Editor's note: This article is part of The New View, a special report from The American Lawyer on how the coronavirus crisis is changing the way work gets done across the legal industry—now and in the future.

For Bracewell midlevel associate Mark Wulfe, the coronavirus crisis has led to substantial changes in his practice and his life—all of his own choosing.

The commercial litigator has temporarily shifted to restructuring, and he and his wife made a short-term move from New York City to Houston. Those changes kept the young couple out of New York when it was a hotbed for the coronavirus, but they also provided Wulfe with the chance to broaden his skills and guide his career in a new direction.

Wulfe says he's enjoying the chance to use his litigation skills on bankruptcies, and finds it "surreal" to be back in his hometown of Houston, a move prompted by his sense that it would be safer there than in New York at a time when the coronavirus was spreading rapidly.

Bracewell is one of many law firms with a bankruptcy docket that has shifted associates toward a practice area that is suddenly in high demand as the economic downturn has put the finances of U.S. companies in flux.

Marcie Borgal Shunk, president of The Tilt Institute consultancy in Houston, says some firms have even repurposed partners to help with bankruptcy work.

"People are certainly getting creative in thinking about ways to help clients in this new environment," she says.

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As for Wulfe, it's not the first time he has moved between New York and Houston. He graduated from New York University School of Law in 2013,  and joined Bracewell in Houston after clerking for a year for U.S. Magistrate Judge Nancy K. Johnson of the Southern District of Texas. In July 2016, he transferred to the firm's New York office, and got engaged not too long after that. Since then, he has continued to do work in both states and has welcomed the opportunity to travel on occasion to the Space City, where his parents live.

But then came the pandemic. Wulfe shifted to working remotely in early March, but his commercial litigation docket had slowed, as one suit he was working on resolved and another was put on hold. At the same time, he says, the firm became inundated with bankruptcy and restructuring work, largely as a result of pandemic-related economic turmoil and low oil prices,

Wulfe had on occasion helped out with adversary proceedings in bankruptcies, so he reached out to bankruptcy partners he knew and offered to chip in if they needed help. They took him up on the offer. And he wasn't alone. The firm held a training session for litigators on bankruptcy law.

Since then, the bulk of Wulfe's work has been on adversary proceedings, and even more "down-the-middle bankruptcy-type work" not typically done by a litigator, he says. He's working on four bankruptcies, including the Alta Mesa Resources Chapter 11 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, in which the firm represents secured lenders.

Wulfe has enjoyed his stint in the restructuring arena, which has given him the opportunity to do both oral and written advocacy. The Houston bankruptcy courts have been conducting video hearings, so even though he has temporarily relocated to Houston, he's still appearing in court virtually.

Daniel Connolly, the managing partner of Bracewell's New York office, has worked with Wulfe in the past on litigation, and says the associate is a "superstar" who is not afraid to speak his mind about how litigation should be handled. Wulfe showed initiative when he stepped up and sought to join the "incredibly busy" bankruptcy team as the pandemic hit, Connolly says, noting that it will enhance Wulfe's chances of making partner.

"Bankruptcy, at its heart, is a hybrid practice," Connolly says. "Those folks who do bankruptcy are financial transactional people, but they are also litigators and speak for themselves in court."

At Haynes and Boone, another large Texas firm with a robust bankruptcy practice, associates are also being trained in bankruptcy law to help staff the influx of work, says Jeff Nichols, a partner in Houston who co-chairs the energy practice group. Oil and gas associates are useful in transactional work in the restructuring arena; M&A associates can work on asset dispositions related to bankruptcy; and litigation associates are helpful in contested proceedings, he says.

Wulfe and his wife, who is working remotely for a technology company, plan to return to New York by September. Due to stay-at-home restrictions, they haven't been exploring Houston much. They have spent free time on long walks, watching TV and playing board games.

With states starting to reopen, Wulfe expects his commercial litigation practice to pick back up, but he hopes over the long term to carve out a role as someone with an active contested-matter proceeding practice, whether it be commercial litigation or bankruptcy.

"I don't see myself being a full-time restructuring lawyer, but I definitely could see it being a substantial part of my practice going forward," he says.

That dual practice is feasible, Wulfe says. At least a couple partners at Bracewell juggle a similar practice mix handling contested matters in both areas.

In a few short months, Wulfe has broadened his skills and his value to the firm by "learning by doing" in bankruptcy court. And he's gotten the chance to work with an expanded variety of lawyers and observe how they operate.

"People always think of how, being a litigator, you can advise on certain aspects of a transaction, or do things that aren't necessarily core litigation—like an investigation," Wulfe says. "Understanding how bankruptcy works is another piece of that."