Paul Leake

Mr. Leake focuses on advising U.S. and transnational businesses on Chapter 11 reorganizations, out-of-court restructurings, secured financings, debtor in possession loans, distressed acquisitions and sales, and investments in troubled companies. He has led high-profile restructurings in most major industries, including retail, health care, oil and gas, shipping, mining, airlines, energy, publishing, telecom, satellite communications and real estate.

Mr. Leake recently has represented:

• Concordia International Corp., a specialty pharmaceutical company, in a first-of-its-kind $3.7 billion cross-border recapitalization transaction;
• WeWork in an $8 billion transaction in which SoftBank provided financing to the company and acquired a majority of its outstanding shares through a tender offer;
• TridentUSA Health Services, a nationwide mobile diagnostics health care provider, in its successful Chapter 11 reorganization that delevered the company’s balance sheet by $600 million;
• Toshiba in its capacity as controlling shareholder and critical driver of the multibillion-dollar restructuring of Westinghouse Electric Company in its Chapter 11 case;
• a large, cross-border health care company in assessing and implementing out-of-court liability management and strategic alternatives; and
• Bank of America, as administrative agent, in the high-profile and complex restructurings of Sears, Toys “R” Us, Algeco Scotsman Group and VER Technologies.

Mr. Leake previously served as head of the corporate restructuring and reorganization practice at another large global law firm. His experience prior to joining Skadden includes out-of-court and Chapter 11 company-side representations involving, among others, Molycorp, Fresh & Easy, Georgia Gulf, Globalstar, Independence Air, Interep, Levitz, Proliance, ProQuest, Balanced Care, Drexel Burnham Lambert, Marvel Entertainment, NextWave Telecom, Olympia & York and Sun Healthcare. He has represented ad hoc noteholder and official unsecured creditor committees in the Cone Mills, Energy Partners Limited, Enron, General Maritime, Iridium, Orbital Imaging and Kirker Enterprises restructurings, and senior secured lenders and lender groups in the Southcross Energy, Atlas Mining, Bi-Lo, Calpine, Greenfield Energy Services, Meridian Automotive Systems, Memorex and Trico Marine restructurings. He also has represented investment funds and strategic investors in substantial, high-profile distressed M&A transactions.

Mr. Leake is regularly listed in rankings of leading restructuring lawyers in the U.S. and globally, including Chambers USA, Chambers Global, The Legal 500, K&A Restructuring Register, IFLR1000, The Best Lawyers in America and Turnarounds and Workouts. He has published and lectured extensively on U.S. and transnational insolvency matters.

Mr. Leake is a member of the board of directors of Her Justice, a nonprofit organization that supports women living in poverty in New York City by recruiting and mentoring volunteer lawyers to provide free legal help to address individual and systemic legal barriers. He also is a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy.