JD Journal » bankruptcy practice

Cooley Bankruptcy Practice Earns Top Honors at Atlas

joshua — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 17:36:09 +0000

Cooley LLP’s bankruptcy and restructuring practice earned top honors for its record of performance in 2010 at last week’s Turnaround Atlas Awards, the firm said in a press release Wednesday.

Cooley received the “Restructuring Law Firm of the Year” award and also was named the “Chapter 11 Reorganization of the Year” award for its representation of Crabtree & Evelyn in the retailer’s successful emergence from bankruptcy.

Cooley’s team that represented Crabtree & Evelyn included partners Lawrence Gottlieb, Cathey Herschcopf and Jeffrey Cohen and associate Richelle Kalnit.

The awards were presented at the annual Turnaround Atlas Awards dinner held in Chicago, which recognized outstanding performances from the distressed M&A, restructuring and reorganization communities.

Cooley was also named a finalist for the “Chapter 11 Reorganization of the Year” awards for its representation of the unsecured creditors in the Filene’s Basement bankruptcy and Lawrence Gottlieb, head of Cooley’s bankruptcy practice, was nominated as a finalist for “Lawyer of the Year.”

Seyfarth Shaw Adds Greg Yates as N.Y. Partner

joshua — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:06:16 +0000

Greg Yates has joined Seyfarth Shaw as a partner in the firm’s New York office. The former partner at Steptoe & Johnson joins the firm’s bankruptcy practice.

Yates focuses his national practice in the areas of debt/creditor relations, including workouts, restructurings and bankruptcy. A particular area of focus is advising clients on creative solutions to distressed commercial real estate transactions, the firm said in a press release.

Seyfarth Shaw has over 750 attorneys with offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Sacramento, San Francisco, Washington D.C. and Brussels, Belgium.

Hughes Hubbard Expands NY Bankruptcy Practice

Erik Even — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 17:51:36 +0000

Hughes Hubbard & Reed has expanded its bankruptcy practice in New York with two hires.

Kathryn Coleman joins from Gibson Dunn, where she was a partner. She represents Chapter 11 debtors in possession, creditors’ committees, secured lenders groups, acquirers of distressed assets in and out of bankruptcy court, and equity stakeholders in connection with troubled investments and portfolio companies.

Eric Fromme joins as counsel. He is a federal-court litigator and corporate reorganization lawyer.

Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP, an international law firm based in New York, is ranked number one in New York and number two nationally on The American Lawyer’s A-List of the “top firms among the nation’s legal elite.” AmLaw also ranked the firm #4 in “Top Growth Firms” among the nation’s 200 largest firms over the last 10 years.

Genovese Joblove Hires Associates

Erik Even — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:29:46 +0000

Miami, Florida-based litigation firm Genovese Joblove & Battista has brought on two associates.

Frank Massabki will focus on complex civil and criminal litigation in both federal and state court. He received his JD from the University of Virginia School of Law.

Michael Schuster joins from the dissolved Kluger, Perez, Kaplan & Berlin, where he represented clients in debt restructuring, reorganization and liquidation matters, including Chapter 7, 11 and 13 bankruptcy proceedings. Schuster got his JD from the University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law.

Genovese Joblove & Battista is one of the largest specialty practices in Florida, with offices in Miami and Fort Lauderdale.

Chimko Buys Weik & Associates

Erik Even — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:53:37 +0000

Michigan bankruptcy attorney Darryl Chimko, has purchased Weik & Associates, a bankruptcy boutique located in Royal Oak, Michigan.

The new company is now known as Weik, Chimko & Associates.

Previously Chimko was a partner of the newly-dissolved Chimko, Dzialo & Associates in Rochester Hills, Michigan. All employees of that firm have accepted positions at Weik Chimko. The new organization has 30 associates.

Weik, Chimko & Associates serves southeastern Michigan.

Tully Rinckey Merges with Fletcher Law

Erik Even — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:29:43 +0000

Albany, New York’s Tully Rinckey has merged with the Fletcher Law Firm of Saratoga Springs. The new firm will be called Tully Rinckey.

Fletcher Law’s Elizabeth Fairbanks-Fletcher joins as a senior associate, along with associate Meghan Marinello.

The united firm has 26 attorneys and revenue of about $7.5 million. The acquisition of Fletcher expands Tully Rinckey’s bankruptcy, consumer credit issues and tax debt relief practice.

Founded in 2001, Tully Rinckey’ has offices in Albany and Saratoga Springs, New York, and Washington DC.

Ventantonio & Wildenhain Brings on Lawyers

Erik Even — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:25:06 +0000

Warren, New-Jersey-based law firm Ventantonio & Wildenhain has brought on two new attorneys.

