Alexandria, Va.— The latest ABI Podcast features ABI Resident Scholar Drew Dawson speaking with Neil Steinkamp of Stout Risius Ross (New York) about his recently released Understanding Ordinary: A Primer on Financial and Economic Considerations for the Ordinary Course Defenses to Bankruptcy Preference Actions, 2nd Edition. Steinkamp discusses the new edition of Understanding Ordinary, bankruptcy preference matters and his expertise in the ordinary course of business defense.

Listen to the full podcast here: http://www.abi.org/podcasts/author-sheds-light-on-vague-areas-of-ordinary-course-of-business-defense

While lawyers working in preference cases are the primary audience, Steinkamp said that the book can help a larger segment of parties involved in a preference case. Understanding Ordinary is also “intended to help advisors to bankruptcy lawyers, trustees and even in-house credit departments, who often have to think about what the circumstances are going to be as they are working with a distressed company,” Steinkamp said.

Identifying which transfers are ordinary course of business can be tricky, but Steinkamp said that the Bankruptcy Code aims to bring parity to the process. “As [a debtor] is trending toward bankruptcy, there will be a limited availability of cash to pay all the creditors,” Steinkamp said. “The Code is trying to make sure people are paid fairly and ordinarily.”

While Understanding Ordinary contains many examples within current case law, it also provides practical tips, such as the kind of information needed to be gathered when making an ordinary course of business assessment. The payment relationship between the creditor and debtor is key in understanding the context, according to Steinkamp, not just a statistical analysis of the payments. “There’s a fair amount of activity that can really help a credit department as they are working with distressed companies to be documenting that what they are doing during the distressed period is still ordinary so that they mitigate their risks associated with a potential future preferences case.”

In addition to the content, Steinkamp said that he provides industry resources and common metrics in the appendices. “Readers should definitely refer to those as they engage with trying to understand ordinary,” Steinkamp said. “There are good sources of information that they can use to help build some of these arguments.”

For more information or to purchase Understanding Ordinary: A Primer on Financial and Economic Considerations for the Ordinary Course Defenses to Bankruptcy Preference Actions, 2nd Edition, please click here.

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ABI is the largest multi-disciplinary, nonpartisan organization dedicated to research and education on matters related to insolvency. ABI was founded in 1982 to provide Congress and the public with unbiased analysis of bankruptcy issues. The ABI membership includes more than 12,000 attorneys, accountants, bankers, judges, professors, lenders, turnaround specialists and other bankruptcy professionals, providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and information. For additional information on ABI, visit www.abi.org. For additional conference information, visit http://www.abi.org/calendar-of-events.