When a company runs out of money, a solicitor's advice shapes everything that follows — whether the business can be saved, who gets paid and in what order, which past deals can be unpicked, and whether the directors are personally on the hook. Insolvency work sits at the sharp end of practice: the rules are precise, the stakes are high, and the right procedure can be the difference between rescue and collapse.
This lesson builds your understanding step by step, from the basic tests through to the consequences for those who ran the company.
- Foundations and Establishing Insolvency — the principal procedures and how to prove a company is unable to pay its debts.
- Administration — the main rescue procedure: its objectives, how administrators are appointed, and the powers and protections involved.
- Rescue Procedures: CVA, Moratorium and Restructuring Plan — the other routes to saving a company and what each can and cannot achieve.
- Liquidation, Distribution and Set-Off — winding a company up and the order in which its assets are shared out.
- Antecedent Transactions — challenging undervalues, preferences and other deals struck before insolvency.
- Directors' Liability and Disqualification — the personal consequences directors face when a company fails.