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COPYRIGHT © 2026 SMU LAW REVIEW ASSOCIATION
SMU Law Review Forum
THE GUARANTOR'S LIFEBUOY IN THE
BANKRUPTCY OCEAN
E. Jason Dennis* & Carter S. Plotkin* *
When a corporate entity files bankruptcy, creditors routinely turn to
guarantors to collect. Attorneys representing those guarantors should make
strong use of the corporate entity's automatic stay. But they must be aware of
(1) how to secure extension of the automatic stay against the guarantors if it is
contested, and (2) the paperwork pitfalls that can preclude the extension of the
automatic stay to the litigation against the guarantors. This article explores the
contours of the automatic stay; arguments for extending the automatic stay to
proceedings against guarantors and codefendants under federal and Texas law;
applicable recent developments at the Supreme Court; and how to ensure that
appropriate claims are filed in the bankruptcy court to avoid preclusion of the
extension of the automatic stay.
I. THE AUTOMATIC STAY
Title 11 of the United States Code provides that a debtor's filing of a
bankruptcy petition triggers an automatic stay-applicable to all entities and
proceedings-against the commencement or continuation of any judicial
proceeding against the debtor or to recover a claim against the debtor,
including any act to obtain possession [or control] of property of the debtor's
bankruptcy estate, among other things.1 The automatic stay is indeed a
DOI: https://doi.org/10.25172/slrf.79.1.1
* Partner, Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann, LLP, Dallas, Texas. J.D., University of South
Carolina School of Law; International M.B.A., University of South Carolina Darla Moore School
of Business; B.A., Davidson College. The author clerked for the Hon. Henry Coke Morgan, Jr.,
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, and the Hon. Eugene E. Siler, Jr., U.S. Court
of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He tries complex commercial cases throughout the country.
** Associate, Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann, LLP, Dallas, Texas. J.D., Northwestern Pritzker
School of Law; B.A., University of Texas at Dallas. The author clerked for the Hon. Micaela
Alvarez, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, and the Hon. Jane Bland, Supreme
Court of Texas. He also interned for the Hon. Thomas J. Catliota at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for
the District of Maryland. He is a complex commercial litigator for cases nationwide.
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