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Financial Restructuring & Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy and restructurings involve numerous parties, competing interests, and complex issues. Our innovative and market-leading practice navigates you through it all, drives success, and achieves results.

The AFS Edge

Complex problems require interdisciplinary solutions. Our broad, diverse, and comprehensive practice enhances and improves our ability to represent clients creatively and successfully in sophisticated transactional and litigation matters.

With unparalleled resources, experience and bench depth, ArentFox Schiff is a leading force in the restructuring and bankruptcy world.

Our Financial Restructuring & Bankruptcy Group advises clients across the country in every aspect of distressed situations, liability management, bankruptcy proceedings and financial restructurings.

Our reputation as aggressive, innovative, creative, and effective has earned us the respect of our peers, adversaries and most importantly, clients. Our clients call on us for strategic advice and to evaluate and respond to fast-paced situations. We don’t just flag problems, we develop and implement solutions. Our attorneys know a successful outcome requires more than outstanding legal skills. It demands that we know your business, your industry, and your goals — and use that insight to drive successful results and maximize value.

ArentFox Schiff represents creditors’ committees, ad hoc committees, indenture trustees, agents, bondholders, private credit and distressed lenders and providers of financing in bankruptcy, landlords, contract counterparties, trade and vendors in restructurings, special situations and bankruptcy proceedings across industries, including health care and assisted living, energy, oil and gas exploration and production, mining, retail, airline, life sciences, manufacturing, telecommunications, metals, e-commerce and internet, restaurant, hotel and hospitality, medical technology, pharmaceuticals, construction, real estate, and bank and finance holding companies.

ArentFox Schiff also frequently advise and represent acquirers of and investors in troubled, distressed, and bankrupt companies.

We are often asked to represent debtors and counsel boards of directors and management of companies in stress, distress and bankruptcy with a particular expertise regarding restructuring domestic subsidiaries of foreign holding companies.

When strategic, recovery, remedial rights and bankruptcy litigation becomes necessary we deliver innovative, fast-moving solutions and favorable results with our cutting-edge litigation team.

ArentFox Schiff Financial Restructuring & Bankruptcy Group includes a nationally recognized municipal restructuring and recovery practice. Our team has been at the forefront of the most sophisticated, complex and groundbreaking municipal restructurings and bankruptcies. We represented important stakeholders in nearly all large municipal bankruptcies in the last decade. Our team is intimately familiar with unique legal issues implicated in municipal bankruptcies, from bond to constitutional to pension matters. We also regularly represent trustees, agents and bondholders in and out of court in complex workouts involving student housing projects, long term care facilities and skilled nursing homes.

Perspectives on Financial Restructuring & Bankruptcy

Notable Awards and Recognition

  • 2024, recognized in Reorg’s “Americas Advisor Rankings: Q1 2024” report as the no. 6 most retained advisor on creditor/other engagements and the no. 9 most retained advisor for total engagements.
  • 2019, M&A Advisors Restructuring Deal of the Year for our work on the successful bankruptcy of Diesel USA Inc.
  • 2018, recognized by Legal 500  in the top tier nationally for its municipal bankruptcy work.
  • 2017, recipient of the Turnaround Atlas Award for “Energy and Exploration Partner Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization.”
  • 2015, recipient of  the Turnaround Atlas Award for “Chapter 11 Restructuring of the Year” in recognition of their successful representation of the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Cengage in its Chapter 11 case, the largest Chapter 11 filing of 2013.
  • 2012, named a recipient of the “Transaction of the Year: Mid-Sized Company” award by the Turnaround Management Association (TMA) for its role in representing the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the Chapter 11 case filed by Contessa Premium Foods, Inc. The award recognized Contessa’s successful bankruptcy sale and the liquidation plan the team developed for the case, which resulted in 100% recoveries for all allowed general unsecured creditors.
  • 2011, M&A Advisor’s Turnaround Award for our work on behalf of The Walking Company enabling the national footwear retail chain successfully emerge from bankruptcy and recognized as “Chapter 11 Reorganization of the Year” (Lower Middle Market) awards category. 
  • Chambers USA ranks our team as one of the top groups in the nation.
  • Legal 500 rates the practice among the best in the country for municipal bankruptcy and corporate restructuring work.
  • US News & World Report/Best Lawyers survey rates us nationally in Tier 1 for bankruptcy litigation. We also rank highly for bankruptcy-related mergers and acquisition work. In fact, In 2017, the Bankruptcy and Financial Restructuring group won the Turnaround Atlas Award for “Energy and Exploration Partner Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization.”

