Monique D. Almy

Partner

Overview

Focusing primarily on corporate bankruptcy, restructuring, and other insolvency-related matters, with an emphasis on creditors’ rights, Monique Almy has practiced for more than 35 years. Her extensive experience in the representation of lender syndicates, institutional investors, financial institutions, and other parties in bankruptcy cases, out-of-court workouts, enforcement of remedies, and related litigation has made her an established and recognized leader in her practice area. Monique regularly represents secured and unsecured creditors, debtors, lessors, and committees in bankruptcy cases throughout the country. She also has experience acting as a court-appointed fiduciary.

Recognized as a results-oriented practitioner with a strong business background, Monique has worked with clients across several industries, including finance, privacy and cybersecurity, transportation, aerospace and defense, health care, and hospitality and leisure. Her unique blend of experience and practicality allows her to find innovative solutions for clients. Able to understand the complexity of the transaction as well as the needs of all parties, Monique can construct a strategy for success even when parties have struggled to do so in the past. She has handled matters across the country, has coordinated with local counsel as appropriate, and has handled multidistrict litigation.

Monique also has extensive real estate experience in the retail and mixed-use spaces, including representing shopping center developers in development projects, representing lenders and investors involved in retail companies and development projects, representing landlord and tenants in retail leasing, and representing retail clients in mergers and acquisitions.

Monique has served as a member of the Panel of Bankruptcy Trustees of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland since 1997 and has served on the Panel of Subchapter V Trustees for Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Alexandria, Va., since its inauguration in 2020. She speaks at bankruptcy-related continuing legal education programs and conducts seminars for commercial lenders and other financial institutions. Monique has been recognized as a leading bankruptcy lawyer in Washington, D.C., by Chambers USA since 2014, where clients reported she is "valued for her experience and judgment." Monique has also been recognized in the 2022 Lawdragon list of "500 Leading U.S. Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers" and in The Best Lawyers in America list for Bankruptcy and Creditors’ Rights Law. She was also selected for inclusion in the list of "Maryland Super Lawyers" (a publication of Law & Politics) as well as being recommended by The Washingtonian in its December 2020 issue under the heading "Bankruptcy—Creditors and Debtors Turn to These Lawyers." In 2019, Forbes created its inaugural "America’s Top Corporate Law Firms" and recognized Crowell & Moring for its bankruptcy practice.

Career & Education

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    • U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland
      Chapter 7 Trustee, District of Maryland, 1997
    • U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland
      Chapter 7 Trustee, District of Maryland, 1997
    • University of Delaware, B.A., honors program, 1984
    • University of Baltimore School of Law, J.D., cum laude
      managing editor, Law Review , 1987
    • University of Delaware, B.A., honors program, 1984
    • University of Baltimore School of Law, J.D., cum laude
      managing editor, Law Review , 1987
    • District of Columbia
    • Maryland
    • Maryland Court of Appeals
    • U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland
    • U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
    • U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
    • District of Columbia
    • Maryland
    • Maryland Court of Appeals
    • U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland
    • U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
    • U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
  • Professional Activities and Memberships

    • American Bankruptcy Institute
    • Bankruptcy Bar Association
    • Maryland State Bar

    Professional Activities and Memberships

    • American Bankruptcy Institute
    • Bankruptcy Bar Association
    • Maryland State Bar

Monique's Insights

Client Alert | 4 min read | 07.25.23

Avoid the Surprise: Assessing and Addressing Preference Risk

There are few things as daunting to a vendor or supplier as its counterparty’s bankruptcy. The likelihood of a significantly discounted recovery for goods and services provided and potential loss of a customer may have long-lasted impacts on profitability.  Even worse, however, is the prospect that payments received in good faith prior to a debtor’s bankruptcy filing may be at risk of recoupment. In this alert, we address the risk that such payments are voidable as preferential transfers. Section 547 of the Bankruptcy Code codifies the power of the debtor to recover payments that were made within the 90 days preceding the filing. Very generally, a debtor (or trustee) may recover any transfer that is (i) made to or for the benefit of a creditor (e.g., a payment or grant of lien), (ii) on account of antecedent debt (i.e., a debt already incurred), (iii) made while the debtor was insolvent, (iv) within the 90 days prior to the petition date (or one year for insiders), and (v) that enables the creditor to receive more that it would have in a liquidation. The parties’ respective intent is irrelevant....

