Outstanding Client Service In Corporate Bankruptcy

Togut, Segal & Segal LLP is the oldest and best restructuring “boutique” law firm in the country. It has a national reputation for cost-effective excellence in bankruptcy cases of all sizes, corporate reorganizations, and creditors’ rights. Established in 1980, the Togut Firm has extensive expertise in representing Chapter 11 debtors, creditors’ committees, secured and unsecured creditors, retiree committees, and bankruptcy trustees, having served as court-approved counsel in hundreds of cases. The firm has worked in many marquee cases, including LATAM Airlines, McClatchy Newspapers, Westinghouse, Enron, General Motors, Chrysler, American Airlines, and many more. The firm’s senior partner, Albert Togut, is widely considered to be one of the “deans” of the bankruptcy bar and regarded as one of the best restructuring attorneys of our time.

Work With An Accomplished Legal Team

Mr. Togut has more than 45 years of bankruptcy experience and is AV Preeminent peer-review rated* through Martindale-Hubbell, as are all three of his partners, Frank Oswald, Neil Berger and Kyle Ortiz. All four partners have been included in New York Super Lawyers for multiple years, and Mr. Togut is one of only six bankruptcy attorneys named to Super Lawyers magazine’s Top 100 list. He is also a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and International Insolvency Institute, both invitation-only honorary groups. He and attorney Oswald are recognized by Chambers. Mr. Togut also co-chaired a blue-ribbon commission of the American Bankruptcy Institute that has made recommendations for Chapter 11 reform. The commission’s recommendations led to Congress’ recently enacted small business reorganization provisions. This level of recognition reflects the knowledge and expertise that is the foundation of our reputation for effective client service and integrity that our firm has established and maintained for decades.

*AV®, AV Preeminent®, Martindale-Hubbell Distinguished and Martindale-Hubbell Notable are certification marks used under license in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies. Martindale-Hubbell® is the facilitator of a peer-review rating process. Ratings reflect the anonymous opinions of members of the bar and the judiciary. Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings™ fall into two categories – legal ability and general ethical standards.

Representative Corporate Bankruptcy Cases

  • Lakeland Tours d/b/a WorldStrides
  • Relativity Media
  • LATAM Airlines Group
  • OneWeb Global Limited
  • Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc.
  • SunEdison, Inc.
  • New York Crane
  • Eastman Kodak Company
  • Ambac Financial Group, Inc.
  • Charter Communications
  • Daewoo International (America) Corp.
  • Enron Corporation
  • Rockefeller Center Properties
  • Tronox Inc.
  • St. Vincent’s Hospital
  • Federation Employment & Guidance Service (FEGS)
  • McClatchy Newspapers
  • Rubie’s Costume Company
  • Pacific Drilling S.A.
  • Westinghouse Electric Company
  • A&P
  • Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP
  • General Motors
  • Nortel Networks Inc.
  • Refco LLC
  • Anthracite Capital, Inc.
  • Grubb & Ellis Company
  • SK Global America, Inc
  • Ames Department Stores
  • Olympia & York World Financial Center (NY)
  • Aurora Commercial Corp.
  • Trident Holding Company LLC
  • Toisa Limited
  • Aéropostale, Inc.
  • City of Detroit
  • American Airlines (AMR Corp.)
  • Chrysler LLC
  • Frontier Airlines
  • Delphi Automotive
  • AbitibiBowater
  • Loehmann’s
  • ContiMortgage Corporation
  • Loews Cineplex Entertainment
  • Fortunoff Fine Jewelry & Silverware

