Bankruptcy and Business Restructuring

Read our "Weathering the Storm" Briefings

Haynes and Boone, LLP, is globally recognized for its expertise in bankruptcy and business restructuring. The firm is ranked as a leading United States bankruptcy firm, according to the 2009 issues of both Chambers USA: America’s Leading Business Lawyers and Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business. These rankings are based on national and global surveys of business clients and their lawyers.

Our firm claims one of the largest and most experienced business reorganization practice groups in the U.S. We have 42 full-time bankruptcy and business restructuring lawyers, five paralegals, and other experienced support staff. The success of our New York practice is evident by the fact that our bankruptcy practice group in New York, with ten lawyers, is growing faster than anywhere else in the country. Our bankruptcy partners and counsel have, on average, in excess of 20 years of experience.

Our size and depth of experience, coupled with the resources of our full-service firm of almost 550 lawyers with expertise in every area of the law, make Haynes and Boone one of a handful of firms in the country that is fully equipped to handle the largest and most complex workout and Chapter 11 reorganization cases.

Haynes and Boone lawyers are currently leading the representation of debtors or various major creditor constituencies in cases of nationwide significance, including:

Adelphia Communications Corporation American LaFrance, LLC ASARCO LLC ATA Airlines, Inc. Charter Communications, Inc. Delphi Corporation Enron Corporation Fedders North America, Inc. JHT Holdings, Inc. Lehman Brothers Holdings Lyondell Chemical Company

Marcal Paper Mills, Inc. Millennium Digital Media (Broadstripe) Mirant Corporation Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation SemGroup, L.P. Spectrum Brands, Inc. Tekoil & Gas Corporation The Bombay Company Ultimate Electronics WCI Communities, Inc. Wellman, Inc.

Considerable Bankruptcy and Restructuring Experience

For more than 30 years, our lawyers have had a broad range of roles in the bankruptcy and business restructuring. We have:

• advised boards of directors of distressed and failing companies,
• served as debtor’s counsel, creditors’ committee counsel, and as counsel to senior debt holders, portfolio companies, subordinated debt holders, ad hoc groups of creditors and equity security holders,
• served as operating and liquidation trustees,
• represented key suppliers, landlords and tenants of distressed retail and manufacturing companies,
• have handled cases in New York, Delaware and other venues in the U.S.,
• represented banks as agents for syndicates, both secured and unsecured,
• represented parties with significant disputed claims against debtors in bankruptcy and we have defended clients against whom bankruptcy trustees and creditors have asserted significant litigation claims, and
• successfully handled complex litigation in bankruptcy and federal district courts.

Because of our diversity of perspective and experience, it is unlikely that your team of bankruptcy lawyers will encounter situations for which they do not have analogous experience. Having worked on cases from every side of the docket enables our lawyers to assess a client’s particular facts and circumstances, to quickly recommend alternative causes of action and to provide reasoned and well-grounded assessment of the likely success of such alternative courses. Most importantly, our experience translates into bringing value to our clients and counsel that is reliable and working in your best interests during very stressful times.

Experience Across Many Industries

Our firm’s clients come from virtually every industry and include more than 100 Fortune 500 companies, many major foreign companies, and large financial institutions. This give us the broad perspective necessary to successfully represent classes of creditors comprised of companies from a variety of industries and sectors. The industries from which our bankruptcy clients come include:

Aviation Communications Construction Energy and Utilities Entertainment Gaming Finance Food Franchise and Distribution

Healthcare Hospitality and Travel Insurance Manufacturing Media Pharmaceuticals Real Estate Retail Technology

 Our Teamwork Equals Value To Clients

Haynes and Boone’s bankruptcy and business restructuring practice and lawyers exemplify the principles of trust and teamwork on which our firm was founded. We insist that our workplace remain constructive, not destructive, collaborative, not combative. As a result, our firm’s culture is starkly different from many others, where lawyers are over-focused on profits per partner and personal triumphs at partners’ and co-workers’ expense.

At some other law firms, clients “belong” to individual partners. At Haynes and Boone, lawyers do not own client relationships, and lawyers at our firm are not rewarded for hoarding work. Instead, our firm’s clients get the services of the right lawyers for their needs, no matter who those lawyers are or where they are located.

Our bankruptcy practice is extraordinarily cohesive. Its two most senior partners have practiced together continuously since 1981. Two other partners started their careers with the firm in the early 1980s and have been with us for more than 25 years. We have recruited young lawyers very selectively and trained them very carefully. Many of our partners and most of our associates have been with our bankruptcy team their entire careers. All of us are equally comfortable representing our clients whether it is in the conference room or the courtroom.

Far from finding teamwork old-fashioned, we find it a modern necessity in today’s marketplace, where working relationships may be long-distance or virtual. Our teamwork skills are essential to our clients’ and our own success.

We Know How to Lead

Our partners are noted industry thought leaders, prolific writers and speakers and leaders with national, international, state and local organizations such as the American Bankruptcy Institute, the American College of Bankruptcy, the American Bar Association, the International Bar Association and the International Insolvency Institute.

Whether creditor, trustee, or debtor, bankruptcy means doing business under difficult circumstances. The Haynes and Boone Bankruptcy and Business Restructuring team stands ready to lead you through these difficult circumstances.