Lessons from tennis: unconventional reflections on corporate distress
Law and its backhand / 1 / Corporate distress does not necessarily arise from fraud, financial errors or poor management: it is often the physiological outcome of competitive markets, where innovation and competition destroy value in order to create new value. Understanding and addressing it, therefore, requires more than the "law" on the books: it also requires its backhand - the ability to read economic reality, identify early warning signs and intervene with appropriate managerial skills. This shift in perspective lies at the heart of the new law governing corporate distress: moving beyond a culture focused primarily on liquidation and creditor protection to try, whenever the conditions exist, to preserve the value of the business. The first of two articles by Roberto Vona and Fabrizio Di Girolamo, who use a tennis metaphor to rethink the rules, strategies and tools for dealing with corporate distress.
