Bankruptcy & Restructuring
With one of the largest and most experienced bankruptcy groups in the region, ZAG/S&W offers legal services in all aspects of bankruptcy, restructuring, creditors’ rights and commercial law. Our lawyers have represented clients in matters involving billions of dollars, including out-of-court workouts and restructurings, as well as contested matters in federal bankruptcy courts in New York, Delaware, Massachusetts and other jurisdictions across the country.
Our creditor practice has a special focus on the issues faced by financial institutions and investors in financial transactions involving one or more distressed entities, including advice concerning the enforcement of remedial rights; restructuring of investments in defaulted public, private, and secured and unsecured bonds; workout of investments in CDOs and other structured investment vehicles; and enforcement of termination of swaps and other derivative instruments on account of bankruptcy or reorganization.
Given the breadth and the depth of our restructuring team, we are ready and able to take on and respond effectively to the most complicated issues that arise in debtor-creditor relationships. In fact, Chambers USA 2009 and 2010 recognized our Bankruptcy & Restructuring practice and noted that our bankruptcy lawyers have “no fear when it comes to complex bankruptcy and restructuring work.”
Practice Profile (PDF)
Representative Client Work
- Lehman Brothers. Representing client in its capacity as indenture trustee, securitization trustee or collateral agent under various derivative transactions, loan trusts, swaps and other securities, as a member of the unsecured creditors’ committee in the Chapter 11 proceedings of Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc. and affiliates.
- Northwest Airlines and United Air Lines. Represented mortgagees, pass-through trustees, subordination agents, or indenture trustees, in the Chapter 11 proceedings of Northwest Airlines and United Air Lines with respect to commercial aircraft equipment and engines, including enforcement of obligations under Section 1110 (a) of the Bankruptcy Code, repossession and foreclosure of collateral, restructuring of transactions, prosecution of, and distributions with respect to, claims. Significant involvement in claims litigation concerning the interplay among tax indemnity claims and stipulated loss value, and litigation with respect to equity squeeze provisions.
- Nashville Senior Living. Advised a national healthcare and senior living services provider on its successful acquisition of seven senior living facilities out of the bankruptcy of Nashville Senior Living, Inc., over the opposition of certain non-debtor TIC interests being sold by order of the court.
- American Refining Group, Inc. (ARG). Represented a refinery operator in the bankruptcy of Chemtura Corporation, from whom ARG acquired a facility.
- Integrated Health Services, Inc., Mariner Post-Acute, Inc., Sun Healthcare Group, Inc. Our clients, holding leasehold and mortgage interests in approximately 57 real properties located in 13 states, entered into settlements whereby the properties were recovered and the debt resolved within a short time of each company’s Chapter 11 filing.
- Lernout & Hauspie N.V., Dictaphone Corporation and L&H Holdings. Obtained favorable monetary settlement from Chapter 11 estates of Lernout & Hauspie and its multinational affiliates on behalf of a U.K. plaintiff in a patent infringement action involving rights to voice recognition software.
- Publicly Held REIT. Advised a publicly held REIT and its affiliates, which buy, own and lease senior citizen housing, in the creation and/or recycling of 17 “bankruptcy remote” subsidiaries in order to secure a master credit facility.
News
- March 23, 2012
Alternative Fee Arrangements on the Rise at Law Firms
Boston Business Journal - January 10, 2012
TerreStar Wins Approval For Ch. 11 Disclosures
Law360 - October 21, 2011
Sullivan & Worcester Attorneys Selected as Rising Stars
New England Super Lawyers Magazine - October 20, 2011
S&W Attorneys Named 2011 Massachusetts Super Lawyers
New England Super Lawyers Magazine - August 31, 2011
Sullivan & Worcester Attorneys Named in 2012 Best Lawyers® - January 2011
Discovery in a Contested Matter in Bankruptcy Court
paper presented at the American Bankruptcy Institute Northeast Winter Conference with Frederic Grant Jr. and Rob Kerwin - December 14, 2010
Judge Easterbrook, Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals Question the Economic Justification for Asset Securitization Through the Use of Bankruptcy-Remote Special Purpose Entities
Boston Bar Association - December 14, 2010
Special Purpose Entities and Opinion Practice
Boston Bar Association - October 19, 2010
S&W Attorneys Named Massachusetts Super Lawyers
New England Super Lawyers Magazine - October 19, 2010
Sullivan & Worcester Attorneys Selected as Rising Stars
New England Super Lawyers Magazine - September 23, 2010
How to Protect Yourself When a Contractor Files for Bankruptcy
Mass High Tech - June 15, 2010
