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Norman N. Kinel
Partner
Norman Kinel is a partner in the firm’s Restructuring & Insolvency Practice and national chair of the firm’s Creditors’ Committee Practice. With decades of experience, Norman is a nationally recognized bankruptcy practitioner, author and commentator. Norman has successfully represented and litigated on behalf of clients in some of the country’s largest and most intricate bankruptcy cases, involving numerous industries. Norman’s clients value his strategic thinking, his responsiveness to their needs and his tenacity in pursuing dynamic strategies to protect and maximize their interests.
Norman regularly represents debtors, secured and unsecured creditors, bondholders, trustees and committees of creditors, acquirers of troubled businesses, equity holders and trustees. He often advises clients in out-of-court default, workout and restructuring matters. Norman also has extensive experience in bankruptcy asset sales and mergers and acquisitions, as well as cross-border insolvency proceedings.
Norman’s practice includes complex bankruptcy litigation and appeals involving, among other things, contested confirmations of plans, DIP financing, cash collateral and adequate protection, relief from the automatic stay, assumption and rejection of executory contracts and leases, exclusivity and substantive consolidation. Norman also has extensive experience in litigation regarding director and officer liability, breach of fiduciary duties, fraudulent conveyances and preferential transfers.
Norman is listed on the Register of Mediators of the United States Bankruptcy Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the District of Delaware, and was a court-approved mediator in the Lehman Brothers cases.
- Significant committee engagements include Phoenix Service Topco, BJ Services, CFRA Holdings, LBI Media, Optima Specialty Steel, Midstates Petroleum, Constellation Enterprises, Santa Fe Gold Corporation, Adelphia Communications, Coldwater Creek, 360networks (USA), Tavern on the Green, Coastal Electric Construction, KidsPeace Corporation, DTI Holdings, This End Up Furniture, Lone Star Industries, Inc. and the Singer Corporation.
- Significant debtor engagements include Hartshorne Mining Group, Daytop Village, The 1031 Tax Group, Robotic Vision Systems, Federal Mogul, Rocky Mountain Helicopters, Mulberry Phosphates and Andover Togs.
- Significant other engagements include:
- Represents the DIP lender to and purchaser of the assets in a section 363 sale in the Eye Care Leaders Portfolio Holdings, LLC and affiliates Chapter 11 cases.
- Represents a private college in its out-of-court restructuring.
- Represents four North Carolina insurance companies in liquidation in highly contested and precedent-setting litigation in the Chapter 15 proceedings of PB Life and Annuity Co., LTD and its affiliates, as well as related appeals.
- Appointed as the Liquidation Trustee of the BJS Liquidation Trust by the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of BJ Services, LLC.
- Represented the Chair of the Creditors’ Committee in the Republic Metals Mining Corp Chapter 11 cases.
- Represented bondholders in confirming a competing plan in the Senior Living Choices case.
- Represented one of the largest independent banks headquartered in California, operating over 120 locations in the US and China, in a variety of insolvency and bankruptcy-related matters.
- Represented a national mutual life insurance company in complex bankruptcy court litigation as a result of it having been defrauded of in excess of US$34 million.
- Represented an investment fund in the Lehman Brothers cases.
- Represented a major private equity firm in two multimillion dollar fraudulent conveyance actions in the Musicland Holdings case.
- Represented a mezzanine lender to developer Harry Macklowe in connection with his default on more than US$7 billion in secured loans.
- Represented a Chapter 7 trustee in connection with a precedent-setting tax-sharing dispute (In re First Cent. Fin. Corp., 377 F.3d 209 (2d Cir. 2004)).
- Represented several financial institutions in the multi-billion dollar commercial paper litigation in the Enron Corporation case.
- Represented a major international credit card processor in the Velo Holdings, Blockbuster, United Retail Group, Woman's Apparel Group and Broadstripe LLC cases.
Education
- American University, Washington College of Law
- Yeshiva University
Admissions
- New York
- New Jersey
- U.S. Dist. Ct., S. Dist. of New York
- U.S. Dist. Ct., E. Dist. of New York
- U.S. Ct. of App., Second Circuit
- U.S. Ct. of App., Ninth Circuit
- U.S. Supreme Court
Memberships & Affiliations
- American Bar Association Business Bankruptcy Committee
- American Bankruptcy Institute
- Turnaround Management Association (education committee; online programming committee)
- The Bankruptcy Strategist (Member, Board of Editors)
- Reorg Research (Member, Board of Editors)
- ABI’s Views from the Bench (Member, Advisory Panel)
- Super Lawyers – recognized numerous times as one of the top bankruptcy attorneys in New York City.
- Lawdragon – selected numerous times as among the 500 Leading US Global Bankruptcy & Restructuring Lawyers.
