While the number of bankruptcy cases has been trending down over the past year, and we have seen some positive economic activity, there are also predictions that long-term negative impacts could result in an increasing number of corporate restructurings and bankruptcy filings.

A common source of recovery for creditors in bankruptcy cases are litigation claims brought by a bankruptcy estate to claw back what is known in the bankruptcy world as “preferential” and “fraudulent” transfers. “Valuation,” “solvency” and “insolvency” are commonly used terms in litigation stemming from bankruptcy cases involving these claims. This article focuses on the basics of fraudulent transfer claims and solvency analysis in the context of lawsuits where a plaintiff is seeking to recover payments made prior to the bankruptcy case being commenced, sometimes referred to as “claw back” litigation.

What Is Insolvency?