Bankruptcy & Reorganization

What separates Shearman & Sterling’s Bankruptcy & Reorganization practice from our peers is the scope of global coverage and the broad categories of matters on which we advise. It is this unparalleled breadth of experience that, when combined with the strength of our full firm platform, provides us with a unique 360° perspective on the issues and parties involved in all aspects of insolvency work.

Clients come to us with matters spanning multiple jurisdictions and involving legal issues outside of core restructuring law. Our firm’s extensive international and interdisciplinary platform allows Shearman & Sterling lawyers located throughout our 20 worldwide offices to seamlessly advise clients in multiple practice disciplines under US, English, French, German, Italian and Hong Kong law. For each representation, we assemble an integrated team of lawyers from our various practice areas, including M&A, capital markets, bank finance, litigation, executive compensation & employee benefits, and tax, that can handle our clients' significant legal issues quickly, skillfully and effectively.

The complex restructuring matters on which we provide counsel include:

• Distressed Companies | We work with a distressed company’s management and financial advisors to craft the optimal business-focused solution, with our lawyers providing extensive experience in both out-of-court restructurings across the globe, as well as formal processes such as chapter 11 and chapter 15 proceedings in the United States and various court, prepackaged and other proceedings outside of the United States.
• Creditors | Our firm’s excellent reputation for creditor work is based on our comprehensive experience representing official creditors’ committees, bank debt and ad hoc creditor groups, secured lenders, equity holders, derivative and swap counterparties, security trustees and agents, and other creditors in out-of-court reorganizations, debt restructurings, enforcement processes, liability management strategies and bankruptcy proceedings.
• DIP & Exit Financing | We draw upon the firm’s collective strength in bank and leveraged finance to provide financial institutions with counsel in connection with complex debtor-in-possession (DIP) financings and exit financings.
• Distressed M&A | Acquisitions and dispositions involving distressed companies, whether in an out-of-court transaction, section 363 sale under the Bankruptcy Code, under a plan of reorganization, or in a prepackaged or other enforcement transaction, come with their own unique set of issues that benefit from our specialized bankruptcy and reorganization knowledge.
• Cross-Border Representations | Our cross-border Bankruptcy & Reorganization practice has lawyers experienced in (i) representing creditors and debtors in out-of-court restructurings outside of the United States, (ii) representing companies seeking the assistance of US courts to protect assets or to stop pending litigation while the companies are subject to non-US court proceedings, and (iii) representing foreign liquidators with respect to holdings of affiliates that are in chapter 11 in the United States.
• Counterparty Risk/Derivatives | Marrying the firm’s experience in the fields of derivatives and bankruptcy and reorganization has put us at the forefront of many of the most significant insolvency cases involving derivatives. Our in-depth understanding of the insolvency, derivatives and regulatory aspects of financial institutions and other counterparty risks of default have helped minimize the extent of counterparty exposure of some of the largest hedge funds and financial institutions in the world.