Dean Foods Preference Recovery
If you have received a letter requesting repayment for goods or services delivered from Dean Foods, you are in the right place. This page will tell you more about the preference recovery process and YOUR rights.
DON’T PANIC, but DON’T IGNORE; DON’T SIGN and DON’T PAY–Yet
Please read this information carefully. ASK LLP has sent letters to an unknown number of farmers and other suppliers throughout the US demanding repayment of payments that Dean Foods and its affiliated companies made in the 90 days (8/14/2019–11/12/2019) prior to filing bankruptcy. THERE MAY BE LEGITIMATE DEFENSES THAT COULD ELIMINATE ANY LIABILITY FOR REPAYMENT OF THESE AMOUNTS. Let us review your defenses for you.
Your business probably can’t afford to settle this claims without investigating the validity and necessity of repayment. We can help.
Joe Peiffer and his team have helped suppliers, such as yourselves in the past. In 2010 VeraSun–a large ethanol producer–filed bankruptcy and we represented many farmers who got letters similar to the ones ASK LLP is sending out now. While we cannot guarantee any results, in VeraSun, the debtor ended up not pursuing our clients.
Contact us
We would be happy to take your information as we prepare to fight the “preference” recovery actions in this case. We say “preference” because the vast majority of the alleged “preference” payments probably have viable defenses. Please send an email to deanfoods@ablsonline.com. If you click this link it will set up a new email with prompts for information to fill in before you click send.
Dean Foods Preference Informational Video
ABLS founder Joseph Peiffer held an information call on the Dean Foods preference actions. You can view it below:
Here is information on how to respond to a claim:
- Detailed Explanation from PA Milk Marketing Board
- Farmer’s Declaration re Preference Recovery
- Hauler’s Declaration re Preference Recovery
Preference Process
In bankruptcy, the debtor, or a trustee, can seek to recover payments made “preferentially” in the time prior to the filing of the petition. The goal of this process is to redistribute these payments to avoid unfair distributions before filing bankruptcy. For instance, if a company decided to pay supplier XYZ, Inc. in full directly before filing, but nobody else, that would be unfair and that is what this process seeks to prevent.
Often times, however, there are legitimate defenses to these preference claims, such as:
- Contemporaneous Exchange
- Payments in the Ordinary Course
- New Value
- Floating Lien or Improvement of Position
We won’t get too deep into these aspects here, but we suspect that many of these “preference” demands will be hindered by one or more of these defenses.
What’s the next step?
Please start organizing information for your defense now. Find all copies of delivery tickets and other documentation from the preference period: 8/14/2019–11/12/2019. Also find copies of any contracts you had with Dean Foods or its affiliated companies.
Contact us
We would be happy to take your information as we prepare to fight the Dean Foods “preference” recovery actions in this case. We say “preference” because the vast majority of the alleged “preference” payments probably have viable defenses. Please send an email to deanfoods@ablsonline.com. If you click this link it will set up a new email with prompts for information to fill in before you click send.
News Coverage of Dean Foods’ Bankruptcy
Below are links to news stories about the Dean Foods bankruptcy and the preference recovery efforts:
Important Documents
Disclaimers
We cannot guarantee results, but we can guarantee that we will work to vigorously defend your rights.