Herrick, Feinstein Adds Veteran Restructuring Attorney In NY
New partner Robert D. Gordon spoke with Law360 Pulse about his move to Herrick's robust Restructuring & Finance Litigation Department and his extensive industry experience.
Robert told Law360 Pulse that he was drawn to Herrick because of the fast-growing nature of the firm's restructuring practice along with the potential to further expand his practice.
"I think there is a natural complement and synergy between my experience and that of the restructuring and finance litigation team which should enable us to offer a broader range of services to our clients in out-of-court and pre-bankruptcy workouts as well as in bankruptcy proceedings," he said. "In addition, Herrick's incredible breadth of clients in real estate and its depth in litigation, corporate and several other disciplines was very attractive to me."
Robert added that some of the notable issues that his clients are currently facing include liquidity issues and challenges in refinancing debt stemming from high interest rates along with the increased use of bankruptcy proceedings as another way of handling disputes that would usually be taken care of with multidistrict litigation.
"These transactions have highlighted a somewhat different restructuring tool focused on opportunities within credit agreements and have given rise to a number of hotly contested litigation issues," he said. "In addition, we continue to see the debate play out in the federal courts over the use of the bankruptcy process as an alternative to the multidistrict litigation process for managing mass tort situations, and the use of the various methods to isolate those liabilities and address them without fully subjecting certain key corporate operating entities to the bankruptcy process."
Robert, a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, said he works on advising and representing companies and independent directors, ad hoc and official creditor committees, significant individual creditors, purchasers of distressed assets, and other constituencies in workouts and bankruptcies. Robert added that he has a specific focus on representing retiree interests in public sector restructurings.
Some of Robert's career highlights the article included were his work on the successful $14 billion debt restructuring of global satellite communications provider Intelsat SA, which declared Chapter 11; serving as lead counsel for the official committee of retirees in the commonwealth of Puerto Rico restructuring effort, which led to the preservation of $58 billion in pension benefits; and serving as special restructuring counsel for Detroit's retirement systems in the Motor City's Chapter 9 bankruptcy.
"Herrick has made a strategic decision to bolster our restructuring and litigation capabilities in recent years, which has been hugely successful for the firm and our clients," the firm's executive chair, Belinda Schwartz, said in a statement. "Bob is a great addition to the firm and strengthens our ability to capitalize on this market environment."
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