- Member of the firm’s US Restructuring & Insolvency team, which was named 2020 U.S.A Restructuring Law Firm of the of the Year – Middle Markets by Global M&A Networks.
- Turnaround Atlas Award for Media Restructuring of the Year 2020 – Led the representation of the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the LBI Media chapter 11 cases, which earned the Global M&A Network’s Turnaround Atlas Award for Media Restructuring of the Year for 2020. The unsecured creditors in the cases who were represented by the committee received nearly a 100% recovery on their claims.
- Turnaround Atlas Award for Chapter 11 Restructuring of the Year ($500 million to $1 billion) (2018) – Led the representation of the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the Optima Specialty Steel chapter 11 cases, which earned the Global M&A Network’s Turnaround Atlas Award for Chapter 11 Restructuring of the Year for 2018. The unsecured creditors in the cases who were represented by the committee received a 100% recovery on their claims.
- Turnaround Atlas Award for Energy Restructuring of the Year (over $1 billion) (2016) – Led the representation of the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the Midstates Petroleum chapter 11 reorganization, which earned the Global M&A Network’s Turnaround Atlas Award for Energy Restructuring of the Year (over $1 billion) for 2016.
- Turnaround Atlas Award for Industrials Restructuring of the Year (2016) – Led the representation of the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the Constellation Enterprises chapter 11 cases (including the sale of Commercial Metal Forming, Jorgensen Forge, Zero Manufacturing and Columbus Castings), which earned the Global M&A Network’s Turnaround Atlas Award for Industrials Restructuring of the Year for 2016.
- ACG New York Champion’s Award for Healthcare Deal of the Year (2014) – Led the representation of the unsecured creditors’ committee in the KidsPeace reorganization, which earned the “ACG New York Champion’s Award for Healthcare Deal of the Year” in 2014.
- Author, “A Committee May Survive Dismissal of a Debtor’s Chapter 11 Case,” Restructuring GlobalView, June 13, 2024.
- Author, “Do I Really Have To Pay Default Interest In Order To Reinstate My Loan?” Restructuring GlobalView, August 20, 2023.
- Co-Author, “Exculpation Clause Ruling May Dissuade Some Ch. 11 Filings,” Restructuring GlobalView, January 2023.
- Author, “The Bankruptcy Court’s Ruling is in: J&J’S Texas Two-Step Does Not Constitute A Bad Faith Filing,” Restructuring GlobalView, March 2, 2022.
- Author, “The ‘Texas Two-Step’ Firestorm: This Is No Dance!” Restructuring GlobalView, February 21, 2022.
- Co-author, “Bankruptcy & Restructuring 2022 – Virtual Roundtable,” Corporate LiveWire, January 2022.
- Author, “Equitable Mootness Strikes Again: The Near Impossibility of Challenging a Debtors’ Critical Vendor Decisions,” Restructuring GlobalView, March 17, 2021.
- Author, “11 Good Ideas For Retail Bankruptcy Reform During Pandemic,” Law360, April 2020.
- Author, “Score One for Shopping Center Landlords: Adequate Assurance of Future Performance Means Just What the Bankruptcy Code Says!,” Restructuring GlobalView, March 2020.
- Co-author, “Bankruptcy & Restructuring 2019 – Virtual Roundtable,” Corporate LiveWire, December 2019.
- Co-author, “Did Jevic Doom Future Chapter 11 Recovery Efforts by Unsecured Creditors?,” Journal of Corporate Renewal, November/December 2018.
- Author, “Conversion Equals Death for a Creditors’ Committee and Its Appeal,” American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, September 2018.
- Co-author, “The Interminable 'Insured vs. Insured' Battle,” The Bankruptcy Strategist, September 2017.
- Author, “Now You See It, Now You Don’t - The Search for “Unreasonably Small Capital”,” eSquire Global Crossings, May 10, 2016.
- Author, ““A Bankruptcy Court is not a Collection Agency”: A Lesson on When not to File an Involuntary Bankruptcy Petition,” eSquire Global Crossings, February 15, 2016.
- Co-author, “Does a Bankruptcy Court Have the Authority to Disband an Official Committee?” New York Law Journal, June 2015.
- Co-author, “Beware: Not All Communications Between Court Appointed Bankruptcy Professionals Are Privileged,” The Bankruptcy Strategist, May 2015.
- Author, “Intensive Care II: Is There Recourse Against PCOs for Acts Committed in the Performance of Statutory Duties?” ABI Journal, May 2014.
- Quoted, “Sacklers’ Fate at Supreme Court Poised to Reshape Bankruptcy Law,” Bloomberg Law, August 11, 2023.