Recent News

  • Togut, Segal & Segal co-authors article with Cleary Gottlieb in the ABI Journal addressing the treatment of shareholders under foreign law and the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
    • In the April 2021 edition of the American Bankruptcy Institute Law Journal, partner Kyle J. Ortiz and co-authors Richard J. Cooper and Thomas S. Kessler of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP discuss the treatment of equity under foreign law and the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
  • Togut, Segal & Segal, as counsel for the chapter 7 trustee of 2070 Restaurant Group LLC and Genesis Food Group LLC, a restaurant in upper Manhattan, obtained bankruptcy court approval of a global settlement resolving all claims and counterclaims by and between the debtors and various parties, including the debtors’ landlord and counterparties to a disputed contract for the sale of the debtors’ business. Judge Garrity went out of his way to say, “[Neil] Berger and [Albert] Togut have a tremendous amount of experience in [trustee] matters, and their competency in arriving at [this settlement] and the approaches that they took is without question. . . . [I] extend my thanks to — to Mr. Togut. This is a difficult case, and you folks have come in, and helped bring stability, and a way out. So I appreciate that very much.”
  • Al Togut, founder of Togut, Segal & Segal, was quoted in a Bloomberg News article discussing the potential impacts of rising corporate debt on the country’s path to financial recovery.
    • The Bloomberg News article can be found here.
  • Kyle Ortiz of Togut, Segal & Segal recently presented on a panel discussion concerning Cross-Border Mediation of Insolvency-Related Disputes as part of the ABI Winter Leadership Conference held on December 4, 2020.
  • Togut, Segal & Segal assists the Ad Hoc Group of Seller Notes in Lakeland Tours, LLC d/b/a WorldStrides in negotiating a consensual settlement with the debtors, paving the way for an uncontested Chapter 11 plan that was ultimately confirmed.
    • The settlement provides for a distribution of more than $1.3 million to the Ad Hoc Group of Seller Notes, after an initial proposal of zero dollars under the debtors’ original plan. The settlement protects the interests of the Ad Hoc Group and will allow the debtors to emerge from bankruptcy stronger and poised to take advantage of the eventual recovery in the travel industry.
  • Al Togut, founder of Togut, Segal & Segal, was recently interviewed by Who’s Who Legal who recognized him as a 2020 Thought Leader in the field of Restructuring & Insolvency for 2020 (and has since recognized him again as a 2021 Global Leader)
    • The interview can be found here.
  • Neil Berger of Togut, Segal & Segal recently discussed his extensive experience representing bankruptcy trustees in consignment issues as part of the Consignor: Protections and Creditor Rights in Bankruptcy portion of the Art Law Day 2020 conference.
    • Video of Mr. Berger’s presentation can be found here (starting at 3:46:38 per link).
  • Togut, Segal & Segal assists as a Cayman Islands-based cruise ship company in evaluating strategic restructuring alternatives and negotiating a settlement with key stakeholders that avoided the need for a Chapter 11 filing.
  • Togut, Segal & Segal represents Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT), a Norwegian company that operates a global network of satellite ground stations, as a member of the unsecured creditors committee in the OneWeb Global Chapter 11 cases. The debtors’ joint Chapter 11 plan was recently confirmed by the Judge Drain. All amounts that were due to KSAT have been paid in full.
  • Al Togut, founder of Togut, Segal & Segal, moderated a virtual panel discussion for the American Bankruptcy Institute titled “Troubled Non-U.S. Airlines Landing In Chapter 11: The Inside Story.” The expert panel included the Honorable Shelley Chapman of the SDNY Bankruptcy Court, William Harrington, the United States Trustee for Region 2, Tim Coleman of PJT, Lisa Schweitzer of Cleary, and Tim Graulich of Davis Polk.
    • The virtual panel discussion can be viewed here.
  • Togut, Segal & Segal assists the Plan Administrator of Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc. to object to the application of former counsel to the Ad Hoc Committee of Equity Holders for allowance of administrative expense claims.
    • On November 5, 2020, Judge Garrity issued a 53-page opinion sustaining the Plan Administrator’s objection and denying allowance of fees. See In re: Synergy Pharm. Inc., et al., 2020 WL 6537572 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. Nov. 5, 2020).
    • The opinion can be found here.
  • Al Togut, founder of Togut, Segal & Segal, discussed recent developments in Chapter 11 at a virtual conference hosted by the New York Institute of Credit (NYIC) and the International Factoring Association, held on October 29, 2020.
  • Togut, Segal & Segal assists The McClatchy Company and its affiliated debtors in obtaining approval of a Section 363 sale of substantially all of their assets and confirmation of a Chapter 11 plan of reorganization after a contentious but ultimately consensual seven-month in-court process.
    • The sale and plan allow the debtors to restructure more than $1 billion in liabilities and, through the sale, keep the larger enterprise of 29 daily newspapers intact preserving local independent journalism across the country, including at such notable papers as the Miami Herald and the Sacramento Bee.
  • Bloomberg News interviewed Togut, Segal & Segal’s founder, Al Togut, on September 29, 2020 regarding the state of the economy and how the COVID-19 crisis may impact local businesses in New York City.
    • The interview can be viewed here.
  • Togut, Segal & Segal obtains bankruptcy court approval for a Section 363 sale of substantially all of the assets of Rubie’s Costume Company, Inc. and its affiliated debtors after an expedited three-month in-court process. The Togut Firm serves as bankruptcy co-counsel along with Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein, P.C.
    • The going concern sale allows the debtors to satisfy nearly $100 million of secured debt, assume and pay in the ordinary course approximately $35 million in postpetition trade payables, pay a substantial recovery to remaining unsecured creditors after payment of more than $20 million to prepetition critical vendors, and save hundreds of jobs.
  • Togut, Segal & Segal obtains confirmation of a Chapter 11 plan of liquidation for two subsidiaries of Lehman Brothers after a contentious but ultimately largely consensual 14-month in-court process.
    • Judge Chapman, overseeing the case, noted that the firm “managed to deliver spectacular results for these estates through hard work, and hard work that I would also note is done in an efficient and professional manner.”
  • Togut, Segal & Segal was awarded the TMA 2020 Large Company Turnaround of the Year Award for its role as one of several advisers (along with co-counsel at Skadden Arps) to Trident Health, a home health care and diagnostic testing business operating in 35 states that restructured its debt and operations in Chapter 11.
    • With the firm’s assistance, Trident restructured more than $800 million in debt pursuant to a Chapter 11 plan of reorganization, confirmed just seven months after the case was filed.
  • Latin America’s leading airline, LATAM Airlines Group S.A., and certain of its affiliates file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York with Togut, Segal & Segal as its co-counsel along with Cleary Gottlieb.
    • The bankruptcy cases are part of LATAM’s global strategy to restructure its debt of more than $7.5 billion, and its passenger and cargo operations serving dozens of countries on five continents.

This page may contain excerpts of judicial opinions regarding specific legal issues. It is not an endorsement of abilities.