A classic text among those of us who work in the bankruptcy world is the legendary chapter “The Saddlebags” from Tom Wolfe’s book A Man In Full. The chapter describes with Wolfe’s typical style the workout negotiations of a commercial real estate deal gone south. The language is spicy but the mental image is hilarious and compelling.
I just discovered that scene is available as a book excerpt on line here. Enjoy, if this is your sort of thing. (I should add, keep in mind that this is a work of literature, so I mean “enjoy” in a Tom Wolfe over the top sort of way.)
The excerpt reminds me of a story back when I was in practice (perhaps apocryphal). As the story goes, the bankruptcy lawyers were constantly bugging the real estate lawyers to introduce us to their contacts at the banks so that the bankruptcy lawyers could develop client contacts inside the bank. Finally one of the real estate guys fessed up, “Look, taking you guys to a real estate closing is like taking a divorce lawyer to a wedding. The last person you want to meet is a bankruptcy lawyer when you’ve just signed a deal.” A funny line, the spirit of which is captured in “The Saddlebags.”