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Paul A. Rubin: profile
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Paul A. Rubin's practice is focused on bankruptcy and restructuring, distressed acquisitions, and commercial litigation, primarily in the debtor-creditor context.

Bankruptcy and Restructuring Matters

·         Fred Leighton - Jeweler to the Stars: Debtors' counsel for Fred Leighton LLC, famous "Jeweler to the Stars," and related companies in their chapter 11 bankruptcy cases. Fred Leighton's collection is widely recognized as the world's most prestigious collection of rare and historic jewels.

·         General Growth Properties, Inc.: Representation of secured lender.

·         Automotive Industry: Represented manufacturers, suppliers and other creditors in chapter 11 cases of General Motors, Chrysler, Delphi Automotive Systems, Dana Corporation and Intermet Corp.; provided workout advice to an automotive parts remanufacturer; and negotiated a forbearance agreement for an automotive electronics distributor.

·         Professional Sports Franchise Affiliates - Stadium Financings: Advice to affiliates of Major League Baseball and National Football League franchises regarding financing issues for the construction of new stadiums.

·         Circuit City: Representation of winning bidder for Debtor's real property in competitive auction.

·         Manhattan Valley Portfolio: Represented mortgagee with claim of over $220 million secured by 33 properties in connection with pre-negotiated plan, confirmed within 75 days of bankruptcy filing, under which properties were transferred to client.

·         Office Equipment/Camera Manufacturer - Chapter 11 Cases: Representation of an international office equipment and camera manufacturer as unsecured creditor in various complex chapter 11 cases, including Tribune Co., The Sharper Image, Ultimate Electronics and The Wiz.

·         Taylor, Bean & Whitaker: Representation of court-approved DIP lender. 

·         United Airlines - Important Precedent for Claims Purchasers: Representation of a claims purchaser in Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals decision that established that a buyer of a pre-petition claim is also entitled to assert the seller's cure claim. 

·         Intelsat Corporation - PSN (USA), Inc.:  Won summary judgment dismissing all fraudulent transfer claims brought against debtor's satellite service provider by liquidating trust established under confirmed chapter 11 plan of reorganization.  In re PSN USA, Inc., 2011 WL 4031147, 2011 Bankr. Lexis 3473 (Bankr. S.D.Fla. 2011).      

·         Mortgage Lenders - Recoveries: Representation of various mortgage lenders in connection with the recovery of major commercial properties under chapter 11 plans of reorganization, including 80 Broad Street, 1500 Broadway, 400 Madison Avenue, 127 John Street, 71 Broadway and 485 Fifth Avenue.

·         Telecommunications Company - Out of Court Wind-Down: Representation of a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) with respect to the wind-down of its operations and negotiated settlements with numerous creditors.

·         R6 Capital Management - PIK Loan: Representation of R6 Capital Management L.P. in a PIK loan to Sports Capital Holdings (St. Louis) LLC, the owner of the St. Louis Blues Hockey Club. The loan, which is fully subordinated to a syndicated revolver and term loan, required the consent of the National Hockey League and the lenders under the senior syndicated facilities.

·         Title Insurer/Secured Creditor - Lien Priority Dispute: Representation of a title insurance company which was a secured creditor in a lien priority dispute with another creditor. After the properties securing the debt were sold, the bankruptcy court authorized payment of our client's claim, dismissing the competing secured creditor's claim. In re Litas International, Inc., 2004 WL 1488114, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12151 (S.D.N.Y. 2004).

·         Bankruptcy Claims Traders - Various: Representation of claims buyers in large and complex chapter 11 cases including Coram Healthcare, Covanta Energy Group, Intermet Corp., Genuity, Inc. and Pegasus Satellite Television, Inc.

·         Telecommunications Company - Chapter 11 Cases: Representation of one of the world's largest providers of telecommunications services in various chapter 11 cases pending in New York and New Jersey bankruptcy courts.

·         Title Underwriters - Island Mortgage Network Chapter 11: Representation of several national title underwriters in connection with the chapter 11 cases of Island Mortgage Network, Inc. and related litigation in various courts.

·         Braniff International Airways - Directors and Officers: Representation of the directors and officers of a failed airline against claims of bankruptcy trustee for breach of fiduciary duty and waste.

·         Equity Owner - NewPower Company/Enron-Related Bankruptcy: Representation of a major equity security holder in the chapter 11 cases of The NewPower Company and related debtors, whose largest secured creditor, shareholder and warrant holder was Enron Corp.

