Lawyer from famous legal family forced to pay up in the end

Some time ago, I used a bankruptcy application to collect a debt owing to a client by a lawyer who is a member of a well-known family of attorneys. A court judgment had been issued granting the debt claim and no appeal was made, establishing that the debt claimed was due. One of the supporting claims we had identified had also been established. It seemed as though there was nothing to prevent the bankruptcy proceedings going ahead.

However, discussion arose between my client and the other creditor as to who should file for bankruptcy. Both my client and the creditor we had contacted wished to make the application themselves. They were both concerned to prevent a situation where the debtor would pay only the party who made the application and would leave the other creditors unpaid. In the end, both parties filed for bankruptcy, each naming the other party as a fellow creditor.

The lawyer from the famous legal family probably realised that the court was likely to declare him bankrupt if he allowed the matter to proceed to a hearing so, although he kept looking for an escape route, in the end he decided that discretion was the better part of valour and paid the debts owing to both my client and the other creditor. I don’t know whether the other creditors have been paid. Unless they have taken drastic legal action I doubt they have seen their money yet.