Sullivan & Cromwell LLP

Sullivan & Cromwell’s bankruptcy litigation practice involves the representation of debtors, creditors, financial institutions, agents and trustees, directors, owners and purchasers in significant disputes.

The Firm has prosecuted and defended very large contested claims, challenged and defended plans of reorganizations and bankruptcy settlements, defended major avoidance actions, protected acquirors from challenges to bankruptcy purchases, and resolved a wide variety of other disputes.

Every bankruptcy litigation matter at S&C has access to the full resources of the Firm’s multidisciplinary Litigation Group. It is typical to see the Firm’s leading litigators take an active role in adversary proceedings in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, combining the Firm’s knowledge of bankruptcy with its broader federal litigation experience.

SELECTED REPRESENTATIONS

Sullivan & Cromwell’s recent bankruptcy litigation experience includes:

• Eastman Kodak, in both offensive and defensive litigation integral to its successful Chapter 11 case and global reorganization, including successful litigation to protect Kodak’s intellectual property rights.
   
• JPMorgan Chase, in litigation with Washington Mutual and creditors over ownership of billions of dollars in disputed assets, including obtaining summary judgment for JPMorgan Chase in a dispute with creditors over title to hybrid securities worth more than $4 billion.
   
• lead counsel to several of the world’s leading financial institutions, in legal challenge to the restructuring of MBIA.
   
• DISH Network, in litigation with LightSquared and creditors asserting billions of dollars in claims relating to the personal investment in LightSquared by DISH’s chairman.
   
• clients with some of the largest disputed claims in the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, including Barclays Canary Wharf and new Meadowlands Stadium.
   
• Chrysler Group (New Chrysler), in the Old Carco (Chrysler) bankruptcy.
   
• UBS, in the largest of the proceedings commenced by Enron to avoid prepetition payments to settle equity forwards and swaps.
   
• Barclays, in the Enron securities class action.
   
• secured lenders, in the restructuring of NRG Energy.
   
• significant creditors, in the bankruptcy proceedings for American Airlines, Northwest Airlines and US Airways.
   
• New York State Department of Financial Services, in litigation relating to the liquidation of the New York agencies of two international financial institutions.

Sullivan & Cromwell is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment. We believe that diversity is vital to the Firm’s ability to provide our clients with the highest level of service. Accordingly, the Firm’s culture and policies value the unique abilities and perspectives of every individual and support diversity in its broadest sense, including race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability and religious affiliation. 

The Firm’s Diversity Committee, which is charged with assisting in the development of a diverse and inclusive workforce, is comprised of lawyers who hold positions of leadership and influence within the Firm. A member of the Firm’s Management Committee co-chairs the Diversity Committee. Other members of the Diversity Committee include the Firm’s senior chairman, practice group managing partners, hiring partners, assigning partners, chairs of the Firm’s associate affinity networks, and chairs of the Women’s Initiative Committee. The Firm also has a Diversity Management Department (“DMD”), which is charged with developing, implementing and coordinating the Firm’s diversity and inclusion initiatives, events and programs. Realizing the importance of an integrated approach, the DMD works closely with our Recruiting, Professional Development and Legal Personnel Departments to monitor the effectiveness of our extensive diversity initiatives and programs to further the Firm’s mission.

This ongoing commitment has led to great results, including the increased diversity of our partnership. As of January 1, 2013, the Firm had elected thirty-nine partners worldwide in the prior six years; of these thirty-nine partners, thirteen are women, eleven are minorities, and one is openly gay.

In its most recent rankings, Vault listed S&C as among the “20 Best Law Firms for LGBT Diversity.” In addition, MultiCultural Law magazine has named S&C to its annual lists of the “Top 100 Law Firms for Women” and “Top 100 Law Firms for Diversity” for several years, including most recently in 2012. Click here for Diversity Recognitions.

In addition, our lawyers have diverse backgrounds; they speak over 30 languages fluently and they come from approximately 40 different countries and 150 different law schools.