Vincent D. Commisa joins as of counsel. He practices in bankruptcy and commercial litigation. Commisa is a United States Military Academy Liaison Officer and a member of West Point’s Admissions/Field Force, where he is the 9th Congressional District Coordinator. His JD is from the Seton Hall University School of Law.

Duncan J. Campbell joins as an associate in the firm’s Litigation Department, with a concentration in corporate defense litigation. Before practicing law, he was a management/IT consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers. His JD is also from Seton.

Ventantonio & Wildenhain concentrates its practice in litigation, corporate law, and governmental entities. Located in Warren, New Jersey, the firm also maintains a New York office.

Logan Yumkas Adds Name Partners

Erik Even — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 17:24:50 +0000

Annapolis, Maryland’s Logan Yumkas has brought on two new name partners, and changed its name to Logan, Yumkas, Vidmar & Sweeney.

Jim Vidmar and Paul Sweeney join from Linowes and Blocher.

Vidmar is past president of the Bankruptcy Bar Association for the District of Maryland, and a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute. He was the first lawyer in Maryland in 1992 to be board certified in business bankruptcy by the American Bankruptcy Board of Certification.

Sweeney specializes in bankruptcy and commercial litigation. He is past president of the Maryland Bankruptcy Bar Association, and a board of directors member.

Logan, Yumkas, Vidmar & Sweeney LLC is a corporate bankruptcy and commercial litigation firm with five attorneys.

Grand Law Firm Launches New Orleans Office

Erik Even — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:00:11 +0000

Baton Rouge, Louisiana’s Grand Law Firm has opened its second office, in New Orleans.

The bankruptcy boutique, founded 15 years ago by attorney Trenton A. Grand, advises clients with financial difficulties, foreclosures, garnishments, lawsuits and harassment by creditors.

According to the firm’s web site, it employs four lawyers, including Grand. It has its own title company. Grand Law also handles personal injury and vehicular accident matters.

Saul Ewing Hires Buchanan Ingersoll Team

Erik Even — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:55:20 +0000

A group of seven attorneys, including three partners, from Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney will join the Wilmington, Delaware office of Saul Ewing.

William E. Manning, Teresa K.D. Currier and Richard A. Forsten are joining Saul Ewing as partners, while James D. Taylor joins as Special Counsel. Joining the firm as associates are Jennifer Morgan Becnel-Guzzo, Michael J. Farnan and Andrew H. Lippstone.

Manning joins the Litigation Department and will serve, with Stabler, as Co-Office Managing Partner. He will also Co-Chair Saul Ewing’s Higher Education Practice Group with James A. Keller.

Currier joins the Bankruptcy & Restructuring Department, and Forsten will be a partner in the Real Estate Department.

Taylor, Becnel-Guzzo and Farnan will join the Litigation Department, and Lippstone will be a member of the Real Estate Department.

Three secretaries and two paralegals from Buchanan Ingersoll will join the attorneys.

Saul Ewing LLP is a full service law firm with 260 lawyers in nine offices in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, New York and the District of Columbia.

Kirkland Bankruptcy Lawyers Join Jones Day

Erik Even — Thu, 28 May 2009 16:48:56 +0000

Seven bankruptcy lawyers at the Los Angeles office of Kirkland & Ellis have left the firm to join Jones Day.

West coast restructuring group head Rick Wynne, partner Bennett Spiegel, of counsel Erin Brady and Lori Sinanyan, and associates Christopher Healey and Stacie Torres will work out of Los Angeles. Associate Lance Miller is in New York.

Jones Day is an international law firm headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. It was founded in 1893 by Judge Edwin J. Blandin and William Lowe Rice. Jones Day is the 8th largest law firm in the world by revenue. It is currently the second largest law firm in the United States, with approximately 2,400 lawyers and gross annual revenue in excess of US$1.5 billion.

Foley & Lardner Bankruptcy Team Leaves to Found New Firm

Erik Even — Mon, 11 May 2009 22:48:58 +0000

Two Foley & Lardner attorneys have jumped ship to found a new Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan-based firm, Harrington, Dragich & O’Neill.

Judy O’Neill and David Dragich join James Harrington to found the new law firm, which will practice in corporate restructuring and bankruptcy, with an automotive industry focus. Harrington is also a former Foley attorney, who departed the firm in 2006.

The new firm has hired associate Stephen Weisberg.

Texas Firm Expands into Second Office

Erik Even — Mon, 04 May 2009 16:41:59 +0000

Busby & Associates is opening a second, three-attorney office in Katy, a suburb of Houston, Texas.

