The company will continue operating while it tries to restructure its finances and emerge from protection early next year.
The company will continue to operate, he said, and hopes to emerge from bankruptcy protection early next year.
Schwarz stores and the Right Start and Zany Brainy chains, filed for bankruptcy protection early this year, regained its footing in April and then filed again this month.
The discount chain Crown Books filed for bankruptcy protection early this year and the Canadian chain Chapters is closing many of its stores.
He was hired to map out a future for United Airlines just two days after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection early last month.
The resulting crisis in confidence among Enron's investors, its banks and traders in its stock drove the company to file for bankruptcy protection early last month.
He reached an agreement with creditors that gives him options for 10percentt of the company's stock and could ultimately result in his buying a stake of 40percentt in the Washington Group, which should emerge from bankruptcy protection early next year.
Jerry W. Levin, who was brought in as Sunbeam's chief executive after Mr. Dunlap was ousted in 1998, and who decided to file for bankruptcy protection early last year, said in a statement that the reorganization plan has "the solid support of our secured lenders who will become the principal stockholders of the reorganized Sunbeam".
RICHARD C. BREEDEN, who was chairman of the S.E.C. from 1989 to 1993 and is now overseeing the reorganization of WorldCom, which expects to come out of bankruptcy protection early next year as MCI, deplores the breakdown in executive-suite morality.
So, as in the deal for American General, the bidding is expected to be high for potential targets like John Hancock, which went public last spring but loses its takeover protection early next year, as well as Lincoln National, Jefferson-Pilot, Hartford Financial and Protective Life.
Lehr filed for bankruptcy protection this year.
