Howard Gorman practises primarily in the areas of insolvency and restructuring and civil litigation. His practice has developed with emphasis on the areas of workout and recovery, insolvency, oil and gas and commercial disputes.
Mr. Gorman has acted on behalf of numerous secured and unsecured creditors, insolvent or financially challenged corporations and individuals and insolvency practitioners in their capacity as receivers, trustees and monitors. His practice has resulted in numerous reported appearances at the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench and the Court of Appeal of Alberta, as well as the Bankruptcy Courts in Alberta, Ontario and other provinces throughout Canada.
Selected client work
Clients for whom Mr. Gorman has acted include:
ˇ OPTI Canada Inc. in its CCAA/CBCA restructuring
ˇ Ad hoc committee of Calpine Canada Bondholders
ˇ EarthFirst Canada Inc. in its successful CCAA filing
ˇ BA Energy Inc. in its restructuring
ˇ The monitor of Rancher's Beef
ˇ Air Canada ad hoc unsecured creditors' cCommittee
ˇ Chairman of the creditors' committee in the Blue Range Resources Corporation Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act restructuring
ˇ Bre-X Minerals Ltd.
ˇ Banks and other lenders and creditors in numerous Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act and receivership proceedings
ˇ Insolvency practitioners in their capacity as private or court-appointed receivers, bankruptcy trustees or monitors
Publications
ˇ "Recovery, Insolvency, Bankruptcy and Arrangements in Canada" (presentation and paper), March 2011.
ˇ "Cross Border Restructuring is a First" (co-author), The Lawyers Weekly
ˇ "Post Mortem on Recent Canadian Business Failures: Collections, Bankruptcy and Arrangements."
ˇ "Recovery, Insolvency, Bankruptcy and Arrangements in Canada."
Speaking engagements
ˇ "Calpine: Cross Border Review and Approval of Inter-Debtor Claims," Annual Review of Insolvency Law Conference
ˇ "Challenges and Opportunities in the Oil and Gas Industry" (moderator), Turnaround Management Association, Toronto Symposium
ˇ "Interim Receivers & Novel and Traditional Applications," The Canadian Institute
ˇ "Lessons from Enron and Canadian Legal Update," International Energy Credit Association
ˇ "International Insolvencies," Lorman Institute
ˇ "Lessons from Blue Range," International Energy Credit Association
ˇ "Technical Update," Canadian Insolvency Practitioners Association
ˇ "Interim Receivers & Novel and Traditional Applications," The Canadian Institute
ˇ "Post-Mortem on Recent Canadian Business Failures," International Energy Credit Association
ˇ "Update on Insolvency Issues," Petroleum Accountants Society of Canada
Rankings and recognitions
ˇ Recognized by Benchmark Canada as a litigation star
ˇ Best Lawyers 2012 in the areas of Insolvency and Restructuring
ˇ Lexpert®/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada 2011, "most frequently recommended" in the area of Insolvency & Financial Restructuring
ˇ Best Lawyers "lawyer of the year" for 2011 in the area of Insolvency and Financial Restructuring
ˇ Best Lawyers 2011 in the area of Insolvency and Financial Restructuring
ˇ Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2011, "most frequently recommended" in the areas of Insolvency & Financial Restructuring, Insolvency & Financial Restructuring - Insolvency Litigation
ˇ PLC Which Lawyer? 2011 (Canada) in the area of Restructuring and insolvency
ˇ Who's Who Legal, The International Who's Who of Insolvency & Restructuring Lawyers 2011
ˇ Chambers Global 2011 (Canada) in the area of Restructuring/Insolvency (Band 2)
Memberships and activities
ˇ Law Society of Alberta
ˇ Calgary Bar Association
ˇ Turnaround Management Association
ˇ Insolvency Institute of Canada
ˇ Associate member, International Energy Credit Association
ˇ Moot Court Justice, University of Calgary Trial Advocacy Course
ˇ Instructor, Creditor Rights, Alberta Bar Admissions Course
ˇ Oral examiner, Trustee Licensing Board
ˇ Board member, Agape Hospice
ˇ Les Marmitons