Standard insolvency

If a company is illiquid or overindebted, its management is required by law to file for insolvency. An insolvency application does not necessarily mean the end of the company, however. In crisis situations of this kind, German insolvency law, in particular the Insolvency Code (Insolvenzordnung, InsO), offers companies a variety of options for overcoming the challenges they face and achieving a sustainable fresh start for their business.

Larger companies may wish to use protective shield proceedings or self-administration. However, standard insolvency, i.e. traditional insolvency proceedings, also offers a full range of reorganisation options, particularly if the insolvency application is filed early and professionally prepared. Our investigation into the long-term sustainability of company reorganisations has shown that both standard insolvencies and self-administration and protective shield proceedings lead to successful and sustainable reorganisations.

In a standard insolvency, the insolvency court with territorial competence in the location of the company’s seat appoints a preliminary insolvency administrator in what are known as “preliminary insolvency proceedings”. An insolvency administrator is appointed when the (permanent) insolvency proceedings are formally commenced.

The insolvency administrator has a crucial role in a reorganisation in standard insolvency proceedings. It is his or her job to secure the assets of the insolvent company for the creditors, identify potential options and – whenever it is financially possible and advisable to do so – reorganise the company.


Manager

Our insolvency administrators – genuine managers

The insolvency administrators at Schultze & Braun are genuine managers who take on a variety of different roles in their position. They are strategists, organisers, business leaders and controllers – all in one.

Our insolvency administrators bring a wealth of experience from previous engagements to every new case. They have got to know diverse companies and have in-depth insight and contacts in numerous industries. From small start-ups to international groups, they can steer companies of any size through insolvency.

This diversity of experience enables insolvency administrators from Schultze & Braun to identify the causes of a company’s financial distress at the very start of the standard insolvency proceedings and analyse the situation quickly and accurately. This analysis is the basis for every subsequent step in the course of the insolvency proceedings. Our insolvency administrators look at a number of issues in this analysis – always with a view to achieving a reorganisation which is as sustainable as possible:

  • What options are available to the insolvent company under insolvency law?
  • Which tools offered by insolvency law can the company use to address the causes of its difficulties?
  • What strategies and measures can be taken already during the insolvency proceedings to tackle the reasons for the insolvency?

 

On the basis of this analysis, and beginning very early in the standard insolvency proceedings, our insolvency administrators and the company’s management select the right tools, plan strategies and measures, and work with the company to implement them. The aim is always to help the company retain and strengthen its ability to do business.

Schultze & Braun’s insolvency administrators are not only specialists in German and international insolvency law. They also have business expertise and extensive specialist knowledge. For every standard insolvency, we put together the right team of qualified lawyers, certified public accountants and business specialists to approach every reorganisation with an individual concept for reorganisation. With this combination of specialists from various disciplines, the insolvency administrator, as manager of the standard insolvency, together with other stakeholders can find answers to the existential questions that face both the company undergoing reorganisation and its creditors.

 

Focusing on the objectives, even in complex standard insolvencies

Standard corporate insolvencies are characterised by complex and sometimes conflicting interests of the stakeholders. Even in situations like these, however, our insolvency administrators retain a clear overview and keep the focus on the objectives of the reorganisation: a debtor’s creditors need to be satisfied uniformly and optimally. At the same time, the company and as many jobs as possible should be saved whenever financially advisable.

To achieve these objectives, our insolvency administrators determine the causes of the insolvency, establish the company’s capacity for reorganisation, prepare new financial plans under the conditions applicable in a standard insolvency, prepare or review the financial forecasts, and drive an investor process, if the sale of the company makes sense. If the company intends to reorganise the company using an insolvency plan, the insolvency administration and the company’s management draw up the plan and agree it with the insolvency court and the creditors.

Type of proceeding

Consumer insolvency proceedings

Alongside the various types of corporate insolvency proceedings, i.e. standard insolvency, self-administration and the protective shield, there are also insolvency proceedings intended for entrepreneurs, the self-employed and freelancers, as well as for consumers. The main objective of these proceedings is the discharge of debt. In most cases, the consumer or business operator is granted discharge of residual debt after proceedings lasting three to five years. This means that at the end of the proceedings they are released from any liabilities still remaining at that point and can make a fresh financial start. The discharge requires that the debtor has not concealed any assets from the insolvency administrator or the creditors, has done everything in its power during the proceedings to repay as much of its outstanding liabilities to creditors as possible, and if necessary, has started work in a new, better paid job.

Our experience from 50 years of insolvency administration: there is no one type of standard insolvency. Every reorganisation has its own requirements and challenges. We are ready to take them on.

Information

Information for creditors

The information published here will not always be up to date, as for practical reasons this page can only be updated incrementally. Thank you for your understanding.

