Sideways Society

As the capital market freeze wears on, corporate lawyers’ energies have shifted from helping clients borrow money or raise cash through stock offerings to crafting complex debt-restructuring deals and calling in litigators to fight lawsuits from existing bondholders. Lawyers say many companies’ need to push bond repayment dates into the future is driving the rush to restructure. They also say that healthy companies flush with cash are jumping on opportunities to buy back debt at low interest rates.