Jones Day Adds Los Angeles Restructuring Group; Seven Restructuring Lawyers from Kirkland & Ellis Join Firm
May 28 – The international law firm Jones Day announced today the expansion of its global Business Restructuring & Reorganization (BRR) Practice with seven lawyers from Kirkland & Ellis.
Richard L. (Rick) Wynne and Bennett L. Spiegel join as partners, and Lori Sinanyan and Erin N. Brady join as of counsel in the Firm's Los Angeles Office. They will be joined by three associates (two in Los Angeles, one in New York). Jones Day's U.S. West Coast practice now has five partners, three of counsel, and two members of the American College of Bankruptcy.
Mr. Wynne's practice - which will operate from both Los Angeles and New York - focuses on complex restructuring matters, representing debtors, creditors and creditors committees, purchasers, and lenders in chapter 11 cases and out-of-court workouts in a wide variety of industries focusing on cases in California, New York, and Delaware. Formerly the leader of Kirkland & Ellis LLP's West Coast restructuring practice, he was inducted in March 2006 in the 17th Class of the American College of Bankruptcy, an honorary professional and educational association of bankruptcy and insolvency professionals. Mr. Wynne has been lead debtors' counsel in major chapter 11 cases and has recently focused on significant bondholder and creditor committee representations. Mr. Wynne is currently representing the Station Casinos bondholders' committee in an out-of-court restructuring involving their approximately $2.4 billion in unsecured debt and over $3 billion in secured debt. For the past four years he also has represented the Adelphia Non-Agent Lenders Committee, a group of 400 lenders who held approximately $4.3 billion in Adelphia bank debt. This group of Adelphia lenders ultimately received payment in full of all principal, interest, and legal fees incurred during the bankruptcy case. After the chapter 11 case, Mr. Wynne led the successful effort to have all bankruptcy avoidance and other claims against this group (seeking the return of the $4.3 billion paid to them) dismissed by the District Court for the Southern District of New York. A frequent writer and speaker on bankruptcy-related topics, his work has been featured in various national journals, magazines, and seminars. Mr. Wynne earned his undergraduate degree from Indiana University and his law degree from the Columbia University School of Law.
Mr. Spiegel concentrates primarily on the representation of debtors, creditors, creditors' committees, and asset purchasers in corporate restructurings and bankruptcies. His experience includes the management of a restructuring team in the chapter 11 cases of Calpine Corporation and over 250 of its affiliates, responsible for disposition of all leased properties (including power plants with leveraged lease obligations in excess of $1 billion in the aggregate, other power plant leases, geothermal leases, and office leases) and sale of power plants or interests therein, a turbine design and manufacturing business and other miscellaneous assets for over $1 billion in the aggregate, thus enabling Calpine to reduce its debt, raise capital, and dispose of idle or non-core assets. Mr. Spiegel was also lead chapter 11 bankruptcy counsel for RBS Greenwich Capital in connection with its $100 million DIP financing of New Century Financial Corporation, its $500 million DIP financing of American Business Financial Services, Inc., and its $215 million DIP financing of Oakwood Homes Corporation. He has been consistently selected by his peers as a Super Lawyer in Southern California and is a member of the Board of Editors of The Bankruptcy Strategist. Mr. Spiegel received his undergraduate degree from Rutgers College, his M.B.A. from the Yale School of Management, and his law degree from Yale Law School.
Messrs. Wynne and Spiegel are the 41st and 42nd lateral partners to join Jones Day's five California offices since the beginning of 2007.
"The addition of this substantial restructuring strength in Los Angeles creates added depth to our transaction and litigation services," said Rick McKnight, Partner-in-Charge of Jones Day's Los Angeles Office. "We are both fortunate and excited to have lawyers of this caliber become our colleagues, to continue our growth in Los Angeles and throughout California, and to enhance the service we provide to our clients."
Ms. Sinanyan focuses her practice on debtor and chapter 11 trustee representations in various jurisdictions nationwide. Her experience also includes the representation of creditor committees and secured creditors in bankruptcy cases. Her most recent representations include the Station Casinos bondholders' committee in an out-of-court restructuring, and debtors Leiner Health Products Inc., W. R. Grace & Co., and Calpine Corporation. Since 2004, the Southern California Super Lawyers magazine has named her a "Southern California Rising Star." Ms. Sinanyan's memberships and affiliations include the American Bankruptcy Institute, the International Women's Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC) and the Armenian Bar Association. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, and her law degree from the University of Southern California, Gould School of Law.
Ms. Brady's practice encompasses the representation of debtors, creditors' committees, equity committees, trustees, individual creditors and interested third-parties in chapter 11 bankruptcy cases. She has extensive experience in asset sales and acquisitions, bankruptcy related litigation, and chapter 11 restructurings. In the recent Adelphia bankruptcy case, she successfully represented the Non-Agent Lenders Committee in defending against more than $4.5 billion in preference, fraudulent conveyance, equitable subordination and equitable disallowance claims that the Adelphia Recovery Trust asserted against them. The claims were resolved on motions to dismiss. From 2006-2008 she was selected to Madison Who's Who of Executives and Professionals, and in 2008 was named a Southern California Super Lawyer. Ms. Brady earned her undergraduate degree from Cardinal Stritch University and her law degree from Pepperdine University School of Law.
Jones Day is an international law firm with 32 locations in centers of business and finance throughout the world. With more than 2,400 lawyers, including more than 400 in Europe and 200 in Asia, it ranks among the world's largest law firms. In California, Jones Day has more than 300 lawyers in five offices (San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, Irvine, and San Diego). Jones Day acts as principal outside counsel to, or provides significant legal representation for, more than half of the Fortune Global 500 companies.