Special Situations
Burke Legal advises companies, boards, creditors and investors where financial difficulty or a planned exit calls for decisive and well-sequenced action. The practice spans out-of-court liquidity solutions, in-court restructuring proceedings and orderly wind-downs, frequently as one part of a coordinated international plan.
From consensual solutions to formal process
Not every situation calls for a formal process, and the earlier advice is taken, the wider the range of options. The sections below run from consensual, out-of-court solutions and solvent wind-downs through court-supervised restructuring to formal insolvency.
The Irish tools described below are rarely deployed in isolation. Most often they form one part of a wider international plan, coordinated with proceedings and advisers elsewhere.
Out-of-court liquidity solutions
Many situations are best resolved consensually, without recourse to a formal process. The firm advises companies, boards and stakeholders on negotiated solutions that preserve value, while keeping a court-supervised process available should one later become necessary.
- Standstill and forbearance arrangements
- Amendments, extensions and consensual restructurings of existing obligations
- Liquidity solutions and interim funding considerations
- Directors' duties and decision-making during negotiations
- Contingency planning for a court-supervised process
Solvent wind-ups and orderly exit
Where a group decides to cease operations in Ireland or to close an Irish entity, the firm advises on an orderly winding up on a solvent basis and on the associated board and creditor considerations.
- Members' voluntary liquidations and the declaration of solvency
- Directors' duties and decision-making in the course of a wind-down
- Creditor and stakeholder engagement during closure
- Conversion to an insolvent process where solvency cannot be confirmed
Schemes of arrangement (Companies Act 2014, Part 9)
Irish schemes of arrangement are a flexible, court-supervised mechanism allowing companies to compromise or reorganise liabilities through a binding arrangement with creditors or members, or classes of them. They are frequently used to implement balance-sheet restructurings, liability management transactions and group-wide releases.
Irish schemes are closely aligned with English scheme jurisprudence and are well suited to parallel or complementary use alongside UK restructuring plans or US Chapter 11 proceedings.
- Structuring Irish schemes as primary or parallel proceedings
- Class composition, creditor engagement and voting strategy
- Implementation mechanics, releases and contribution arrangements
- Coordination with parallel UK or US processes
Examinership (Companies Act 2014, Part 10)
Examinership is Ireland's principal corporate rescue procedure, providing court protection while a company restructures its debts and operations. It combines a moratorium on creditor enforcement with the ability, subject to court confirmation, to bind dissenting creditors and classes to a scheme of arrangement.
- Jurisdictional access: COMI and sufficient-connection analysis
- Appointment strategy, stakeholder positioning and court protection
- Proposal formulation, confirmation hearings and valuation disputes
- Recognition and enforcement strategy outside Ireland
SCARP (Companies Act 2014, Part 10A)
The Small Company Administrative Rescue Process is a streamlined rescue procedure for eligible small and micro companies, designed to deliver a workable restructuring outcome at reduced cost, with court involvement only where required.
- Eligibility assessment and process design
- Plan structuring, creditor engagement and implementation
- Interaction with enforcement, security and directors' duties
Liquidations and receiverships
Advice on formal insolvency processes, including creditors' voluntary and court liquidations, creditor-driven winding-up proceedings, receiverships and the enforcement of security.
- Insolvency thresholds, enforcement strategy and defensive planning
- Security, set-off, priority and distribution disputes
- Claims by and against office-holders, including transaction challenges
- Interaction of Irish processes with foreign proceedings and judgments
Typical mandates
Burke Legal acts for:
- companies and boards facing financial difficulty or considering an exit
- creditors, funds and counterparties assessing enforcement, recovery or restructuring options
- investors in distressed and special situations
- office-holders and insolvency practitioners
- international law firms requiring Irish counsel on a restructuring
Related insights
Country focus
Two jurisdictions account for most of the firm's cross-border work. Each has its own page.
Related expertise
To discuss a matter, please contact the firm.