McGuireWoods Richmond partner Doug Foley and senior counsel Sarah Boehm were quoted in two September articles about the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia emerging as a go-to filing destination for distressed companies.
Bloomberg Law quoted Foley and Boehm in a Sept. 15, 2020, story about the reputation the court has developed as a sophisticated and friendly venue for large complex bankruptcy cases where the judges issue consistent rulings while running efficient operations.
“The firms that specialize in large corporate cases like that venue because the judges are reliable, somewhat predictable, and consistent,” said Foley. Boehm pointed out that the Richmond-based court also has embraced remote participation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Law360 quoted Foley and Boehm in a Sept. 18, 2020, story on why corporate debtors choose this two-judge bench and whether bankruptcy rules are too lenient on venue selection.
“It’s been a popular jurisdiction for a long time,” Foley told Law360. “Venue choices under the code are still dictated by where a company is headquartered but also by places of incorporation. Large conglomerates, if they have any entity incorporated in Virginia, they can file here.”
Boehm said cases move swiftly in the Eastern District of Virginia, where bankruptcy judges allow prenegotiated Chapter 11 cases to proceed rapidly.
“Many recent cases have a lot of the work done on the front end,” Boehm said. “The judges will accommodate those types of cases where a lot of work is done by the professionals even before they get to court.”