Go to the Creditor Information System (GIS) 

Downloads

Information sheets for creditors, debtors and employees (German)

Download brochures (German)

Contact persons

Rüdiger Bauch

Rüdiger Bauch

Rechtsanwalt (Attorney at Law in Germany)

Fachanwalt für Insolvenz- und Sanierungsrecht (Certified Specialist in Insolvency and Reorganisation Law)

+49 (0)341 26972-0

Elke Bäuerle

Elke Bäuerle

Rechtsanwältin (Attorney at law in Germany)

Fachanwältin für Insolvenz- und Sanierungsrecht (Certified Specialist in Insolvency and Reorganisation Law)

+49 (0)741 17464-30

Holger Blümle

Holger Blümle

Rechtsanwalt (Attorney at Law in Germany)

Fachanwalt für Insolvenz- und Sanierungsrecht (Certified Specialist in Insolvency and Reorganisation Law)

Dipl.-Betriebswirt (BA) (certified business accountant)

Wirtschaftsmediator (IHK) (Business mediator, Chamber of Commerce)

+49 (0)721 91957-0

Volker Böhm

Volker Böhm

Rechtsanwalt (Attorney at Law in Germany)

Fachanwalt für Insolvenz- und Sanierungsrecht (Certified Specialist in Insolvency and Reorganisation Law)

+49 (0)911 60079-0

[Translate to Englisch:] Stefano Buck

Stefano Buck

Rechtsanwalt (Attorney at Law in Germany)

Fachanwalt für Insolvenzrecht (Certified Specialist in Insolvency Law)

+49 (0)7841 708-321

Ralph Bünning

Ralph Bünning

Rechtsanwalt (Attorney at Law in Germany)

Fachanwalt für Insolvenz- und Sanierungsrecht (Certified Specialist in Insolvency and Reorganisation Law)

+49 (0)421 3686-589

Manja Busch

Manja Busch

Steuerberaterin (Tax consultant)

Dipl.-Betriebswirtin (BA) (certified business accountant)

+49 (0)341 26972-0

Harald Bußhardt

Harald Bußhardt

Rechtsanwalt (Attorney at Law in Germany)

Fachanwalt für Insolvenzrecht (Certified Specialist in Insolvency Law)

+49 (0)351 88527-0

Dr. Thomas Dithmar

Dr. Thomas Dithmar

Rechtsanwalt (Attorney at Law in Germany)

Fachanwalt für Insolvenz- und Sanierungsrecht (Certified Specialist in Insolvency and Reorganisation Law)

Fachanwalt für Steuerrecht (Certified Specialist in Tax Law)

+49 (0)361 5513-0

Alexander Eggen

Alexander Eggen

Rechtsanwalt (Attorney at Law in Germany)

+49 (0)911 60079-120

Alrun Ehmann

Alrun Ehmann

Rechtsanwältin (Attorney at law in Germany)

Fachanwältin für Insolvenz- und Sanierungsrecht (Certified Specialist in Insolvency and Reorganisation Law)

+49 (0)911 60079-120

Stefanie Engelhard

Stefanie Engelhard

Rechtsanwältin (Attorney at law in Germany)

Fachanwältin für Insolvenz- und Sanierungsrecht (Certified Specialist in Insolvency and Reorganisation Law)

+49 (0)421 3686-270

[Translate to Englisch:] Dr. Jürgen Erbe, MBA

Dr. Jürgen Erbe, MBA

Rechtsanwalt (Attorney at Law in Germany)

Fachanwalt für Insolvenz- und Sanierungsrecht (Certified Specialist in Insolvency and Reorganisation Law)

+49 (0)621 480264-0

Dr. Elske Fehl-Weileder

Dr. Elske Fehl-Weileder

Rechtsanwältin (Attorney at law in Germany)

Fachanwältin für Insolvenz- und Sanierungsrecht (Certified Specialist in Insolvency and Reorganisation Law)

+49 (0)911 60079-121

Katharina Franke

Katharina Franke

Rechtsanwältin (Attorney at law in Germany)

Fachanwältin für Insolvenz- und Sanierungsrecht (Certified Specialist in Insolvency and Reorganisation Law)

+49 (0)911 60079-121

Simone Gisdal

Simone Gisdal

Dipl.-Betriebswirtin (AfAS) (certified business accountant)

+49 (0)681 87625-111

[Translate to Englisch:] Edgar Grönda

Edgar Grönda

Rechtsanwalt (Attorney at Law in Germany)

Fachanwalt für Insolvenz- und Sanierungsrecht (Certified Specialist in Insolvency and Reorganisation Law)

Fachanwalt für Steuerrecht (Certified Specialist in Tax Law)

