As Restructuring Moves Continue, Blank Rome Partner Jumps Back to Paul Hastings
As economic turmoil creates expectations of more bankruptcy and restructuring work, James Grogan returned to Paul Hastings as a partner in Houston to build a restructuring practice.
April 16, 2020 at 03:25 PM
4 minute read
Paul Hastings, Atlanta. (Photo:John Disney/ ALM)
After a short stint at Blank Rome, restructuring lawyer James Grogan has returned to Paul Hastings as a partner in Houston, adding to a string of bankruptcy and restructuring moves among large law firms in Texas, where low energy prices are compounding the nation's COVID-19-related economic downturn.
Grogan, who rejoined Paul Hastings on Wednesday in the finance and restructuring practice, was of counsel at Paul Hastings from 2009 through September 2018 in Houston and New York, until he joined Blank Rome as a partner in Houston to build a restructuring practice there.
With the economy suffering and energy companies in need of restructuring counsel, Grogan said it is a good time to return to Paul Hastings, pointing to the firm's "really strong" transactions practice in Houston and its close ties to the energy industry.
"It provides for a lot of synergies, not only because energy has been a key focus of distress for the last few years, but also because a lot of the cases I work on tend to be transacational- oriented. They involve capital markets transactions and asset sales," he said.
The energy industry is facing continuing distress, he said, but other industries are also suffering, such as hospitality, entertainment and airlines, which means demand for bankruptcy and restructuring lawyers.
Firms with Texas energy practices have focused on hiring restructuring lawyers for a while, but that effort intensified last fall, as energy prices had declined over the course of the year. The price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate Crude has been below $30 for the last month.
Grogan said he plans to add a couple associates in the near term and eventually build a larger restructuring practice in Houston. He said he wasn't looking to leave Blank Rome, but he got a call from Paul Hastings, and "that's how it happened."
Paul Hastings is looking to expand its global finance and restructuring practice because of the "uncertainty and volatility" facing clients today, firm chairman Seth Zachary said in a press release.
Grogan isn't the first restructuring hire for Paul Hastings this year. In February, the firm added former Los Angeles Winston & Strawn partner Justin Rawlins, who had been chairman of that firm's national restructuring practice, along with Philip Ratner in New York.
Grogan declined to identify clients, but according to recent bankruptcy filings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, he represents creditor PNC Bank in the Pioneer Energy Services Corp. Chapter 11, and interested party Air Products and Chemicals in the McDermott International Chapter 11.
A spokesperson for Blank Rome provided this statement on Grogan's departure: "James is an outstanding individual and we wish him all the best in the future." She wrote that the firm maintains a restructuring practice in Houston, as part of the firm's practice serving clients across the country.
On Monday, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld hired Kirkland & Ellis debt finance and special situations lawyer Chad Nichols as a corporate partner in Houston.
Read More
Akin Gump Adds Kirkland Debt Finance, Restructuring Partner in Houston
Blank Rome Adds Bankruptcy and Restructuring Practice in Houston
Paul Hastings Picks Up Winston Partner Pair, Restructuring Leader
As Oil Prices Slip, Texas Firms Are Adding Bankruptcy Lawyers
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
Jones Day Names New Practice Leaders for Antitrust, Business and Tort Litigation and Latin America
Haynes and Boone Expands in New York With 7-Lawyer Seward & Kissel Fund Finance, Securitization Team
3 minute read
'None of Us Like It': How Expedited Summer Associate Recruiting Affects Law Students and the Firms Hiring Them
Law Firms Mentioned
Trending Stories
- 1I’m A Lawyer, What Can I Sell?
- 2Internal GC Hires Rebounded in '24, but Companies Still Drawn to Outside Candidates
- 3How I Made Office Managing Partner: 'Don’t Be an Opportunity Killer,' Says Thomas Haskins of Barnes & Thornburg
- 4People in the News—Feb. 7, 2025—Gawthrop Greenwood, Lamb McErlane
- 5NY No-Fault Insurance Adopts Worker’s Compensation Fee Schedule
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
