LeClairRyan liquidation delayed a week

Published September 27, 2019 by Kate Andrews

A federal bankruptcy judge has delayed LeClairRyan PLLC’s conversion to Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection by a week, with liquidation proceedings on the law firm’s assets set to start Oct. 4, according to a report from Virginia Lawyers Weekly.

With the firm’s move to Chapter 7 status, an independent trustee will take over liquidation proceedings next week, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin R. Huennekens ruled.

The firm’s attorney, Tyler P. Brown of Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, requested a one-week delay before the conversion so LeClairRyan could contact its clients and send them electronic copies of their legal files, among other tasks.

LeClairRyan owed $6.8 million to its primary lender, ABL Alliance, but that amount has decreased to $5.1 million, according to Douglas Foley, the McGuireWoods attorney representing ABL, the report says.

Once Virginia’s fifth-largest law firm, Richmond-based LeClairRyan announced it would shut down in August and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September. The 31-year-old firm estimated in a Sept. 3 filing that it has assets and liabilities ranging from $10 million to $50 million and owes money to between 200 and 999 creditors.

Over the past few years, the firm saw a steady decline in gross revenues, from $163 million in 2015 to $122.5 million last year, and its number of attorneys decreased from 350 in 2015 to 190 attorneys this year, before the shutdown in September.

The firm’s next hearing is scheduled Oct. 24 in the Eastern District of Virginia federal court in Richmond.