The Katy office will assist individuals and businesses with bankruptcy law, and all aspects of debt consolidation and consumer bankruptcy. The office will handle divorces as well.

Houston’s Busby & Associates is a bankruptcy and family law firm, and a member of the National Association of Bankruptcy Attorneys and the National Association of Consumer Advocates.

Stradley Ronon Hires Two Wolf Block Partners

Erik Even — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 16:48:26 +0000

Stradley Ronon has hired two finance partners from dissolving Wolf Block.

Richard Zucker, chairperson of Wolf Block’s financial services practice and the head of its commercial lending group, is joining Stradley Ronon’s finance and restructuring practice group.

Gretchen M. Santamour, chairperson of Wolf Block’s bankruptcy and creditor’s rights practice, is joining Stradley Ronon bankruptcy group.

Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young has offices in Philadelphia, Malvern and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Cherry Hill, New Jersey; Wilmington, Delaware; and Washington, DC.

Florida’s Kluger Kaplan to Dissolve

Erik Even — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 21:18:48 +0000

Kluger Peretz Kaplan & Berlin, a 40-lawyer firm with offices in Miami and Boca Raton, Florida, is dissolving as two name partners, Howard Berlin and Steven Peretz, jump ship.

Berlin is joining Berger Singerman in Miami as a shareholder. He will be part of the firm’s bankruptcy team.

Peretz will form an intellectual property boutique firm. Two other IP attorneys from his former firm will join him.

Alan Kluger and Justin Kaplan will keep a smaller firm focused on litigation.

Kirkland & Ellis Revenue Up, Profits Flat

Erik Even — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 17:23:28 +0000

Am Law 100 firm Kirkland & Ellis saw an increase in revenue and flat profits per partner in the 2008 fiscal year.

Revenue rose 7% to $1.4 billion, and profit per partner was flat at $2.47 million. Revenue per lawyer fell 3% to $1.05 million.

Business for the firm’s large private equity group was down, but that was balanced by its strong practices in litigation, bankruptcy, and intellectual property.

The firm saw an 11% jump in head count, bringing its lawyer headcount to more than 1,300.

The firm increased its number of partners last year by 7%, from 509 to 545.

EpsteinBeckerGreen Expands Bankruptcy Team

Erik Even — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 18:55:13 +0000

EpsteinBeckerGreen has brought on seven bankruptcy and corporate reorganization lawyers from Dreier LLP.

The team is made up of Paul Traub, former co-chair of the Bankruptcy and Corporate Reorganization Practice; partners Steven E. Fox, Wendy G. Marcari and Maura I. Russell; and associates Brett J. Nizzo, Anthony B. Stumbo and Bradford Tobin.

The group will be based out of EpsteinBeckerGreen’s New York office.

The bankruptcy team was previously of the New York’s Traub, Bonacquist & Fox, LLP, where Paul Traub was a founding member and managing partner.

Founded in 1973, Epstein Becker & Green, PC has nearly 400 lawyers practicing in offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Newark, San Francisco, Stamford and Washington DC.

Did Lawyer Defections Kill Firm?

Erik Even — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 17:40:22 +0000

Nine years after a 14-lawyer exodus led to the demise of a prominent bankruptcy firm, the partners left behind are finally getting their day in court.

An Essex County judge has scheduled an April trial in a suit charging that Roseland, New Jersey’s Lowenstein Sandler violated fair business practice rules and stole financial secrets in poaching the lawyers from Ravin, Sarasohn, Cook, Baumgarten, Fisch & Rosen, also in Roseland.

Within a month of the February 2000 defections, the remaining 50 or so attorneys and support staff scattered, leaving behind a shell firm that is seeking damages.

The 260-lawyer Lowenstein Sandler, the state’s second-largest firm, denies it violated any legal or business ethics guidelines on the hiring of laterals. The firm says Ravin Sarasohn was in dire financial straits well before Lowenstein Sandler made the offers.

The suit alleges Lowenstein Sandler induced three equity partners to break a provision of the Ravin Sarasohn partnership agreement that required a 60-day notice of withdrawal. It also claims Lowenstein Sandler schemed to “steal confidential Ravin, Sarasohn financial information” to target and solicit key attorneys.

Lowenstein Sandler, formerly Lowenstein, Sandler, Kohl, Fisher & Boylan, is a corporate law firm ranked 161st largest in the US in terms of attorney headcount, and 84th in profit per attorney by the AmLaw 200.

The firm maintains offices in Roseland, New Jersey; Boston, Massachusetts; New York City, and Palo Alto, California.

Profits Up at Weil Gotshal

Erik Even — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 17:10:27 +0000

Gross revenue at Weil, Gotshal & Manges rose slightly in 2008.

