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Donald S. Bernstein
Partner
Mr. Bernstein, who heads the firm’s Insolvency and Restructuring Practice, is globally recognized as among the small group of leading insolvency lawyers in the world. He has received numerous honors, including being elected by his peers as the Chair of the National Bankruptcy Conference, the most prestigous professional organization in the field. Mr. Bernstein’s practice includes representing debtors, creditors, liquidators, receivers and acquirers in major corporate restructurings and insolvency proceedings, as well as advising financial institutions and other clients regarding credit risks involved in derivatives, securities transactions, and other domestic and international financial transactions.
Contact
Bar Admissions
  • State of New York
  • U.S. District Court, E.D. New York
  • U.S. District Court, S.D. New York
Education
  • A.B., Princeton University, 1975
    • cum laude
  • J.D., University of Chicago Law School, 1978

Work Highlights

Representations

  • Companies in restructurings and reorganizations, including Ford Motor Company, U.S. Industries, LTV Steel, Lomas Financial, Liberte Investors, Allis-Chalmers and Johns-Manville
  • Agent banks, major lenders or official creditors’ committees in restructurings and bankruptcy proceedings, including those of Tribune Companies, Delphi, Syncora, Lehman Brothers, Refco, C-BASS, Centro Properties, Enron, Conseco, Adelphia, Bethlehem Steel, McLeodUSA, Dow Corning, Memorex Telex, R.H. Macy, Morrison-Knudsen, Drexel Burnham Lambert, Crown Paper, U.S. Office Products and Toshoku America
  • Liquidators or receivers in international insolvency proceedings, including those of L.J. Hooker and Princeton Economics/Cresvale International
  • Global financial institutions, such as JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, on credit exposures and global credit risk management
Recognition

Listed as a leading lawyer in numerous legal industry publications, including:

  • Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business
  • Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business
  • Practical Law Company’s Cross-border Restructuring & Insolvency Handbook
  • Legal Media Group’s Expert Guide to the World’s Leading Lawyers – Best of the Best and Expert Guide to the World’s Leading Insolvency & Restructuring Lawyers
  • Law Business Research’s Who’s Who Legal – International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers and Who’s Who Legal – International Who’s Who of Insolvency and Restructuring Lawyers
  • American Lawyer Media’s Corporate Counsel: Annual Guide to the Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law
  • IFLR1000: The Guide to the World’s Leading Financial Law Firms

In additon, Mr. Bernstein’s distinguished practice has earned him the following distinctions:

  • Named Best Lawyers’ 2010 New York Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Lawyer of the Year
  • Named one of the top 100 lawyers in New York in the Super Lawyers survey
  • Named Who’s Who Legal Insolvency and Restructuring Lawyer of the Year
  • Selected by the Advisory Board of the K&A Restructuring Register as one of “America’s Top 100 Restructuring Professionals”
Of Note
  • Chair and Conferee, National Bankruptcy Conference, a group of 60 leading lawyers, law professors and judges that advises Congress on bankruptcy legislation
  • Treasurer and Member of the Executive Committee, New York City Bar Association
  • Adjunct Professor of Law, New York University School of Law
  • Chair, Advisory Committee, Program on Law and Public Affairs, Princeton University
  • Former Chair, TriBar Opinion Committee
  • Former Chair, Committee on Bankruptcy and Reorganization, New York City Bar Association
  • Fellow and Former Director, American College of Bankruptcy
  • Former Director, New York County Lawyers Association
  • Founding Director, International Insolvency Institute
  • Former Chair, Visiting Advisory Committee, University of Chicago Law School
  • Official U.S. Delegation to the Insolvency Working Group of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL)

Current Memberships

  • American Bar Association, including Business Bankruptcy Committee and the Committee on Legal Opinions
  • National Bankruptcy Conference
  • American College of Bankruptcy
  • American Bar Foundation
  • New York City Bar Association
  • New York County Lawyers Association
  • INSOL International
  • American Bankruptcy Institute
  • International Insolvency Institute
Professional History
  • Partner, 1986-present
  • Associate, 1978-1986
Publications
  • Insolvency and Restructuring Update
    Significant Decision in Six Flags Chapter 11 Case Declining to Apply Disclosure Requirements of Bankruptcy Rule 2019 to an Informal Committee of Noteholders
  • A (Breathless) History of American Insolvency Law | INSOL World – Silver Jubilee Edition (2007)
  • U.S. Chapter 11 Today: A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Courthouse
    The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Corporate Recovery and Insolvency 2007 | Global Legal Group
  • Toward A New Corporate Reorganization Paradigm | 19 J. Applied Corp Finance (Vol. 4, Fall 2007)
  • Absolute Priority, Valuation Uncertainty, and the Reorganization Bargain | 115 Yale L. J. 1930
  • A Reorganization Lawyer’s Perspective on Professor Warren’s Vanishing Trials | 79 Am. Bankr. L. J. 943