Senior Care Centers Inc., a chain of skilled nursing facilities, accomplished the feat of filing once as a complex chapter 11 case in 2018 (“First Case”) and then re-filing as a small business debtor in 2021 (“Second Case”). This success can be attributed to its ability to shed debt in its First Case, as well as in its decision to exclude its operating subsidiaries (and their debt) from its Second Case.

In 2018, the company sought bankruptcy protection in the Northern District of Texas in Case No. 18-33967 and requested complex case status based on having more than $10 million in debt and more than 50 parties in interest. It emerged a year later with a confirmed plan that was substantially consummated in March 2020. Under the plan, it pared back its operations from more than 100 facilities to approximately 22 of its best-performing locations.

The panelists were Edward Boltz, a managing partner at the Law Offices of John T. Orcutt, P.C. in Durham, N.C.; Paul Hammer, senior counsel at Barron & Newburger, P.C. in Houston; and Jon Lieberman, a partner at Sottile and Barile LLC in Loveland, Ohio.

Mr. Boltz has represented clients in not only chapters 7 and 13, but also in related consumer rights litigation, including fighting abusive mortgage practices. He served as the president of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA) from 2013-16 and remains on its board of directors, and he co-chairs its Legislative Committee. Mr. Boltz was a commissioner on ABI’s Consumer Bankruptcy Commission from 2017-19. He also served on the Bankruptcy Council for the North Carolina Bar Association, where he co-chaired the committee that created a Mortgage Modification Program for the North Carolina bankruptcy courts.

Mr. Hammer manages his firm’s Houston office and currently serves as ABI’s Commercial and Regulatory Law Committee’s Membership Relations Director. He has 15 years of experience representing virtually every type of constituency in an insolvency proceeding, including debtors, creditors’ committees, trustees, insurers and equityholders. Mr. Hammer is licensed in Texas, Louisiana and Puerto Rico. His experience includes stints with top national firms, two federal judicial clerkships, and acting as outside general counsel to an international energy company.

Hello, Commercial and Regulatory Law Committee members! As you might have noticed, our committee’s leadership has changed quite a bit, so we thought we would take a moment to introduce ourselves.