Special Introductory Offer from William J. Brennan
William J. Brennan & Co. Solicitors are delighted to announce their Special Introductory Offer for new clients:
First half an hour Legal Advice Free* Free Will with all legal work done*
*Will drafted at no charge where new work is taken on with a fee level exceeding €750.
William J. Brennan & Co. is a new full service law firm with offices in Ashbourne, County Meath and Dublin City. We target our services to clients, both individual and corporates, who are active within the fastest developing parts of Leinster, Dublin City and County together with South County Meath.
William J. Brennan & Co. guarantee to make the legal process run as smoothly as possible and we make sure that our clients are kept informed of all developments in their respective matters, however big or small. We believe that communication is the key to maintaining successful and lasting client relationships.
It is the aim of William J. Brennan & Co. to provide a personal service of the highest professional standards to its clients in an efficient, effective and confidential manner. In addition, William J Brennan & Co provides a welcoming and friendly environment in which our clients are made to feel comfortable in discussing any legal problems or issues they may have.
William J. Brennan Solicitors featured in Business & Finance Magazine
William J. Brennan Solicitors were recently featured in Business & Finance Magazine’s Commercial Law Report. The current economic climate has created a legal minefield for many firms, but with the help of some of Ireland’s leading legal minds, Róisín O’Sullivan from Business & Finance offers a guide to surviving the recession.
You can read an excerpt from the magazine below or click here to read the full article (PDF Document).
The road to recovery
Debt collection can be a complicated issue, especially when the debtor has been struck off the Register, writes William Brennan.
In the past 18 months, there has been a particular shift in the work solicitors are doing for their clients due to the downturn in the economy, with an increased level of instructions centred on debt recovery, insolvency and liquidation.
Adding to a number of our clients’ woes in the debt collection process is the fact that a large number are owed monies by companies who have been struck off the Register of Companies (“the Register”) for failure to file annual returns. This leads to a complication for those clients who are seeking repayment of debts.
The problem stems from the fact that the debtor company can neither sue or be sued while struck off the Register because, while struck off, the company in
question has no legal standing. As one can imagine, this is particularly frustrating for creditors who feel that these debtors are being protected by a lacuna in the law. However, this frustration can be tempered by realising that there are solutions in such an instance and there has been a degree of success to date in overcoming this.Under section 12B(3) of the Companies (Amendment) Act, 1982, a creditor can seek to have the debtor company restored to the Register in order to commence proceedings against that company. We have found the use of section 12B(3) of the Companies (Amendment) Act, 1982 a significant and powerful tool in the collection of debt.
In our experience, debtor companies who are no longer on the Register seek to reach an accommodation with creditors rather than see the company be restored to the Register and proceedings commenced against it. In exchange for striking out the proceedings, we have secured the repayment of significant amounts of monies owing to our clients.
Some of our larger clients, who may be the main creditor of a defaulting company, have been left with no option but to seek to have the debtor company liquidated, and thus have entered the liquidation process by the service of an initial 21 day letter (which has the effect of designating a company insolvent if the debt is not discharged in 21 days, at which point we would advise on whether or not a liquidator should be appointed).
If a creditor is considering such an appointment, it is imperative that the company in question has assets that can cover the client’s debt and the cost of the liquidator, bearing in mind any priority ranking that may exist of any secured creditors. One warning we would give is that the costs involved can be prohibitive, and if the company has insufficient assets, the petitioner will be left with the costs involved in the appointment of a liquidator.