Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

Jones Day's leading bankruptcy and restructuring group is taking its second blow in less than a week, including the loss of another practice leader.

Jones Day partners Scott Greenberg, Steven Domanowski and Michael Cohen have all joined Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher as partners in the firm's New York office, Gibson Dunn said Thursday. Greenberg, who was co-head of Jones Day's business restructuring and reorganization practice in New York and served on the firm's advisory committee, will now co-chair the business restructuring and reorganization practice at Gibson Dunn.

The trio's move from Jones Day comes after Sidney Levinson left the firm to co-chair Debevoise & Plimpton's restructuring group on Oct. 1. Levinson was co-chair of the group's New York restructuring practice.

In an interview, Greenberg said he expects the restructuring and bankruptcy space to get busier during the next couple of years, which made now the right time to move to different firm. He said the trio was attracted to Gibson Dunn in part because of the firm's strength in other practice areas, such as litigation, for which it is known internationally, and saw the prospect of joining a smaller bankruptcy practice as an opportunity.

"All of our clients, we can say without fail, were comfy with the move," he said.

Greenberg, Domanowski and Cohen have focused their restructuring practice around lenders—a "sweet spot" that through years has awarded them a loyal client base, all of whom will be coming with the trio to Gibson Dunn, Greenberg said.

"From a client perspective, it's made it seamless," he said, referring to Gibson Dunn's strength in other restructuring-adjacent practice areas.

Greenberg has worked with both debtors and creditors in in- and out-of court restructurings. At Jones Day, he was representing term lenders to Monitronics, Crossmark, Sunguard, Savers, Catalina Marketing and David's Bridal; he also represented term lenders in rue21′s bankruptcy, Answers Corp.'s bankruptcy and J. Crew's term loan, among others.

Domanowski too represented lenders of J. Crew and rue21. He has also represented debtors including American Apparel and Boscov's Department Stores in their chapter 11 proceedings. In addition to bankruptcy and restructuring, he also has expertise in banking an corporate finance.

Cohen also represented debtors and creditors at Jones Day; he too represented J. Crew and rue21 lenders with Greenberg and Domanowski, as well as providing counsel to American Apparel and other debtors.

As concern about an economic slowdown becomes more widespread, Greenberg said Gibson Dunn was receptive to the idea of growing out the restructuring group to match its larger litigation group and other practice areas for which it is well-known.

"The firm is fully behind efforts to elevate the restructuring practice and bring it to the forefront," he said. Greenberg added that he is often retained early by creditors, and he expects the team's workload to really pick up in about a year.

"The timing of the move is perfect," he said. "I'm excited to be here, it's a great firm with a lot of great people and a great culture."

In a statement, business restructuring and reorganization practice co-chair David Feldman and chairman and managing partner Ken Doran complimented the team's history of working together on notable cases, specifically with creditors.

"This team, which has built deep relationships with major institutions across a variety of investment classes, will nicely compliment our premier practice on both he creditor and debtor sides of the house," said Feldman.

Doran added: "We are very excited to add this distinguished team to the firm. Scott, Steve and Michael have significant experience and enjoy stellar reputations, particularly within the creditor-side of the restructuring space, and their addition will strengthen our global restructuring practice."

Representatives for Jones Day could not immediately be reached for comment.