Our Work

The following experience illustrates the depth and breadth of the firm’s Bankruptcy and Financial Restructuring practice:

  • Representation of numerous official committees of unsecured creditors, including Dean & Deluca New York Inc., et al., Mad Dogg Athletics, Inc., Philmar Care, LLC., Rubie’s Costume Company Inc., et al., Allied Nevada Corporation, Energy & Exploration Partners, Inc., Cengage Learning, Inc., Contessa Premium Foods, Inc., Accredited Home Lenders Holding, Co., Insilco Technologies Inc., Greensill Inc., Planet Hollywood International Inc., Rock and Republic Enterprises, Inc., Impath Inc., eToys Direct, LLC, Point Blank Solutions, Inc., Fortunoff, LLC, New York Classic Motors Inc., Metiom Inc., Scient Inc., Square Financial Services, Earthshell Corporation, Tactica International Inc., TKO Sports Group USA Limited, Empire One Telecommunications Inc., MCE Television, Inc., Building Materials Holding Corporation, Cygnifi Derivatives Services, LLC, Cross Media Marketing Corporation, Lantis Eyewear Corporation, Protective Products Inc., Kleinert’s Inc., and Peninsula Hospital Center; and Morris | Schneider | Wittstadt Va., PLLC, et al. in bankruptcy proceedings.
  • Representation of the creditors committee in Chapter 9 proceedings of Kennewick Public Hospital District.
  • Representation of an indenture trustee and/or agents in various tranches of debt across the capital structure in the bankruptcy proceedings of PG&E Corporation, Caesars Entertainment Operating Company, Inc., Mallinckrodt PLC, Vantage Drilling Company, The Hertz Corporation, Exide Holdings Inc., Intelsat S.A., Gulfport Energy Corporation, David’s Bridal Inc., Claire’s Stores Inc., Cenveo Inc., First Flo Corporation, Sabine Oil & Gas Corp., BPZ Energy, Inc., Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc., Endeavor Operations Corporation, Goodrich Petroleum Corp., LINN Energy, LLC, Rex Energy, Walter Energy, Inc., Dynegy Holdings LLC, Washington Mutual, Inc., TOUSA, Inc., Simmons Company, BankUnited Financial Corp., RH Donnelley, Corp., Orleans Homebuilders, Inc., United Air Lines Inc., ATA Airlines, Plainwell Inc., Advanta Corp., Dana Corporation, Pliant Corporation, Silver State Bancorp, Maxxim Medical, Pac-West Telecomm, Inc., Vesta Insurance Group, Inc., and Lodgian Inc. 
  • Representation of indenture trustees in numerous covenant enforcement litigation including BankAtlantic, Merrimack Pharmaceuticals and Algeco Scotsman Global Finance PLC.
  • Representation of indenture trustee and agents in various municipal restructurings including Midtown Campus Properties, Park West, and Nevada State College Student Housing Project.
  • Representation of bond insurers and other stakeholders in the chapter 9 cases of Stockton, San Bernardino, Detroit, Harrisburg and Central Falls and the recent Puerto Rico case.
  • Representation of independent director in bankruptcy proceeding of CRP-2 Holdings AA, LP.
  • Representation of numerous debtors including Desigual, Cover FX, and GStar Retail, each a domestic entity of foreign holding companies in chapter 5 proceedings.
  • Representation of various debtors including Diesel USA Inc, Infinia Inc., Siena Hotel Casino & Spa and The Walking Company, a retailer of specialty footwear, in each of their successful restructuring and emergence from bankruptcy. 
  • Representation of landlords including Healthcare Trust, Blue Mountain and Arba in restructuring proceedings involving assisted living, long term care or skilled nursing facilities and hospitals and medical offices
  • Representation of gas transportation builder, project developer and lease counterparty in PREPA PROMESA proceeding in Puerto Rico. 
  • Representation of transportation and midstream counterparties in Bonanza Creek, Inc. bankruptcy proceedings.
  • Representation of acquirer of for-profit hospitals.
  • Representation of insurance companies in chapter 15 proceedings of Hanjin Shipping Co.
  • Representation of mutual funds and fund manager in Lehman Brothers bankruptcy proceeding.
  • Representation of debtors in numerous bankruptcy cases involving commercial, industrial, senior living and health care, residential and apartment projects, including many involving tax-exempt bond financing and nonprofit borrowers.
  • Representation of commodities customers, counter parties and other parties in interest in the MF Global SIPA insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings.
  • Representation of the State of Maine Office of the Public Advocate in FairPoint Communications bankruptcy proceeding.

Key Contacts