Insolvency & Restructuring

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Pillsbury’s Insolvency & Restructuring practice is recognized for innovative representation of financially distressed entities, creditors’ rights work for financial institutions and strategic advice to stakeholders dealing with troubled projects.

Pillsbury Insolvency & Restructuring lawyers devise cutting-edge solutions for banks and other financial institutions, secured and unsecured creditors, debtors and borrowers, indenture trustees, distressed investors and other interested parties. Our team deftly navigates clients through business cycles, bankruptcies, complex restructurings and workouts. We have extensive experience in handling chapter 11 cases, pre-arranged and pre-packaged bankruptcies, out-of-court restructurings, distressed M&As, capital raising and refinancings, recapitalizations and asset sales. Our lawyers also provide comprehensive counsel on debtor-side assignments and have particular strength in handling complex and sophisticated creditors’ rights matters for many of the leading U.S. and international financial institutions. Further, we represent nontraditional banking clients, like hedge funds and private equity firms, in distressed transactions. Pillsbury’s Insolvency & Restructuring team advises companies and boards of directors across industries, helping them overcome operational, financial and corporate governance challenges with creative, out-of-the box solutions, enabling them to plan for the future and get back to business as usual. We also provide strategic business counsel, working closely with companies to identify risks and early warning signs of financial distress.

Bankruptcy Cases
- Prebankruptcy planning
- Claims assertion and allowance
- Resolution of lien priority, intercreditor and subordination issues
- Debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing
- Negotiating, formulating and confirming plans of reorganization
- Prepackaged and prenegotiated bankruptcies
- Indenture trustee representation
- Cash collateral stipulations and adequate protection
- Objections to disclosure statements and plans
- Cramdown litigation
- Sales of stock and other assets
- All aspects of unexpired leases and executory contracts and intellectual property licenses
- Prosecution and defense of avoidance actions (fraudulent transfers, preferences, etc.)
- Turnover actions
- Abstention and removal issues
- Involuntary petitions
- Governmental/municipal bankruptcies
- Bankruptcy discharge and nondischargeability actions
- Relief from stay litigation

Workouts
- Capital structure and general business restructuring advice for lenders and borrowers
- Complex loan workouts and restructurings from strategic development through negotiation and documentation
- Buy- and sell-side distressed company mergers and acquisitions
- Legal and strategic counseling to loan officers and indenture trustees on potential problem credits
- Out-of-court restructurings
- Alternatives to bankruptcy

Litigation
- Nonbankruptcy fraudulent conveyance and other avoidance actions
- Constructive trusts
- Receiverships
- Writs of attachment, writs of possession (also known as replevin or claim and delivery) and other prejudgment remedies
- Judicial and nonjudicial foreclosures
- Lender liability claims defense
- Execution, garnishment, judgment debtor examinations and other methods to enforce judgments

Our Insolvency & Restructuring practice is an active participant in a wider Real Estate and Construction Industry Team—a comprehensive cross-disciplinary team with broad and in-depth experience in a broad array of industry sectors.

Representative Experience

Represented Rockley Photonics Holdings Limited, a global leader in photonics-based health monitoring and communications solutions, in connection with the negotiation and implementation of its prepackaged chapter 11 plan to go private and restructure its business through transactions that eliminated more than $120 million of secured debt and generated additional funding from existing secured noteholders of approximately $35 million.
Advise State Attorneys General and ad hoc groups of governmental creditors with respect to the impact on, and treatment of, claims arising from the opioid addiction crisis against pharmaceutical companies in both in-court proceedings and out-of-court restructurings, including, for example, the chapter 11 cases of Purdue Pharma L.P., a large, complex and first-of-its-kind case, as well as Insys Therapeutics, Inc. and Endo International plc. The resolution of these claims potentially will deliver billions of dollars to programs designed to abate opioid addiction and deter deceptive drug marketing practices.
Represent Comair Limited, a South African airline, in its chapter 15 case in connection with Comair’s South African business rescue proceeding. The Comair chapter 15 case created new precedent in two ways: (1) Comair’s South African business rescue proceeding was the first proceeding of its kind to be recognized under chapter 15 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, and (2) after the business rescue proceeding was converted to a provisional liquidation in South Africa, the provisional liquidators were successfully substituted in as foreign representatives in the chapter 15 case over the vigorous objection by a litigation creditor rather than initiating a new case.

Represent leading OEMs and tier 1 suppliers in connection with securing and preserving product supply in the face of sub-tier insolvencies, including by acquiring entire companies and business lines out of chapter 11 cases, providing interim financing, and negotiating and implementing transition plans and related agreements to minimize the impact of supply contract rejection.

Bankruptcy
- Advised India-based infrastructure and engineering firm Larsen & Toubro Hydrocarbon Engineering Ltd. in developing a new framework agreement that helped preserve a jeopardized $3 billion oil pipeline contract with Saudi Aramco when another company involved in the contract filed for bankruptcy. This deal was recognized by the Financial Times in the “Enabling Business Growth” category.
- Represented a subsidiary of Sembcorp in the $14 billion bankruptcy of Seadrill and subsidiaries by successfully preserving disputed ownership rights over a new semi-submersible drilling rig, the West Rigel.
- Represented Specialty Hospital of America as debtor counsel in its chapter 11 bankruptcy cases in DC and assisted with DIP financing and sale of client’s long-term acute-care hospitals and skilled-nursing facilities.
- Represented petrochemical company LyondellBasell, reducing billions of dollars of secured debt and resolving massive environmental liabilities through chapter 11 and post-chapter 11 resolution of thousands of pending claims against it.
- Represented Brazilian Viacao Aerea Rio-Grandense (Varig S.A.) in its bankruptcy proceedings and debt restructuring. Recognized by Latin Lawyer as a “Deal of the Year.”

