Smart-Stock.net

To better deal with the increase of distressed assets in today’s financial marketplace, more and more law firms are starting to specialize in distressed asset management. According to a recent article on Law.com, Bryan Cave is the latest law firm to create a distressed asset group.

Many firms are receiving an increasing number of calls from lawyers needing advice on bank collapses, and according to Bryan Cave regulatory specialist Karen Garrett, “We decided to be proactive and not wait and be reactionary.” Among the goals are to better assist the failing banks, clients who have funds in such banks, and private equity groups who hold contracts with such banks.

In addition to Bryan Cave, Andrews Kurth and Thacher Proffitt & Wood have created distressed asset practice groups. These firms join the increasing number of hedge funds and investment firms also investing in distressed assets.

According to Garrett, there is already plenty of work to do: “We remember the 1980s and the early 1990s, so we know the depth of legal work that comes up when you start having a rash of bank failures and near failures.”