Third-Party Releases in Bankruptcy

Andrew M. Troop is a partner in Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw & Pittman LLP’s Insolvency & Restructuring practice in New York, where he focuses his practice on advising global clientele on business reorganizations, debtors’ and creditors’ rights, mass tort restructurings and crisis response, representing them in high-profile cases and related litigation. He represents debtors, creditors, acquirers, landlords, and creditors’ and equity committees from diverse industries both in and out of court.

Mr. Troop has helped private-equity clients acquire, sell and reorganize U.S. and international portfolio companies and defend fraudulent-transfer and breach-of-fiduciary-duty claims. He also represents nonprofits in debtors’ and creditors’ rights matters, and has distinguished himself representing states in complex restructurings where state priorities and the U.S. Bankruptcy Code intersect.

Mr. Troop has an active pro bono practice. He has served on the board of directors for Greater Boston Legal Services for over a decade, was honored by the Massachusetts Bar Association with its 2017 Pro Bono Publico award, which is presented to individuals who have been instrumental in developing, implementing and supporting pro bono programs, and was honored by the David A. Grossman Fund for Social Justice at Harvard Law School for successfully preventing the eviction of numerous families and ensuring them affordable housing though 2067.

Jessica C. Lauria is a partner in White & Case LLP’s Financial Restructuring and Insolvency Practice in New York, where she represents clients in a wide variety of in-court and out-of-court restructuring matters.

Her work includes providing advice on complex questions relating to governance in the corporate restructuring context, as well as, among other things, analysis, strategic advice and negotiation of all aspects of corporate restructurings, including debtor-in-possession financing arrangements, cash-collateral usage and exit financing facilities; formulation of legal and financial strategies for negotiating and implementing plans of reorganization; negotiating debt and equity documents for reorganized companies; strategic advice and negotiation of sale documents and pleadings in connection with ? 363 and other complex asset sales; strategic planning for debt-restructuring alternatives and chapter 11 filings; preparing debtors for chapter 11 filings; and structuring exit strategies for chapter 11 proceedings. She also has extensive experience representing clients in connection with mass tort chapter 11 proceedings.

Daniel Desatnik is a partner in the Business Solutions, Governance, Restructuring & Bankruptcy Group of Proskauer Rose LLP. His practice focuses on the representation of debtors, creditors’ committees, equity committees, and creditors in chapter 11 cases and out-of-court restructurings.

He is one of the core members of the Proskauer team representing the Financial Oversight and Management Board of Puerto Rico (FOMB) in its successful restructuring of Puerto Rico’s $74 billion debt load, lowering its liabilities by $33 billion and saving it over $50 billion in debt-service payments. He currently plays a key role in the restructuring of the operations and over $9 billion of debt of Puerto Rico’s electric utility, PREPA. He has argued successfully in the Eighth Circuit and First Circuit Courts of Appeals on novel issues in bankruptcy law.

Mr. Desatnik has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America each year since 2021 as one of its “Ones to Watch.” He has been featured on panels and podcasts on bankruptcy law topics, and his articles have been published in such industry-leading outlets as Debtwire and Reorg Research.

Hon. Mar?a de los A. Gonz?lez Hern?ndez is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Puerto Rico in Ponce, appointed on Feb. 11, 2022. She has been involved in bankruptcy law for the entirety of her more than 30-year legal career, most of which she has spent with the federal government.

Judge Gonz?lez-Hern?ndez’s legal career began in 1991, when she clerked for Hon. Enrique S. Lamoutte of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Puerto Rico following law school. In 1994, after earning her law degree, she entered private practice at a law firm in Puerto Rico, where she headed its consumer bankruptcy division and practiced bankruptcy, banking and real estate law for nearly three years.

In 1996, Judge Gonz?lez-Hern?ndez joined the U.S. Trustee’s Office in San Juan, P.R., where she was a trial attorney for 10 years, litigating chapter 7 and 11 cases. In 2006, she rejoined Judge Lamoutte’s chambers as a law clerk, and in 2011 she became Clerk of Court of the District of Puerto Rico Bankruptcy Court.

Judge Gonz?lez-Hern?ndez is a member of the Puerto Rico Bankruptcy Bar Association, the American Bankruptcy Bar Association, and the Honorable Raymond Acosta Puerto Rico Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.

Hon. Robert D. Drain is Of Counsel with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in New York and previously served for 20 years as a U.S. bankruptcy judge for the Southern District of New York, presiding over several high-profile and impactful cases involving well-known companies and organizations.

Prior to leaving the bench in 2022, Judge Drain oversaw proceedings ranging from large chapter 11 corporate restructurings and consumer-level bankruptcies to international chapter 15 matters. He also served as a court-appointed mediator for other judges in numerous cases.

In his current practice, Judge Drain advises on U.S. and cross-border chapter 11 and 15 reorganizations, out-of-court restructurings, debtor-in-possession loans, secured financings, distressed M&A and investments in troubled companies, and potential examiner or trustee roles and mediations.

He is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, a member and former Board member ABI, and a former board member and officer of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges. For several years, he chaired the Bankruptcy Judges Advisory Group established by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, and he currently serves on the FDIC’s Systemic Resolution Advisory Committee.