Shai Schmidt’s practice focuses on restructuring and creditors’ rights matters, including contested Chapter 11 plan confirmation, DIP financing and cash collateral use, intercreditor litigation and other matters involving bankruptcy litigation.
Shai has worked on matters for creditors’ committees, bondholders, lenders, equity holders, indenture trustees and other significant parties-in-interest in many of the nation’s largest in-court and out-of-court restructurings.
Shai has co-authored Kasowitz client alert “Update: Supreme Court Closes Safe Harbor Loophole in Fraudulent Conveyance Litigation.”
Work Highlights
- Ad Hoc Committee of Legacy Bondholders in Energy Future Holdings.
- Whitebox Advisors in Puerto Rico’s debt adjustment proceedings.
- Fairfax Financial Holdings in the Chapter 11 cases of EXCO Resources.
- A noteholder in Taberna Preferred Funding IV, challenging the commencement of an involuntary bankruptcy against the issuer of a CDO.
- Official Equity Committee in Hercules Offshore, resulting in the confirmation of a plan that provided equity with a guaranteed recovery of $15 million and reduced the claim of the first lien lenders by $32.5 million.
- Aman Resorts Group in successful dismissal of involuntary bankruptcy proceeding.
- The Renco Group in litigation against Wilmington Trust and in the Chapter 7 cases of Magnesium Corporation of America.
Experience prior to joining Kasowitz:
- The Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the Residential Capital bankruptcy. The committee played a key role in selling ResCap’s residential mortgage servicing and origination business and its loan portfolio and led the negotiation of a $2.1 billion settlement between Ally Financial, ResCap and its major creditor constituencies. The Chapter 11 plan, co-proposed by the committee, was confirmed after a two-phase trial.
- An ad hoc group of institutions holding $3.6 billion in first-lien bonds issued by Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. (owner and operator of Caesars Palace and 30 other casinos and resorts under the Bally’s, Harrah’s and Horseshoe brands, among others) in the bankruptcy of Caesars Entertainment.
- Bondholders and indenture trustees in the American Airlines bankruptcy case in seven different airport financing structures totaling approximately $2 billion in municipal airport bonds, which resulted in renegotiated call protections from and reinstatement of $1.2 billion of secured bonds and above-par recoveries on unsecured claims in the American Airlines/USAir merger.
- The indenture trustee and a steering committee for $2.4 billion in second-lien notes in the bankruptcy case of Energy Future Holdings.