The New York-based firm brought in $1.23 billion, up 4.75% from 2007. But revenue per lawyer was down 2% to just over $1 million.

Weil was able to shift lawyers and resources to restructuring and related practices in the second half of the year, when corporate work was down. The firm’s restructuring group grabbed headlines over Harvey Miller’s prominent role in Lehman Brothers’ $639 billion bankruptcy.

Profits per equity partner were up 7.5% to $2.3 million, while the number of equity partners splitting the pie shrank for the second year in a row, from a high of 200 lawyers in 2006 to 184 in 2008.

Overall head count is up to 1,190 lawyers worldwide.

The firm handled several notable bankruptcy matters last year, including the filings for specialty retailer The Sharper Image, energy trading company SemGroup and discount clothing chain Steve & Barry’s.

Ervin Cohen & Jessup Absorbs MDFS Law

Erik Even — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 21:27:15 +0000

The partners of Moldo Davidson Fraioli Seror & Sestanovich (aka MDFS Law), a Century City, California-based business law firm, will join Ervin Cohen & Jessup (aka ECJ) of Beverly Hills, starting February 1st.

The MDFS Law group includes Byron Moldo, Peter Davidson, Patrick Fraioli, David Seror, Tom Sestanovich, Jeffrey Glassman, Ken Miller, and Howard Camhi, along with other attorneys and staff.

Each of the MDFS Partners worked at large Los Angeles or New York firms, before joining in their practice that has thrived in Century City for the past 12 years.

With the addition, ECJ’s roster will include more than 50 full-time legal professionals.

ECJ has been serving California and nationwide clients for the past 56 years, and provides a full range of business-related legal services. ECJ is also a charter member of the international Law Firm Alliance.

ECJ’s new partners will expand the firm’s practice in the areas of bankruptcy, receivership and reorganization; business litigation and “litigation avoidance” counseling; commercial real estate; corporate matters; “green” and other emerging technologies; and intellectual property protection and litigation

MDFS Law will leave behind its offices in Century City and move into the newly renovated ECJ offices located in the heart of Beverly Hills.

Tip: Greenberg Traurig Laying Off “Numerous” Associates

Erik Even — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:33:31 +0000

A JDJournal tipster says that Miami’s Greenberg Traurig is laying off “numerous” associates in New York City.

Greenberg Traurig has been responding to the economic meltdown by bringing on new bankruptcy talent. Layoffs may be the next adjustment.

There are no further details on this rumor at the moment, but we’ll update this post as the facts emerge. If you know anything about these layoffs, or have any other juicy tips, please contact us confidentially here.

Greenberg Traurig LLP is an international law firm with approximately 1,800 attorneys and governmental professionals in 30 locations in the US, Europe and Asia. As of 2008, it was the 8th largest law firm in the United States by revenue.

Greenberg Traurig Adds Haynes to Bankruptcy Practice

Erik Even — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 19:15:03 +0000

The international law firm Greenberg Traurig has added Nathan A. Haynes to its New York office as a shareholder in the Business Reorganization & Bankruptcy Practice group.

Prior to joining Greenberg Traurig, Haynes was with Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP where he was recently elected to the partnership.

Haynes represents debtors in Chapter 11 cases and out-of-court restructurings with a focus on the airline industry. He also represents creditors in Chapter 11 cases and is experienced in defending avoidance actions. Haynes additionally represents both sellers and bidders in bankruptcy asset sales.

Greenberg Traurig, LLP is an international, full-service law firm with more than 1,800 attorneys and governmental affairs professionals in the United States, Europe and Asia. The firm was selected as the 2007 USA Law Firm of the Year by Chambers and Partners.

Two Join Greenberg Traurig’s Bankruptcy Practice

Erik Even — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 22:02:06 +0000

Another ex-Cadawalderer has landed a new gig: Bruce Zirinsky, the New York firm’s long-time financial restructuring group head, has joined Greenberg Traurig’s Big Apple office, along with long-time colleague John Bae. Zirinsky joins as co-chairman and Bae as senior member.

For over 30 years, Zirinsky has represented debtors, creditors, investors and other parties in large and complex restructurings, reorganizations, acquisitions, financings and litigation, covering a broad range of industries and issues. His was a lead role in the successful Chapter 11 reorganization of Northwest Airlines.

Bae has practiced in the bankruptcy & reorganization field for almost 20 years, working closely with Zirinsky.

Greenberg Traurig’s business reorganization & bankruptcy practice numbers 80 lawyers worldwide and is co-chaired by Keith Shapiro of the Chicago office and Mark Bloom of Miami.

The 8th largest firm in the US, Greenberg Traurig employs more than 1,800 attorneys throughout the world.