Creditors’ Rights & Indenture Trustee Representation
- Represented the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the chapter 11 case of Linc USA assisted in preserving valuable claims and guaranteeing a cash recovery for unsecured creditors. The case involved 5.6 million barrels of oil and 3.4 billion cubic feet of natural gas in the Gulf Coast, three oil fields in Wyoming, and probable reserves of 99 million barrels of oil in Alaska’s North Slope. In 2017, this deal was recognized by Global M&A Network as “Restructuring of the Year”.
- Represented the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Tristream Energy, a chapter 11 debtor with over 400 miles of gas-gathering pipeline, numerous gas compression facilities and treatment operations.
- Achieved precedent-setting win for Wells Fargo regarding permissibility of imposing freezes on bankruptcy debtor bank client accounts when Ninth Circuit held that such freezes were allowed to preserve bankruptcy estate assets.
- Represent Wells Fargo bank in workout and bankruptcy in connection with loans to Cocopah Nurseries, the largest supplier of date palm trees in the U.S., and its affiliates.
- In a pro bono engagement, representing 15 unpaid employees in recovering wages from post-bankruptcy liquidated day care employer. Under applicable Massachusetts law, employer is personally liable for unpaid wages, trebled, attorneys’ fees, interest and costs.
- Represented BNY Mellon and Wilmington Trust Company regarding equipment trust certificates, leveraged leases and other aircraft finance transactions in American Airlines bankruptcy. Matter value: $3 billion.
- Represented Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas as indenture trustee for $200 million of subordinated notes in K-V Pharmaceutical Company et al. chapter 11 cases.
- Obtained for Wells Fargo Bank stay relief and initiated receivership regarding loans to two hotel-owner limited partnerships that filed bankruptcy.
- Representing Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, on behalf of bondholders, regarding Grupo Aralco’s bankruptcy filing in Brazil and chapter 15 bankruptcy filing in the Bankruptcy Court SDNY.
- Representing Deutsche Bank, on bondholders’ behalf, in restructuring of $1 billion+ of senior notes issued by OAS Finance Limited and OAS Investments GMBH. Received Latin Lawyer “Deal of the Year” recognition.

Distressed M&As
- Represented Orinoco Natural Resources, LLC and its wholly-owned subsidiary Northstar Offshore Ventures LLC in its purchase of substantially all of the assets (comprised mostly of operating and non-operating oil and gas wells in the Gulf of Mexico) and assumption of various liabilities from bankrupt oil & gas producer, Northstar Offshore Group, LLC.
- As counsel to MedLab in bankruptcy case filed in response to Medicare and other reimbursement reductions and creditor demands, obtained Bankruptcy Court authorization for MedLab to sell its three divisions through court-supervised auctions.
- Represented Grupo Camarero in extensive chapter 11 litigation, including three competing reorganization plans, resulting in the client’s acquisition of Puerto Rico’s only horseracing facility.

Cross-Border Matters
- Representing three Japanese companies exiting their investment in the shipping industry in Brazil.
- Representing Deutsche Bank in restructuring of senior notes issued by Industrias Metalurgicas Pescarmona S.A.I.C. of Argentina and guaranteed by Wind Power Energia S.A. of Brazil, which sought bankruptcy protection in Brazil.
- Represented Deutsche Bank in connection with the restructuring of a loan to San Antonio Oil and Gas Services Ltd. (Argentina).

Practice Area Highlights

Pillsbury is “Highly Commended” by Financial Times for legal innovation in our out-of-court work.
Best Lawyers recognizes our Bankruptcy and Creditor/Debtor practice as among the top in the nation and U.S. News & World Report reports top-tier national recognition to Pillsbury for bankruptcy litigation (2021–2026).
Lawdragon has recognized several of our partners on their annual lists of the 500 Leading Global Restructuring & Insolvency Lawyers and 500 Leading U.S. Bankruptcy & Restructuring Lawyers.

Chambers USA recognizes individual Bankruptcy/Restructuring partners throughout our various oﬃces.

Recognized by Legal 500 for Restructuring (Including Bankruptcy): Corporate (2024–2025).

Multiple “Deal of the Year” honors and other accolades from publications such as the Financial Times, M&A Advisor, Global M&A Network, Turnaround Management Association, International Financial Law Review and Latin Lawyer.

Awards

Resources

Insolvency Issues in Real Estate

Pillsbury insights on insolvency-related solutions, obstacles and precedents

Video Series

Swimming Lessons–Surviving and Navigating the Choppy Waters of Distressed Real Estate

Case Study

(VCLF) Prevailing at Trial Against a Determined Plaintiff

Case Study

Bankruptcy as a Civic Service

Insolvency & Restructuring

Areas of Focus

Practices

Pillsbury’s Insolvency & Restructuring practice is recognized for innovative representation of financially distressed entities, creditors’ rights work for financial institutions and strategic advice to stakeholders dealing with troubled projects.

Representative Experience

Practice Area Highlights

Awards

2025 GRR100 Guide—Top Restructuring Firm

2025 Chambers USA Leading Firm

2025 Legal 500 USA Premier Firm

2026 U.S. News—Best Lawyers Best Law Firms

2025 Cross-Border Turnaround Transaction of the Year (Large)

2025 Chapter 11 Transaction of the Year Award (Mega)

Resources

Insolvency Issues in Real Estate

Video Series

Case Study

Case Study

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