- Quoted, “Phoenix Services Gets Approval for Chapter 11 Debt Swap Plan,” Law360, June 21, 2023.
- Interviewed, “Why the Texas Two-Step Bankruptcy Maneuver Is Controversial,” Reuters, August 19, 2022.
- Quoted, “Semi-Annual Newsletter – The Turnaround Report,” in connection with economic and restructuring trends for the US economy during the second half of 2022, Turnaround Management Association, July 2022.
- Quoted, “Justices Urged to Review Judge-Made Bankruptcy Appeal Roadblock,” Bloomberg Law, September 27, 2021.
- Quoted, “Judge Isgur Confirms BJ Services’ First Amended Plan on a Fully Consensual Basis After Global Settlement,” Reorg Research, November 6, 2020.
- Quoted, “LBI Media’s Ch. 11 Disclosures Get Nod in Delaware,” Law360, January 16, 2019.
- Quoted, “Optima Resolves Creditor Objections to $212M DIP Package,” Law360, February 28, 2017.
- Quoted, “PE Lender Loses $5M Constellation Payout Bid,” Law360, October 6, 2016.
- Quoted, “Constellation Wins Interim DIP Loan OK, But New Fight Looms,” Law360, June 8, 2016.
- Quoted, “Santa Fe Gold Cancels Ch. 11 Auction, Names Waterton Buyer,” Law360, January 25, 2016.
- Quoted, “Squire Patton Nabs Bankruptcy Pro,” Law360, September 8, 2016.
- Quoted, The Wall Street Journal and Daily Bankruptcy Review in connection with a “global settlement” in the Coldwater Creek bankruptcy case, which followed intensive negotiations among the parties and resulted in the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, represented by Norman Kinel, withdrawing their opposition to the retailer’s liquidating plan in exchange for an extra US$5.4 million to be distributed to general unsecured creditors; July 11, 2014; July 14, 2014.
- Quoted, Law360 and Debtwire on behalf of the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Chapter 11 Debtor Coldwater Creek, Inc. and its affiliates, after the Debtors were unsuccessful in having their Disclosure Statement in connection with their proposed Plan of liquidation approved; June 12, 2014.
- Interviewed, The Wall Street Journal as counsel for the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Coldwater Creek in connection with the women’s-wear retailer’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing; May 21, 2014.
- Mentioned, Law360, in two separate articles, about the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors’ motion filed May 16, 2014, claims debtor Coldwater Creek “gave away the store” and “abdicated their fiduciary duties” to prepetition lenders at the expense of unsecured creditors in their US$75 million DIP loan; Norman is mentioned as representing the Committee; May 16, 2014; May 20, 2014.
- Quoted, The Wall Street Journal and Daily Bankruptcy Review, for his request in the Coldwater Creek Inc. Chapter 11 cases pending in US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware that the court slow down the process of approving the Debtors’ Plan of Liquidation because “Rome is not burning,” and if the current plan were approved under the speedy timeline proposed by Coldwater for confirmation, then “the committee would likely be out of business before the committee has been able to do its business,” including investigating potential causes of action against the Debtors’ lenders and insiders; represents the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors; May 16, 2014.
- Quoted, in The Wall Street Journal, regarding the liquidation of Coldwater Creek Inc.’s assets under Chapter 11 protection; represents the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, which was successful in having removed from the Debtors’ proposed Going-Out-Of-Business Sales certain asset classes ,which the Committee believed were insufficiently marketed by the Debtors; April 29, 2014.
- Quoted, Law360, in connection with his representation of the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Coldwater Creek Inc., and his request on behalf of the Committee, which the Court granted, to delay consideration of proposed bidding procedures with respect to the company’s assets; April 25, 2014.
- Quoted, The Deal Pipeline, on Daytop Village Inc.’s Plan or Reorganization having been confirmed; May 28, 2013.
- Quoted, The NonProfit Times, on Daytop Village's need to seek Chapter 11 protection; April 10, 2012.
- Quoted, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review, on how the bankruptcy reorganization process may allow struggling restaurant chains to remain in business; December 30, 2011.
- Quoted, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review, on how bankruptcy lawyers will adapt to bankruptcy rulings such as the Philadelphia Newspaper’s decision, which denied lenders the right to credit bid as long as the lenders were provided with the "indubitable equivalent" of their claim under the plan; January 3, 2011.
- Quoted, Law360, about the Top 10 Bankruptcy Rulings of 2010, Norman comments on how bankruptcy attorneys will devise strategies for their clients to adjust to court rulings such as the 3rd Circuit's Philadelphia Newspaper decision, which limited what had previously been thought to be a secured lender's absolute right to "credit bid" in connection with a sale pursuant to a plan of reorganization; January 1, 2011.