Overview
Experience
Representative Matters
Carlson Travel, Inc. — Represented Carlson Travel, Inc. and 37 of its affiliates (“CWT”) in the fastest cross-border prepackaged restructuring transaction to date. On November 12, 2021, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas entered an order confirming CWT’s prepackaged chapter 11 plan of reorganization, just 18 hours after commencing bankruptcy proceedings. CWT is a leader in business travel management with over 12,000 employees and operations in 140 countries and territories around the world. As a result of the restructuring, CWT eliminated almost $900 million of its $1.6 billion of debt, secured access to $775 million of exit facilities and a $350 million equity investment, and preserved the entirety of its worldwide employee base.
PizzaExpress Financing 2 plc — Representing PizzaExpress Financing 2 plc (“PizzaExpress”) in its Chapter 15 proceeding in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas for recognition of proceedings in the United Kingdom in connection with its restructuring plan under the new Part 26A of the Companies Act 2006. PizzaExpress is the second company to use the Part 26A restructuring plan, which will provide £144 million in new financing, give holders of the existing senior secured notes new debt instruments and equity in the restructured group, and give holders of the existing senior unsecured notes equity in the restructured group. PizzaExpress is part of the PizzaExpress Group, one of the largest and leading casual dining restaurant groups in the world with over 500 restaurant locations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and internationally.
RGN-Group Holdings, LLC — Representing RGN-Group Holdings, LLC, and approximately 100 other debtor affiliates (Regus) in their Chapter 11 cases filed in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Regus offers a network of on-demand office and co-working spaces, and ancillary service and support, to a variety of clients across a host of industries in over 1,000 locations in the United States and Canada.
Lakeland Tours, LLP — Representing Lakeland Tours, LLP d/b/a WorldStrides (“WorldStrides”) and certain of its affiliates in their prepackaged Chapter 11 cases in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. WorldStrides is a provider of educational travel experiences both domestically and abroad and filed for Chapter 11 to restructure more than $768 million of funded indebtedness after the worldwide shutdown of travel due to COVID-19 negatively impacted their businesses during their peak tour operating season.
Akorn, Inc. — Representing Akorn, Inc. and certain subsidiaries (“Akorn”), a specialty generic pharmaceuticals company with approximately $861.7 million of funded indebtedness, in their Chapter 11 cases filed in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware.
Ultra Petroleum Corp. — Representing Ultra Petroleum Corp. and its affiliates in their comprehensive deleveraging and balance-sheet restructuring, accomplished through prepackaged Chapter 11 cases filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas and a parallel Canadian recognition proceeding filed in the Supreme Court of Yukon in 2020. Ultra is one of the largest oil and natural gas exploration and production companies in Wyoming.
J. C. Penney Company, Inc. — Representing J. C. Penney Company, Inc. and 17 of its affiliates in their pre-arranged Chapter 11 cases. JCPenney, an iconic American retail staple tracing its roots back to 1902, includes private brands such as Liz Claiborne, St. John’s Bay, Stafford, and Arizona Jean Co. JCPenney employs more than 85,000 people, manages a massive supply chain with nearly 3,000 vendors and eleven domestic shipping facilities, and operates approximately 850 stores in the United States and Puerto Rico, in addition to a substantial e-commerce business. With approximately $4.9 billion in debt, JCPenney entered bankruptcy with a Restructuring Support Agreement that carries broad first lien stakeholder support and is expected to substantially de-lever the company’s balance sheet.
Sheridan Holding Company II, LLC ― Sheridan Holding Company II, LLC: Represented Sheridan Holding Company II, LLC, and certain affiliates in their prepackaged Chapter 11 restructuring in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. Sheridan II is the second of three series of Sheridan oil and natural gas investment funds. Sheridan II’s prepackaged restructuring addressed over $1.1 billion of funded debt obligations through an equitization which had near universal creditor support and left general unsecured creditors unimpaired.
Barneys New York, Inc. ― Representing Barneys and its affiliates, the iconic luxury retailer and Manhattan staple, in their Chapter 11 cases in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.
Specialty Retail Shops Holding Corp. ― Representing Specialty Retail Shops Holding Corp. and its subsidiaries (“Shopko”), a retailer of general merchandise, including clothing, accessories, electronics, home furnishings, as well as company-operated pharmacy and optical-services departments, in their Chapter 11 cases in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nebraska. As of its Chapter 11 filing, Shopko operated more than 360 stores in over 25 states. Shopko’s Chapter 11 cases are the largest ever filed in Nebraska.
Gastar Exploration Inc. — Represented Gastar Exploration Inc., and its wholly-owned subsidiary Northwest Property Ventures LLC, in their prepackaged Chapter 11 restructuring in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. Gastar is a publicly-traded oil and natural gas exploration and production company headquartered in Houston, Texas with assets concentrated in the STACK shale play in Oklahoma. The company’s prepackaged restructuring proposes to address nearly $600 million in funded-debt and preferred equity obligations, including the elimination of more than $300 million in funded-debt and preferred equity obligations, and provides for $100 million in committed financing to fund the Debtors’ business in and upon emergence from Chapter 11.
EXCO Resources, Inc. — Representing EXCO Resources, Inc. in its Chapter 11 restructuring in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. EXCO Resources, Inc. is an oil and natural gas exploration, exploitation, acquisition, development and production company headquartered in Dallas, Texas with principal operations in Texas, North Louisiana and the Appalachia region. EXCO listed approximately $1.4 billion of funded debt obligations at the time of filing.
Clerk & Government Experience
Law ClerkHonorable Elizabeth S. StongUnited States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York2017–2018
InternOffice of the New York State Attorney General, Consumer Frauds Bureau2016
InternThe United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California2015
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Credentials
Admissions & Qualifications
- 2017New York
Education
- University of Michigan Law SchoolJ.D.2016Michigan Journal of Gender and Law
- University of MichiganB.A., Political Science & Afroamerican and African Studies2013