Restructuring lawyers James Conlan and Patrick Corr

Two senior partners in Sidley Austin's restructuring practice are joining Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath on either side of the Atlantic, as the firm zeroes in on in-demand bankruptcy work after completing its merger of equals in February.

James Conlan is a former chairman and global leader of Sidley's restructuring practice, which he led from the firm's Chicago office. At Faegre Drinker, he'll work across the firm's U.S. offices, including New York, Philadelphia and Chicago. Patrick Corr, who is joining Faegre Drinker in London, was the head of Sidley's European restructuring and insolvency practice until making the move.

The pair, whose tenure at Sidley adds up to nearly a half century, said they were drawn in by the ambition of the newly-combined firm.

"This is the biggest merger in the law firm industry in years," Conlan said. "The combination of Faegre on one hand and Drinker Biddle on the other creates a global powerhouse and expands how we engage with the world."

Over 32 years of practice, all of them at Sidley, Conlan has worked on restructurings spanning multiple industries, including automotive, consumer products and packaging, energy and manufacturing. He's also handled complex restructurings driven by mass torts and sovereign debt. His clients have included Dynegy Holdings, Budget Rent A Car, and the Boy Scouts of America.

He emphasized that complex restructuring work on both the company side and the creditor side requires a multidisciplinary collaborative approach, drawing in litigators, product liability experts, and employment and benefits attorneys, among others.

"It requires a powerhouse of this size to actually function optimally, particularly in this environment," he said of Faegre Drinker, which has 1,300 attorneys, consultants and professionals in 22 locations around the world

Corr joined Sidley in 2002 and has been recognized for his work in both contentious and noncontentious corporate recovery and turnaround matters. Clients have included AlixPartners, Bank of America NA and U.K. oil and gas producer EnQuest plc.

"The collaborative culture and the global reach, along with the strength they have in mass torts, mergers and acquisitions, and litigation are all touch points for us in terms of the work that we do," Corr said of his new firm. "This is as good as it gets."

Faegre Drinker co-chairman Andy Kassner, himself a restructuring specialist, said the two predecessor firms had identified the practice as a priority when envisioning the merger.

"This is exactly what we had in mind when we combined Faegre and Drinker Biddle," Kassner said. "We wanted to recruit the best talent in the industry to support our clients."

The firm already has 100 professionals in the finance and restructuring practice, with a third of those specializing in restructuring.

"In the end, we need to be able to serve our clients and restructuring is an area that's going to be in very high demand over the next several years," he said.

Conlan anticipates work coming from the energy, real estate, manufacturing and airline sectors, including financiers and makers of aircraft as well as the airlines themselves. Businesses wrapped up in mass torts such as opioids, asbestos and black lung will also be in the mix.

While Conlan and Corr had the opportunity to meet several of their new colleagues in person, the bulk of the recruitment process was handled virtually, with the pair using videoconferencing technology to meet over 40 of their new partners.

"It's an environment where we're trying to make sure everyone is staying safe and healthy," said Faegre Drinker co-chairman Tom Froehle. "The good news is they had a chance to use Zoom and WebEx to talk with a lot of the people from the firm."

Froehle also flagged the opportunity to grow the firm's London office, adding that it could fuel an exploration of further expansion in Europe. Meanwhile, the firm is looking to bolster its restructuring practice on the West Coast, and in New York, Chicago, Delaware and Texas.

Before the merger was finalized, Drinker Biddle & Reath had added two restructuring partners in New York, bringing aboard Laura Appleby from Chapman and Cutler in January and Keith Costa from Otterbourg PC in November.

"We wish Jim and Patrick the best and thank them for their contributions," Mike Schmidtberger, chairman of Sidley's Executive Committee, said in an email. "We have a deep, experienced and active bankruptcy and restructuring team in the U.S. and London markets co-led by partners Jessica Boelter and Bojan Guzina. We remain committed to this practice area, and of course to providing clients with solutions to their most pressing issues."

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