We help businesses facing financial difficulties choose a path that offers a realistic chance of preserving their operations — and guide them through the process. We also represent creditors seeking to recover outstanding debts.
In insolvency matters, time is the most costly factor. The earlier owners and management make a decision, the wider the range of available solutions — while delaying that decision can turn a corporate financial problem into a matter of personal liability for management board members.
Financial Assessment and Selection of the Appropriate Procedure
We begin with a thorough assessment: whether the company is already insolvent or merely at risk of insolvency, how its debt is structured, which liabilities are disputed and what prospects exist for restoring liquidity. Based on this assessment, we identify realistic options — from out-of-court negotiations with key creditors, through arrangement approval proceedings and other restructuring procedures, to bankruptcy as a means of resolving the situation in an orderly manner. Each option has different implications for business continuity, ongoing contracts and the position of management, which is why we analyse the consequences rather than simply comparing procedures.
Restructuring Proceedings
We handle cases under all procedures provided for in the Polish Restructuring Law: arrangement approval proceedings, accelerated arrangement proceedings, ordinary arrangement proceedings and remedial proceedings (sanation). We prepare applications and supporting documentation, arrangement proposals, restructuring plans and lists of claims, and conduct negotiations with creditors before voting on an arrangement. We advise on protection against enforcement proceedings, termination of contracts essential to business operations and relations with court supervisors or administrators. We represent debtors throughout restructuring proceedings and during the implementation of an arrangement.
Bankruptcy Proceedings
We advise on preparing and filing bankruptcy petitions within the statutory deadline under Polish Bankruptcy Law, as well as on pre-pack sales, which allow a business or an organised part of it to be sold while preserving operational continuity. We represent bankrupt debtors and creditors throughout proceedings, including filing claims, lodging objections to lists of claims, participating in creditors' committees, challenging actions taken by bankruptcy trustees and handling matters concerning the ineffectiveness of transactions carried out before bankruptcy was declared. We also handle consumer bankruptcy cases, including those involving former entrepreneurs.
Protection and Liability of Management Board Members
Management board members are not liable simply because a company becomes insolvent, but rather for how they respond to that situation. We advise on liability for the company's obligations towards creditors and for public-law liabilities, as well as proceedings concerning disqualification from conducting business activities. We identify the actions and documentation needed to demonstrate that a bankruptcy petition was filed within the required deadline or that the failure to file was not attributable to the fault of a management board member. We provide legal defence in court proceedings and preventive advice — before the situation becomes irreversible.
Creditors and Debt Recovery
On behalf of creditors, we monitor proceedings in the National Register of Debtors, prepare proofs of claim, objections and applications, assess arrangement proposals and advise on voting. We handle actions to have debtors' transactions declared ineffective against creditors, as well as claims against management board members of insolvent companies. We also advise contracting authorities and contractors on the implications of a counterparty entering restructuring or bankruptcy proceedings for ongoing public procurement contracts — from grounds for exclusion to approvals required for replacing a contractor.
Restructuring and Insolvency – Business Protection and Arrangements - Styczynski-Keller
