James J. Mazza, Jr.

Mr. Mazza’s experience extends to a wide variety of industries, including automotive, airlines, energy, financial services, health care, gaming, real estate and retail. He also regularly advises companies’ management and boards of directors regarding fiduciary duty issues in financially distressed situations.

Mr. Mazza’s representative clients include: 

• TridentUSA Health Services, a nationwide mobile diagnostics health care provider, in:
  • its successful reorganization in Chapter 11 proceedings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, which delevered the company’s balance sheet by approximately $600 million. This matter was named Healthcare/Life Sciences Deal of the Year ($500MM or more) by The M&A Advisor and received the Turnaround Management Association’s 2020 Turnaround and Transaction of the Year Award in the large company turnaround category; and
  • its $216 million out-of-court recapitalization;
• Consulate Health Group in a tailored bankruptcy of certain Consulate-affiliated entities (including two skilled nursing facilities) resulting in a global settlement of an approximately $250 million False Claims Act judgment;
• various hospitals, skilled nursing, assisted living and long-term care facility managers and operators in both in and out-of-court restructuring and financing matters;
• Tranche A-2 DIP lenders in providing a $550 million DIP-to-exit facility in the Chapter 11 cases of Colombia’s largest airline, Avianca Holdings S.A., et al.;
• a minority DIP lender in the Chapter 11 cases of one of Mexico’s largest airlines, Grupo Aeroméxico, S.A.B. de C.V.;
• various lenders and borrowers in restructuring matters in Latin America;
• R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company in connection with the Chapter 11 cases of its former subsidiary LSC Communications, Inc., et al., including negotiation and procurement of a global settlement and plan releases;
• certain former members of the board of directors of the Weinstein Company in connection with its Chapter 11 case;
• SunEdison, Inc., a renewable energy project developer, in its Chapter 11 case (the largest filed in 2016) and successful emergence from bankruptcy;
• Exide Technologies, a global transportation and industrial battery manufacturer, in its Chapter 11 restructuring of more than $600 million of debt;
• co-chairs of the official committee of unsecured creditors of A&P and Haggen, Inc. in their respective Chapter 11 cases; and
• Dynegy Inc. in connection with certain corporate structuring transactions.

Prior to joining Skadden, his representative matters included handling Chapter 11 cases for Visteon Corporation (auto supplier), A&P (grocer), Calpine Corporation (power producer) and UAL Corporation (parent of United Airlines).

Mr. Mazza has been named to Chambers USA, The Best Lawyers in America and IFLR1000, where he is listed as Highly Regarded. Clients have commented in Chambers that Mr. Mazza is “extremely knowledgeable and has the ability to distill complex alternatives” and “puts the client first and anticipates opposing counsel’s positions and drives case strategy.” He also has previously been selected as one of the nation’s Outstanding Young Restructuring Lawyers by Turnaround and Workouts.