Cram-Down Deal

You have a contract with a magazine publisher in Chicago. He owes you $15,000 for work that you did, but he hasn’t paid you for the work. Due to the publication’s struggles, the magazine goes bankrupt and heads to court.

The bad news is that you’re not going to get your $15,000. You’ll likely get something significantly smaller. The judge, changing the terms of your deal, might force you to take what is known as a “Cram-down deal.” This is when you're forced to accept unfavorable terms despite the nominal value that you were initially owed.

It's basically a nice way of saying that the reestablished terms have been crammed down the throat of you, the creditor. This deal is what you'd have to accept because the alternatives are much worse.

But...maybe that's your fault for going into print journalism.