Charles Gibbs, with McDermott Will & Emery (Photo: Courtesy Photo)

Dallas-based restructuring specialist Charles "Chuck" Gibbs has left Katten Muchin to join McDermott Will & Emery's growing restructuring and insolvency group as a partner in Dallas.

Mark Patterson and Eric Seitz joined in the move as counsel, as well as associates Jane Gerber and Shelby Perry. The team brings bankruptcy and insolvency expertise to the international firm's investment clients.

Gibbs, according to McDermott, is the seventh partner to join the group since mid-2019.

"I made the move principally because of my attraction to the McDermott platform. They possess a best-of-brand practice in areas that I think are critical, such as private equity, corporate M&A, health care, and real estate," said Gibbs.

"And most importantly, a commitment from McDermott to build a restructuring practice of superior quality and depth—they embarked on this effort 15 months ago in anticipation of an economic downturn and amassed a deep bench of talent," he said.

Gibbs was a partner at Katten Muchin for 16 months, and before that a senior restructuring partner at Akin Gump for more than 20 years, also based in the Dallas area.

"For approximately 40 years, I have been involved in complex financial restructurings, in and out of court, on behalf of creditors and debtors, with a primary focus on energy, real estate and the retail sectors," Gibbs said.

Gibbs' work spans several jurisdictions and includes cross-border matters for debtors, secured creditors, creditors' committees, equity committees and asset buyers. He partners with nonmoney center secured lenders in handling high-profile real estate loan workouts in and out of court. He also counsels private equity firms on distressed portfolio companies.

Across the board, restructuring specialists nationally have seen a significant uptick in the level of activity during the pandemic, according to Gibbs.

"The effects of COVID-19 have been dramatic on the volume and scope of restructuring work. It has caused increased restructuring work across multiple industries, such as oil and gas, retail, restaurants, commercial real estate, and manufacturing" he said.

Gibbs' clients, which span all of those industries, have made the move with him to McDermott, he said, adding that "McDermott stands as a steady leader during this uncertain time."

For example, Gibbs currently represents Pizza Hut, the franchiser to NPC International, which owns and operates 1,200 Pizza Hut restaurants in 25 states—making NPC the largest Pizza Hut franchisee in the U.S. NPC, which also owns more than 400 Wendy's franchises across the U.S., entered bankruptcy in the Southern District of Texas last week, Gibbs said.

And at a prior firm, Gibbs represented the debtor Quicksilver Resources Inc. and SandRidge Energy.

"Our clients are actively exploring every option to emerge from this crisis stronger than they went into it," said Harris Siskind, global head of McDermott's corporate and transactional group, and a Miami-based partner.

"Chuck and his team provide creditor, debtor and distressed investment clients with creative solutions in and out of court," he said.

With their strategic southwest location, the group expands McDermott's transactions footprint and strengthens its network of resources worldwide, he added.

The attorneys joining Gibbs in the move handle various elements of the practice.

Patterson works closely with real estate developers and investors, lenders and servicers throughout all stages of complex commercial real estate transactions and finance matters.

Seitz focuses on complex Chapter 11 cases, representing debtors, trustees, and official and ad hoc committees. He also handles large reorganizations and restructurings.

Over the last 12 months, McDermott also brought on Maris Kandestin in Wilmington, Delaware, Craig Rasile in Miami, David Hurst in New York, and Felicia Perlman and Brad Giordano in Chicago.