Representative Matters

Litigation

  • Appointed as the Trustee for BioniCare, which manufactured and sold medical devices featuring a unique technology for pain relief. After months of difficult negotiations, the court approved a multi-million dollar sale and unique settlement structure based on the pre-bankruptcy debt documents. In re BioniCare Medical Technologies, Inc., No. 07-16902 (Bankr. D. Md.).
  • Appointed as the Trustee for Insurance Payment Plan after litigation over an involuntary bankruptcy petition and related state court insurance receivership proceedings. In re Insurance Payment Plan, Inc., No. 12-28460 (Bankr. D. Md.).
  • Served as lead counsel for government contractor, Alsalam Aircraft Company in dealing with international issues arising in connection with the Aveos insolvency proceedings in Canada. In re Aveos Fleet Performance Inc., No. 500-11-042345-120 (Superior Court, Province of Quebec, District of Montreal).
  • Served as lead counsel for FNC Title Services, LLC in investigating a matter of hacking from a foreign entity and the recovery of lost funds. Due to quick action and assistance from the Crowell team, 100 percent of the missing funds were recovered.
  • Served as special counsel to debtors national bankruptcy proceedings for several matters, including guidance and counseling on a variety of insolvency and bankruptcy issues, participating in and coordinating negotiations and litigation (both inside and outside of bankruptcy court) with primary bankruptcy counsel, and counseling on multi-district and cross border issues. In re Nortel Networks, Inc., No. 09-10138 (Bankr. D.Del.); In re Tribune Company, No. 08-13141 (Bankr. D.Del.); In re Eastman Kodak Company, No. 12-10202 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y.).
  • Appointed as Chapter 7 Trustee for a government contractor that refurbished aircraft and served as lead counsel during the auction process and resulting settlement. In re Aerospace Manufacturing, No. 08-15901 (Bankr. D. Md.).
  • Represented Hitachi in defending a preference action in which the demand was more than $700,000. This matter was more complex than most due to the nature of the relationships between Hitachi and the various MPC entities, which pre-dated the various acquisition/spin-off transactions by Micron and Gateway. In re MPC Computers, LLC, et al., No. 08-12667 (Liquidating Trustee v. Hitachi Data Systems Corp., Adv. Pro. 10-54505) (Bankr. Del.).

Transactional

  • Represented the lead pre-petition and DIP lender and agent of a billion dollar, syndicated credit facility to a major business in the airline industry. In re US Airways Inc.
  • Represented the lead pre-petition and DIP lender and agent of a several hundred million dollar syndicated credit facility to a group of debtors that provides national rail system services. In re Railworks Corporation.
  • Represented the lead pre-petition and DIP lender and agent of a multimillion-dollar, syndicated credit facility to a group of debtors that provide metal processing services. In re Lombard Acquisitions, LLC.

Monique's Insights

Client Alert | 4 min read | 07.25.23

Avoid the Surprise: Assessing and Addressing Preference Risk

There are few things as daunting to a vendor or supplier as its counterparty’s bankruptcy. The likelihood of a significantly discounted recovery for goods and services provided and potential loss of a customer may have long-lasted impacts on profitability.  Even worse, however, is the prospect that payments received in good faith prior to a debtor’s bankruptcy filing may be at risk of recoupment. In this alert, we address the risk that such payments are voidable as preferential transfers. Section 547 of the Bankruptcy Code codifies the power of the debtor to recover payments that were made within the 90 days preceding the filing. Very generally, a debtor (or trustee) may recover any transfer that is (i) made to or for the benefit of a creditor (e.g., a payment or grant of lien), (ii) on account of antecedent debt (i.e., a debt already incurred), (iii) made while the debtor was insolvent, (iv) within the 90 days prior to the petition date (or one year for insiders), and (v) that enables the creditor to receive more that it would have in a liquidation. The parties’ respective intent is irrelevant....

Recognition

  • Lawdragon: Leading U.S. Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers, 2022-2023
  • Chambers USA: Bankruptcy, Washington, D.C., 2014-2022 
  • Best Lawyers in America: Bankruptcy and Creditors’ Rights Law, 2022 
  • Maryland Super Lawyers, 2022 
  • Washingtonian magazine’s Bankruptcy—Creditors and Debtors Turn to These Lawyers feature, 2020

Monique's Insights

Client Alert | 4 min read | 07.25.23

Avoid the Surprise: Assessing and Addressing Preference Risk

There are few things as daunting to a vendor or supplier as its counterparty’s bankruptcy. The likelihood of a significantly discounted recovery for goods and services provided and potential loss of a customer may have long-lasted impacts on profitability.  Even worse, however, is the prospect that payments received in good faith prior to a debtor’s bankruptcy filing may be at risk of recoupment. In this alert, we address the risk that such payments are voidable as preferential transfers. Section 547 of the Bankruptcy Code codifies the power of the debtor to recover payments that were made within the 90 days preceding the filing. Very generally, a debtor (or trustee) may recover any transfer that is (i) made to or for the benefit of a creditor (e.g., a payment or grant of lien), (ii) on account of antecedent debt (i.e., a debt already incurred), (iii) made while the debtor was insolvent, (iv) within the 90 days prior to the petition date (or one year for insiders), and (v) that enables the creditor to receive more that it would have in a liquidation. The parties’ respective intent is irrelevant....

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Monique's Insights

Client Alert | 4 min read | 07.25.23

Avoid the Surprise: Assessing and Addressing Preference Risk

There are few things as daunting to a vendor or supplier as its counterparty’s bankruptcy. The likelihood of a significantly discounted recovery for goods and services provided and potential loss of a customer may have long-lasted impacts on profitability.  Even worse, however, is the prospect that payments received in good faith prior to a debtor’s bankruptcy filing may be at risk of recoupment. In this alert, we address the risk that such payments are voidable as preferential transfers. Section 547 of the Bankruptcy Code codifies the power of the debtor to recover payments that were made within the 90 days preceding the filing. Very generally, a debtor (or trustee) may recover any transfer that is (i) made to or for the benefit of a creditor (e.g., a payment or grant of lien), (ii) on account of antecedent debt (i.e., a debt already incurred), (iii) made while the debtor was insolvent, (iv) within the 90 days prior to the petition date (or one year for insiders), and (v) that enables the creditor to receive more that it would have in a liquidation. The parties’ respective intent is irrelevant....