·         Real Estate Purchaser - Appeal in Recharacterization Dispute: Representation of a sale-leaseback purchaser of real estate in a dispute over the bankrupt seller's attempt to recharacterize the transaction as a disguised financing. The purchaser won at trial, and Paul handled its successful appeals in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In re Uni-Rty, 1998 WL 299941 (S.D.N.Y. 1998).

 

Litigation Matters

·         Commercial Bank - Cross-Border Mortgage Dispute: Representation of a commercial bank in connection with a claim by a French entity that it held a commercial mortgage that was senior to our client's $23 million mortgage on a Manhattan hotel. The trial court entered a $242 million judgment of foreclosure in favor of the French entity which, if executed, would have extinguished our client's mortgage lien. On appeal, the Appellate Division reversed the trial court's decision and vacated the foreclosure judgment. We subsequently helped resolve the dispute with our client receiving payment in full.

·         Secured Lender - Priority Dispute: Representation of a secured lender in its claim to the proceeds of the sale of a borrower's principal asset. The court granted our motion for summary judgment, ruling that our client's claim had priority over competing claims asserted by produce sellers under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act. D.M. Rothman Co., Inc. v. Cohen Marketing Int'l, Inc., 2005 U.S. Dist. Lexis 14449, 2005 WL 1690524 (S.D.N.Y. 2005).

·         Real Estate Developer/Investor - Won Dismissal of Suit: Successful defense of a real estate developer/investor. Certain bankruptcy companies owned 38 properties secured by over $200 million, and our client entered into an agreement with the debtors to finance their plan of reorganization. But when the bankruptcy court confirmed a different plan, the debtor sued our client claiming that its "failure" to fund the plan caused its demise. We prevailed on behalf of our client on a motion to dismiss, which was upheld on appeal. Ginsberg v. Schron, 288 A.D.2d 146, 732 N.Y.S.2d 858 (1st Dep't 2001).

·         Asset Purchaser - Preliminary Injunction Hearing:  Successfully opposed efforts of seller's creditors to enjoin sale of assets to our client and to require sale to competing bidder; obtained ruling following evidentiary hearing that sale to our client without formal auction process was in the best interests of all parties.  Wada Marketing Group v. Ven-Co Produce, Inc., 2011 U.S.Dist. Lexis 120660, 2011 WL 5545963 (S.D.N.Y. 2011). 

·         Lender and Loan Servicer - Liability Action Defense: Representation of a lender and loan servicer in winning dismissal of lender liability actions. John Street Leasehold, LLC v. Capital Management Resources, 142 F.Supp.2d 527 (S.D.N.Y. 2001); John Street Leasehold LLC v. FDIC, 196 F.3d 379 (2d Cir. 1999).


Paul represents and advises lenders, debtors, trustees, hedge funds, distressed asset purchasers, insurance companies, acquirers of distressed debt, lessors, corporate directors and investment advisors in connection with complex restructuring and bankruptcy matters. His practice includes pre-bankruptcy planning and strategy, out-of-court restructurings and workouts, and counseling regarding the bankruptcy implications of transactions.

Paul has significant experience in a wide variety of litigation, including appeals, in federal and state courts, involving lender liability claims, preference and fraudulent conveyance actions, lien priority disputes, lease re-characterization, and other claims that arise in the debtor-creditor context. He has handled several real estate bankruptcies and workouts, recovering collateral through both negotiation and litigation in the Bankruptcy Court, and negotiating and drafting cash collateral orders and plans of reorganization.

On the transactional side, Paul advises regarding purchases of assets from troubled companies, debtor-in-possession financings, negotiates workout and forbearance agreements, and he has significant experience addressing potential insolvency issues affecting stadium financings.

Paul is a certified mediator on the panel of mediators for the United States Bankruptcy Courts for the Southern District of New York and for the District of Delaware. He has lectured on several bankruptcy and restructuring topics, including commercial loan workouts, valuation issues in bankruptcy, and the acquisition of distressed debt. He has also authored numerous articles for a variety of legal publications. Three of his articles have been cited in published judicial decisions. Paul is a Member of the Board of Editors of The Bankruptcy Strategist, he serves on the Advisory Board for the American Bankruptcy Institute's Asset Sales Databank and contributed toward its build-out.  Paul has been recognized by Thompson Reuter's Super Lawyers as a top practitioner in Bankruptcy and Creditor/Debtor Rights. He is the editor of Herrick's bi-monthly bulletin, Lending & Restructuring Alert, which reports on significant issues in the lending and insolvency arena. In addition, he has been frequently quoted in the media regarding bankruptcy-related topics.

Prior to joining Herrick, Paul was an associate at Dewey Ballantine. While pursuing his law degree, he was a member of the Law Review and received the American Jurisprudence Award in Property.