+49 (0)421 3686-589

[Translate to Englisch:] Dr. Dietmar Haffa

Dr. Dietmar Haffa

Rechtsanwalt (Attorney at Law in Germany)

Dipl.-Betriebswirt (BA) (certified business accountant)

Fachanwalt für Insolvenz- und Sanierungsrecht (Certified Specialist in Insolvency and Reorganisation Law)

+49 (0)711 23889-0

Tobias Hartwig, MBA

Tobias Hartwig, MBA

Dipl.-Wirtschaftsjurist (FH) (diploma in business law)

+49 (0)531 6128720-110

Dr. Dirk Herzig

Dr. Dirk Herzig

Rechtsanwalt (Attorney at Law in Germany)

Fachanwalt für Insolvenz- und Sanierungsrecht (Certified Specialist in Insolvency and Reorganisation Law)

+49 (0)371 38237-0

Tobias Hirte

Tobias Hirte

Rechtsanwalt (Attorney at Law in Germany)

Fachanwalt für Insolvenz- und Sanierungsrecht (Certified Specialist in Insolvency and Reorganisation Law)

+49(0)721919570

Tatjana Jürcke-Richter, LL.B.

Tatjana Jürcke-Richter, LL.B.

Rechtsanwältin (Attorney at law in Germany)

+49 (0)621 480264-0

Christina Keane

Christina Keane

Rechtsanwältin (Attorney at law in Germany)

Fachanwältin für Insolvenz- und Sanierungsrecht (Certified Specialist in Insolvency and Reorganisation Law)

+49 (0)421 3686-475

[Translate to Englisch:] Susi Barbara Kropp-Kuhn

Susi Barbara Kropp-Kuhn

Dipl.-Rechtspflegerin (FH) (Graduate Registrar)

+49 (0)7841 708-311

[Translate to Englisch:] Harald Kroth

Harald Kroth

Rechtsanwalt (Attorney at Law in Germany)

Fachanwalt für Insolvenzrecht (Certified Specialist in Insolvency Law)

+49 (0)7841 708-321

Stefan Ludwig

Stefan Ludwig

Rechtsanwalt (Attorney at Law in Germany)

Fachanwalt für Insolvenz- und Sanierungsrecht (Certified Specialist in Insolvency and Reorganisation Law)

+49 (0)30 3083038-200

Joachim Mendler

Joachim Mendler

Rechtsanwalt (Attorney at Law in Germany)

Wirtschaftsjurist (Univ. Bayreuth)

+49 (0)711 23889-480

[Translate to Englisch:] Christian Meyer

Christian Meyer

Rechtsanwalt (Attorney at Law in Germany)

Dipl.-Finanzwirt (FH) (certified finance accountant)

+49 (0)421 3686-589

Andreas Müller

Andreas Müller

Rechtsanwalt (Attorney at Law in Germany)

+49 (0)30 3083038-200

[Translate to Englisch:] Dr. Dirk Pehl

Dr. Dirk Pehl

Rechtsanwalt (Attorney at Law in Germany)

Fachanwalt für Insolvenz- und Sanierungsrecht (Certified Specialist in Insolvency and Reorganisation Law)

+49 (0)7841 708-311

Grit Rademacher

Grit Rademacher

Rechtsanwältin (Attorney at law in Germany)

Fachanwältin für Insolvenzrecht (Certified Specialist in Insolvency Law)

+49 (0)351 88527-0

Simon D. Reichle

Simon D. Reichle

Steuerberater (Tax consultant)

Dipl.-Wirtschaftsjurist (FH) (diploma in business law)

+49 (0)711 23889-415

Christoph Rothämel, LL.M. oec.

Christoph Rothämel, LL.M. oec.

Rechtsanwalt (Attorney at Law in Germany)

+49 (0)361 5513-0

Frank Schmitt

Frank Schmitt

Rechtsanwalt (Attorney at Law in Germany)

Fachanwalt für Insolvenz- und Sanierungsrecht (Certified Specialist in Insolvency and Reorganisation Law)

+49 (0)69 50986-155

Dr. Markus Schuster, B.Sc.

Dr. Markus Schuster, B.Sc.

Rechtsanwalt (Attorney at Law in Germany)

+49 (0)711 23889-0

Heitje Thürnagel

Heitje Thürnagel

Rechtsanwältin (Attorney at law in Germany)

+49 (0)391 5354-0

Kristin Winter, LL.M.

Kristin Winter, LL.M.

Wirtschaftsjuristin LL.M.

+49 (0)531 6128720-110

Kerstin Zimmer

Kerstin Zimmer

Steuerberaterin (Tax consultant)

+49 (0)341 26972-0