Best Lawyers in America for Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law
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Christopher B. Wick chairs the firm’s Commercial Services & Restructuring Practice Group. Chris specializes in corporate restructuring and bankruptcy and focuses his practice on corporate reorganizations, workouts, debtors’ and creditors’ rights and corporate transactions across the United States. He has represented parties in the restructuring, reorganization or sale of complex business in various industries, including energy, automotive, agriculture, telecommunications...
Nathan draws on over two decades of insolvency and workout experience to provide practical and insightful advice to clients. He builds relationships to obtain favorable results in both transactional and litigation matters. Nate is the chair of Barack Ferrazzano’s Bankruptcy & Creditor Rights Group. He has extensive experience in all aspects of business reorganizations, workouts, and bankruptcies, inside and outside of court restructurings. This includes the representation of credito...
Paul S. Arrow’s practice focuses on all aspects of insolvency, including corporate reorganization, bankruptcy, workout and liquidation. Mr. Arrow regularly represents secured and unsecured creditors, creditors’ committees, franchisors, trustees, assignees for the benefit of creditors, debtors, and other parties in a variety of matters throughout the United States. Mr. Arrow has been a member of Buchalter’s insolvency practice since 1988.
Ms. Cho has more than twenty years' experience advising debtors, creditors’ committees, creditors, and purchasers. She has represented some of the largest companies in America to restructure billions of dollars of debt, acquirers of assets out of bankruptcy, and dozens of committees of unsecured creditors across a variety of industries. Ms. Cho also has significant experience representing U.S. debtors involved in cross-border proceedings and has also represented foreign creditors, inclu...
Andrea Hartley is the chair of Akerman’s Bankruptcy & Reorganization Practice Group, a nationally recognized team serving as bankruptcy counsel or receivers in many of the largest bankruptcy filings in the United States. An experienced bankruptcy and creditors’ rights litigator, Andrea counsels clients in the financial services, real estate, hospitality, restaurant, and retail sectors on business reorganizations and liquidations, assumption and rejection of leases, workouts, d...
Cole Richins advises banks, other financial institutions, equipment lessors, and corporate entities in restructuring matters, corporate bankruptcies, foreclosures, and collections. Cole routinely represents administrative agents in connection with the negotiation and documentation of secured and unsecured senior syndicated financing transactions, and banks and other financial institutions in front-end secured and unsecured middle market financings. Cole also has considerable experience in rep...
From our New Orleans office, Benjamin focuses on several practice areas including bankruptcy, restructuring, and creditors’ rights; corporate and commercial law, mergers and acquisitions; litigation; and asset-based finance. After graduating from Louisiana State University in 2002, Benjamin earned his law degree from Tulane University Law School in 2005. During law school, he served as a judicial clerk for the Honorable Magistrate Judge Alma Chasez, United States District Court for the ...
Ilan D. Scharf is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law. Ilan D., who practices law in New York, New York, has been recognized since 2021. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Ilan D. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
David Otero’s national practice focuses on bankruptcy and tax litigation and counseling. A partner in both the Tax and Bankruptcy & Reorganization Practice Groups, his clients include Citigroup, Capital One, Nissan, Santander Bank, Sears, Synchrony Financial, U.S. Bank, Venus Fashion, and professional athletes. In his tax practice, David advises multistate businesses on state and local tax controversy matters throughout the United States. He represents institutions financing both cr...
Teresa Pilatowicz practices regularly in Arizona and Nevada and focuses her practice on restructuring, insolvency, and business disputes. She specializes in litigation related to bankruptcy cases and has been involved in some of the largest matters throughout Arizona and Nevada. She also appears in jurisdictions throughout the country, having represented clients in California, Delaware, North Carolina, Michigan, Missouri, and Oregon. Her attention to practical solutions to complex problems pr...
David Lemke is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law. David, who practices law in Nashville, Tennessee, has been recognized since 2006. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which David is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Kathleen Currey is an attorney with deep experience representing both financial institutions and borrowers in secured lending and restructuring matters. She has helped her clients structure, negotiate, and close numerous complex transactions. Kathleen's proactive and client-focused approach leads to excellent commercial outcomes in her deals. Kathleen's deal experience includes syndicated loan facilities, asset-based financings, lender finance transactions and debtor-in-possession financings ...
C. Phillip Buffington, Jr. advises financial institutions throughout the United States on federal and state banking laws and regulations. For more than 30 years, he has served as a trusted advisor to community, regional and national financial institutions, helping them to assess and analyze regulatory and litigation risks. Phil advises on a full range of issues, including corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, expansion and divestitures, de novo formations and charter conversions, ba...
Rachael Smiley brings more than 15 years of legal experience to FBFK Law and currently serves as Chair of the firm’s Restructuring practice. She advises clients throughout the Chapter 11 reorganization process, including asset sales, plan confirmation, and post-confirmation plan administration. Rachael also has experience litigating bankruptcy-related disputes, including contested matters, adversary proceedings, valuation disputes, claim objections, and avoidance actions. Before joining...
Our Methodology
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Our methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The Process
Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer review survey is directly related to the quality of the voters.