Our Firm

Established in 1980, Togut, Segal & Segal LLP is a highly specialized boutique law firm that has provided value-added service at a below-market cost to high-profile large companies, multi-national companies, and midmarket companies that have needed to restructure outside of court or through a Chapter 11 proceeding. The team at the Togut Firm also has extensive experience representing creditors’ committees, secured and unsecured creditors, retiree committees, and bankruptcy trustees.

Our clients work with specialists who possess a deep understanding of not only bankruptcy law but also the practical business, financial and human considerations that guide the challenging decisions that come up at every turn in a corporate bankruptcy case. The work we do is of the highest level and sophistication.

The Togut Firm is experienced in every aspect of a Chapter 11 case, including case commencement, asset sales and disposition, the plan promulgation process, claims resolution, and any necessary litigation, as well as identifying, investigating and prosecuting asset recovery actions. We maximize value for the debtor’s estate while minimizing the administrative costs of the case.

We understand the value of efficient client service at a lower cost. We keep our billing rates below market to help reduce the costs of bankruptcy restructurings. We use lean teams and do not “over-lawyer” any project. We have a well-deserved reputation for our highly efficient teamwork.

We also maintain a balance between the size of the task involved and the effort required to perform the task using cost-effective project management. The Togut Firm understands that the recovery of assets must be measured against what it costs to achieve the result. Put differently: We keep costs proportionate to the size of the problem to be solved.

Our clients have our undivided loyalty. We have chosen to refuse to represent regular retainer clients and do not have any institutional client affiliations so that we maintain strict independence in our advice and advocacy. Our independence allows us to be adverse to banks, investment funds, and other large financial institutions with which other law firms may have established relationships. All our work is transactional. We do our work, and when we are done, we have no interest in keeping the client after the restructuring is completed.

Our founding partner, Albert Togut, has more than 45 years of bankruptcy experience and is often referred to as one of the “deans” of the bankruptcy bar as well as one of the best restructuring attorneys of our time. He is AV Preeminent peer-review rated,* the highest rating, through Martindale-Hubbell, as are all three of his partners, Frank Oswald, Neil Berger, and Kyle Ortiz. All four 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, including Congress’ recently enacted small business provisions. This level of recognition reflects the reputation for effective client service and integrity that our firm has established and maintained for decades.

When the firm was formed 40 years ago, it was designed to join with large elite firms in representing companies in Chapter 11. We have been called into cases by firms such as Skadden Arps, Weil Gotshal, Kirkland & Ellis, Milbank, Cleary Gottlieb, Wachtell Lipton, Cravath, Jones Day, Kramer Levin, Shearman & Sterling, and Davis Polk, among others, to work on some of the largest and highest-profile Chapter 11 cases. These have included LATAM Airlines; McClatchy Newspapers; Trident Health; Pacific Drilling; Aéropostale; Westinghouse; Enron; American Airlines; Kodak; Lehman Brothers’ Aurora Commercial Corp.; General Motors; Chrysler Automotive; Delphi Automotive; Rockefeller Center; Olympia & York Tower B Company, better known as the World Financial Center; city of Detroit; Toisa Shipping; Dewey & LeBoeuf; Rubie’s Costume Company; Relativity Media; Avaya; Nautilus; Ambac Financial; SunEdison, Inc.; A&P; Collins & Aikman, St. Vincent’s Hospital; Charter Communications; Frontier Airlines; Midwest Airlines; Loehmann’s; Tower Automotive; Winn-Dixie; Ames Department Stores; Loew’s Cineplex; SK Global; Daewoo International (America) Corp. (which, together with its Korean parent, underwent the largest non-sovereign debt restructuring in history at the time with aggregate liabilities exceeding $70 billion); Allegiance Telecom; OnSite Access; Joan & David Helpern Inc.; ContiFinancial Corporation; and others.

Over time, we have been increasingly called to represent companies of all sizes as the sole bankruptcy counsel. During 2018 and 2019, we simultaneously represented three billion-dollar-plus companies: Westinghouse (UK parent), Pacific Drilling, and Toisa Shipping. When the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy trust needed counsel to represent its residential mortgage servicing and origination businesses, it called us. Lehman also asked us to restructure its Canyon Ranch hotel in Miami. We have also represented smaller and midmarket companies, such as Rubie’s Costume Company, Joan & David Helpern, Grubb & Ellis, and the official creditors’ committee in New York Crane.

To maintain the highest quality of work, we employ attorneys who have been trained by the top firms in the restructuring community. Since we regularly work with the best firms, we employ the same quality people to do the same high-quality work. What that means is that, when you retain us, you get the same superior work but at a lower cost. And if you are a smaller company, you get our senior partners working on your case rather than a lower-level associate. That matters when you are looking for seasoned advice and the best result.

The Togut Firm has received many honors, including Boutique Bankruptcy and Creditor’s Rights Law Firm of the Year in New York in 2020 and Global Restructuring Review Top 100 in 2020. Our senior partner has received many honors over many decades, most recently by Who’s Who Legal as one of its Thought Leaders – Restructuring & Insolvency 2020.

To read more about our professionals, click on the links below:

Contact Us

To learn more about our experience and client service values in complex Chapter 11 bankruptcies, contact Togut, Segal & Segal LLP. Call our New York offices at 212-594-5000 or contact us online.

*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.

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.

Representative Corporate Bankruptcy Cases

Togut, Segal & Segal LLP, has served or currently serves as debtor’s counsel, co-counsel or conflicts counsel, trustee’s counsel, creditors’ committee co-counsel, or retiree committee counsel in bankruptcy cases involving billions of dollars in assets and liabilities, including:

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

The discussion of our representative Chapter 11 debtor cases provides a more comprehensive list of our engagements that our lawyers have undertaken in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York and throughout the country.

Click here to learn more.

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.

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