba Linda Water District, and Santiago Valley Water District which contested the propriety of the largest Chapter 9 case ever filed. The Firm successfully prosecuted the motion which resulted in the dismissal of the Orange County Investment Pool Chapter 9 case as reflected in the Bankruptcy Court's 1996 published opinion supporting its order.

In re Sun World International, Inc.
The Firm represented Weyerhaeuser Company, the largest creditor in this $200 million agribusiness Chapter 11 case in which Weyerhaeuser was paid its claim in full after litigating with the debtor and the Creditors' Committee.

In re Bramalea California, Inc.
The Firm was selected by Florida-based Lennar Homes to represent its interests in this Chapter 11 case of one of Southern California's largest residential developers. Lennar Homes acquired more than $150 million of secured debt from the debtor's banks and acquired the debtor's assets as its entree to the Southern California real estate market.

In re Inn At The Park
The Firm successfully reorganized the debtor in this Chapter 11 case involving a landmark 500 room hotel adjacent to Disneyland in Anaheim, California. A Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization was confirmed in 1996, which resulted in the restructure of the hotel's $21 million secured debt.

In re McKenzie Vista
The Firm represented the real estate development company in this Chapter 11 case. In 1998 the Bankruptcy Court confirmed a Plan of Reorganization formulated by the Firm which restructured $36 million in defaulted Mello Roos financing with the issuance of community facilities district bond debt to allow for the development of approximately 600 acres of prime residential property in Riverside County, California.

In re Fietz
The Firm represented Great Western Savings Bank in this landmark 1988 published Ninth Circuit case which defined for the first time the scope of the Bankruptcy Court's subject matter jurisdiction in the western United States.

In re The Centennial Group, Inc.
The Firm was chosen to represent the Official Creditors' Committee in this case involving a large real estate investment/development company. The Firm negotiated with the debtor to confirm a Plan of Reorganization in 1994 to pay 100% to more than $12 million in creditor claims.

In re Hill Williams Income Funds
The Firm was selected to represent the Bankruptcy Trustee and prosecute litigation against the professionals who aided and abetted the manager of these failed public syndications, which had raised and dissipated more than $80 million in connection with the fraudulent real estate empire of developer Donald Hill Williams.

In re Auto Parts Club
The Firm represented Michelin North America, Inc., the largest supplier and one of the largest creditors in the Chapter 11 case of this California chain of automotive superstores.

In re Del Taco
The Firm represented Bunzl Food Services, Inc., the largest unsecured creditor in the $100 million Del Taco Chapter 11 case, and participated as Bunzl's representative on the Del Taco Creditors' Committee.

In re The Farm
The Firm represented the Official Creditors' Committee both before and after the debtor, a 2000-acre planned community, filed Chapter 11. The Firm negotiated the successful confirmation of a Plan of Reorganization within two months of the Chapter 11 filing, which transferred ownership of the debtor directly to the creditors.

In re Whitman-Dome Energy Corporation
The Firm represented the Official Creditors' Committee in the Chapter 11 case of this real property investment company following its seizure by the California Department of Corporations. The Firm successfully negotiated a consensual Plan of Reorganization to restructure approximately $8 million in unsecured claims. The plan was confirmed by the Court in 1996.

In re Hilton Riviera Hotel, Palm Springs
Galadari Corporation owned and operated the Hilton Riviera Hotel in Palm Springs, California. The Firm, on behalf of the Official Creditors' Committee, directly negotiated concessions from the secured creditor, Home Federal Savings, which reduced Home Federal's secured debt by many millions of dollars.

National Environmental Waste Corporation v. The City of Riverside, California
The Firm successfully represented the City of Riverside, California in this published Ninth Circuit case. The Firm opposed the Debtor's Petition for a Writ of Certiorari in the United States Supreme Court.

In re Irvine Ranch Farmers Markets
The Firm represented the Official Creditors' Committee in connection with this Chapter 11 Debtor, which owned and operated a chain of specialty grocery stores in Southern California.

In re Bill L. Walters
The Firm was selected to represent the Bankruptcy Trustee in the notorious case of a Denver real estate developer and President of that city's Chamber of Commerce, who was accused, along with the son of President George H. W. Bush, of having responsibility for the multi-billion dollar collapse of Silverado Bank & Savings in the early 1990's.

In re Jack Clark
This former baseball star's bankruptcy case was commenced as a "no asset" Chapter 7 liquidation. As a result of the Firm's efforts on behalf of the Trustee, the case was converted to a Chapter 11, where a Plan was confirmed within seven months providing for a 100% payout of more than $2.5 million to unsecured creditors.

In re Transatlantic Bancorp
Transatlantic Bancorp was the largest creditor in one of the largest "ponzi schemes" of the 1980's - the J. David Dominelli financial fraud in San Diego, California. At its conclusion in 1988, the Firm had successfully represented the Trustee in recovering sufficient funds to pay dividends to unsecured creditors in excess of $0.74 on the dollar on account of claims in excess of $20 million.

In re First Pension Corporation
First Pension Corporation was one of the largest financial frauds in Orange County history, involving losses in excess of $125 million. The Bankruptcy Trustee selected the Firm because of its expertise in complex financial fraud litigation.

In re Pyrotronics Corporation
In this multi-million dollar Chapter 11 case, the Firm, acting as counsel for the Official Creditors' Committee, negotiated the confirmation of a Plan of Reorganization providing a 100% payout to unsecured creditors holding approximately $7 million in claims.