Sullivan & Worcester LLP is Ranked in the 2010 Edition of Chambers USA
S&W Press Release - May 14, 2010
Mover of the Week: A New Sullivan & Worcester Partner Keeps Up With Bondholders, Cyclists
Dow Jones DBR Small Cap - April 2010
Bankruptcy Court Invalidates Springing Subordination Provisions in Credit Default Swap Transaction
American Bar Association Section of Business Law Committee on Legal Opinions - April 9, 2010
Bankruptcy Sales Create Opportunity, Traps for Unwary
New England Real Estate Journal - March 18, 2010
Lenders Face the Distress
Real Estate Bisnow - March 15, 2010
Sullivan & Worcester LLP Announces Acquisition of National Bankruptcy Group
S&W Press Release - January 2010
General Growth
American Bar Association Section of Business Law Committee on Legal Opinions - October 26, 2009
S&W Attorneys Named New England Super Lawyers
New England Super Lawyers Magazine - October 20, 2009
"Perception or Reality: What Shall We Make of General Growth?" - 2009
Some Bankruptcy Rules to Live (and Litigate) By
ABI Northeast Winter Conference - February 5, 2009
Picking Up the Pieces
Retail Traffic Magazine - October 2008
Bankruptcy and Mechanics’ Liens in Foreclosure
Massachusetts Law Review - September 11, 2008
Housing Slump Makes Real Estate A Lawyer's New Home Court
Investor's Business Daily - September 2008
'Bankruptcy-Proofing' Your Contracts
Financial Executives International Boston Chapter Newsletter - August 1, 2008
More than ever, outsource contracts need to be solid
Boston Business Journal - April 2008
Risk Management: 'Bankruptcy Proof' Your Transactions in Uncertain Economic Climate
Financial Executives International Boston Chapter Newsletter - March 19, 2008
Sullivan & Worcester Forms Credit Crisis Practice
Bankruptcy Law360 - March 18, 2008
S&W Announces Formation of Credit Crisis Task Force
S&W Press Release - 2008
Leveraged Buyouts (Structural and Tax Issues) and Acquisitions of a Troubled Business (Creditors' Rights and Bankruptcy)
Mergers and Acquisitions: a Step-by-Step Legal and Practical Guide (co-author, Chapter 7) - July 2006
Statutory Construction under BAPCPA: Living with Ambiguity, Rediscovering Judicial Discretion
Presented at American Bankruptcy Institute 13th Annual Northeast Bankruptcy Conference - February 1, 2005
Reexamining the Protections Afforded to Solvent Shopping Center Tenants Under Section 365 in Light of In re Trak Auto Corp. Part II
American Bankruptcy Institute Journal - December 15, 2004
Solvent Shopping Center Tenants - Reexamination in Light of In re Trak Auto Corp.: Part I
American Bankruptcy Institute Journal - May 13, 2004
Servicemembers Civil Relief Act
Presented at Bankruptcy Court Practice 2004 14th Annual Bankruptcy Court Bench Meets Bar Conference, Boston Bar Association - January 23, 2004
Chapter 11 Theory & Practice: A Guide to Reorganization
Chapter Contributor - October 28, 2003
Bankruptcy Jurisdiction and Post-Confirmation Issues
Presented at Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education Bankruptcy Law Conference - January 1, 2001
Avoidance and Recovery of Fraudulent Transfers (Or, All About Timing and Control)
Protecting Assets from Creditors, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education Series - July 1999
Seeking New Value in the Bankruptcy Code After LaSalle Partners
The American Bankruptcy Institute - January 1997
Matters of Public Concern: Recognizing a Whistleblower's Common Law Cause of Action in Alaska
New England Environmental Law Forum - January 1997
Safety and Soundness in Electronic Banking: the FDIC Examination Procedures
Electronic Banking Law and Commerce Report (co-author)
Events
- June 14-16, 2012
Legal Challenges and Opportunities of Mexico's Increasing Global Integration: Finance, Investment, Trade and Competition Law - March 22-24, 2012
Lessons Learned from Around the World – Recent Bondholder and Indenture Trustees issues from the U.S., Canada, U.K., France, Mexico and Beyond - July 21-24, 2011
Bankruptcy Court Trial Practice Symposium - May 26, 2011
21st Annual Bankruptcy Bench Meets Bar Conference - April 13, 2011 (2:00 - 5:00 p.m.)
Annual CFO Best Practices Seminar - March 31, 2011
American Bankruptcy Institute Annual Spring Meeting - March 31, 2011 (1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.)
Credit Bidding by Secured Lenders in Bankruptcy Sales - December 14, 2010
Special Purpose Entities and Opinion Practice - August 17, 2010 (1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.)
Credit Bidding by Secured Lenders in Bankruptcy Sales - July 2010
Litigation Skills - October 20, 2009
"Perception or Reality: What Shall We Make of General Growth?"
Publications
- April 21, 2011
No Standing in Bankruptcy Court for Holder of Certificated Interest in Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduit
Client Advisory - March 16, 2011
TOUSA Continued: District Court Awards Second Victory to Lenders
Client Advisory - February 17, 2011
District Court Overturns TOUSA Fraudulent Transfer Decision as to Joint Venture Lenders
Client Advisory - July 26, 2010
The Dodd-Frank Act – What Public Companies Should Be Doing Now
Client Advisory
