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The Bankruptcy and Business Restructuring Department specializes
in the restructuring of companies, the representation of creditor
constituencies and asset acquirors, the application of finance and
corporate law, and conducting litigation, all within the insolvency
context. We work closely with our colleagues in other departments
of the firm to structure complex transactions and handle major litigation
matters.
FAQs
What do we do?
How are we organized?
How are work assignments distributed?
Do associates have an opportunity to work
with different partners?
How much partner contact and client contact
will I have as a first-year associate?
What is the range of projects I can expect
in my first year?
What sort of formal training will I get to supplement
the courses I took in law school?
How big is our department?
What
have we done lately?
When do we meet?
What do we do?
The Bankruptcy & Business Restructuring Department lawyers
possess strong expertise in the areas of insolvency and bankruptcy
law and practice. We are transaction oriented business lawyers,
with commercial and litigation backgrounds. We regularly represent
debtors, creditor and bondholder committees, secured lenders, asset
acquirors and other major players, including sources of new capital,
in major reorganization cases throughout the United States and
abroad.
We view litigation as an important adjunct to our restructuring practice. We
regularly analyze and defend typical bankruptcy and related avoidance litigation.
We also, either alone or in conjunction with the litigation department, have
successfully conducted major litigation involving defenses of leveraged buyout
transactions, real property lease recharacterizations, debt recharacterization
and guarantor liability. We have also brought suits on behalf of investors against
officers, directors and related third-parties to enhance investor recoveries.
The Department also works closely with members of the Corporate,
Health Care, Real Estate, and Tax Departments to structure complex
transactions. |
How
are we organized?
The Bankruptcy & Business Restructuring Department has attorneys
in Ropes & Gray's Boston and New York offices. Steve Hoort
and Mark Bane serve as co-heads of the Department. Matters are
routinely staffed across offices and virtually every attorney
has the opportunity on a regular basis to work with every other
attorney. |
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Mark Bane and Steve Hoort are the co-heads of the Bankruptcy & Business
Restructuring Department. As co-heads of the department,
Mark and Steve are responsible for coordinating work assignments. |
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How are work assignments
distributed?
Work assignments are primarily distributed by Steve Hoort, the
co-head of the Department. Projects are distributed in a manner
that maximizes the range of experiences that associates will gain.
In addition, every effort is made to ensure that each Bankruptcy & Business
Restructuring associate has the opportunity to work with every
other attorney in the Department.
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Nila Williams (New York University School of Law '03) regularly
works with partner Marc Hirschfield.
In one recent engagement, they worked with a large California
based hedge fund in a review of the fund's residential mortgage
backed securities. Mark and Nila are located in the New York office. |
Do associates
have an opportunity to work with different partners?
Absolutely. As new matters are staffed, care is taken to make sure
that every associate has the opportunity to work, at one time or
another, with every partner in the Department and where appropriate,
with partners outside the Department.
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James Wright (The University of Michigan Law School '04) works
with partner Ross Martin on a regular basis. Both are based in
the Boston office. James recently assisted on the chapter 11
case of Holley Performance Products, Inc. and Ross lead a multi-department
matter involving investment management, litigation and bankruptcy
associates. For a description of James' role in the Holley Performance
Products, Inc. matter click
here. |
How
much partner contact and client contact will I have as a first-year
associate?
Because we are a small department, junior associates are encouraged
to assume important roles in every matter. Even the most junior
associates usually work directly with partners and often have
regular client contact.
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Anne
Pak (University of Hawaii '03) and Amy Vanderwal (Columbia
University Law School '05 (LLM) and Queen's University Faculty
of Law '00) are associates in the New York office working
on a variety of projects for the department including the
Chapter 11 cases of Calpine Corporation & Sea Containers. |
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What
is the range of projects I can expect in my first year?
Junior associates are an important part of the lawyer team assembled
for each matter. Projects for a first-year bankruptcy associate
might include researching and drafting of motions and memoranda
of law and legal opinions, drafting corporate agreements (such
as asset purchase agreements or credit agreements), conducting
due diligence for bankruptcy-related transactions and litigation,
and accompanying more senior attorneys to depositions and court
hearings.
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Heather
Zelevinsky (Northeastern University School
of Law '05) and Steve Moeller-Sally (Harvard
Law School '01) are associates in the Boston office. Steve
recently worked on aspects of the Chapter 11 case of Plastech
Engineered Products, Inc.'s while Heather has worked on the
Chapter 11 case of Pueblo International, LLC. |
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What
sort of formal training will I get to supplement the courses I
took in law school?
In addition to the Firm sponsored training programs which associates
in the Department are encouraged to attend, we also hold monthly
trainings on key bankruptcy issues. In each of our monthly
Department lunches various topical issues are discussed. Associates
often take the lead in presenting a recent decision or other topic
of interest. In addition, associates are encouraged to attend various
Bankruptcy related programs outside of the office such as those
sponsored by the Practicing Law Institute and the American Bankruptcy
Institute. |
How big is our
department?
The Department is comprised of eleven partners and fourteen associates
in the Boston and New York offices.
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Anne
Pak (University of Hawaii '03) recently worked with Department
Co-Chair Mark Bane on the Granite Broadcasting case pending
in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District
of New York. Mark and Anne represented an ad hoc committee
of preferred shareholders in the case. |
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What have we done
lately?
Our recent engagements include the following:
- Represented the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the chapter
11 case of Wellman, Inc.
- Represented Holley Performance Products Inc. in its prepackaged chapter
11 reorganization. For a description of the associates' role in this
matter click here.
- Representing a steering committee of creditors in a restructuring of their
notes in a large Structured Investment Vehicle (SIV) which owns a portfolio
of Residential Backed Mortgage Securities. For a description of the associates'
role in this matter click here.
- Representing a steering committee of first lien term loan lenders of Plastech
Engineered Products, Inc. and its affiliates, in connection with Plastech's
chapter 11 cases.
- Representing an Informal Noteholder Committee that holds $5 billion of
past-due commercial paper of KKR Financial, the debt-investing affiliate
of KKR private equity.
- In our capacity as counsel to HSBC Bank USA, as indenture trustee, and
The Bank of New York, as administrative agent, an ad hoc committee of holders
of second lien obligations of Calpine Generating Company, LLC,.
- In our capacity as counsel to U.S. Bank National Association, as indenture
trustee, an ad hoc committee of holders of the $366 million 9.0% pass through
certificates guaranteed by Calpine Corporation.
- Representing a group of the largest bondholders in connection with a backstop
for a $250 million rights offering and a bid to purchase substantially all
of the assets of Tower Automotive, Inc. in a Bankruptcy Code section 363
sale.
- Representing a group of the largest bondholders in the chapter 11 case
involving Port Townsend Paper Company.
- Representing debtor in bankruptcy case involving the Flatotel in New York
City
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When
do we meet?
We meet informally from time to time, and we also have a monthly
lunch, usually on the first Monday of each month. At the lunches,
the members of the Department discuss the cases they are working
on and in addition, one or more associates takes the lead arranging
an educational component on a recent decision or other bankruptcy-related
matter. |
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