Benjamin Schak

Primary Focus & Experience

Mr. Schak’s practice focuses on representation of companies, creditors and other stakeholders in chapter 11 cases, cross-border insolvency proceedings, and out-of-court restructurings. He has experience representing debtors, ad hoc committees, official committees of unsecured creditors, secured creditors, and other parties in interest in distressed matters across a wide range of industries, including aerospace, energy and mining, and computer network infrastructure.

His debtor representations at Milbank include the following:

• Edgio (chapter 11)
• Incora (chapter 11)
• Yak Access (out-of-court transaction)
• Avianca Airlines (chapter 11 debtors)
• PLI Cards (out-of-court transaction)
• Internap (chapter 11)

His creditor and committee representations include the following:

• Mosaic Companies (secured term lender)
• Office Properties Investment Trust (ad hoc group of unsecured bondholders)
• Bouchard Transportation (pre-petition and DIP lender)
• LATAM Airlines (multiple secured creditors and aircraft lessors)
• Skillsoft (ad hoc group of secured lenders)
• Sanchez Energy (official committee of unsecured creditors)

His other notable representations include the following:

• Cinemex (landlord)
• OmniMax International (asset purchaser)
• Takata (leading car manufacturer)

Recognition & Accomplishments

Mr. Schak is a contributor to forthcoming revisions of Collier on Bankruptcy, the preeminent treatise on bankruptcy law, and the Collier Bankruptcy Practice Guide, and has co-authored several articles, including:

• "A SPAC and a Pre-Pack: The Case of Skillsoft Corporation”, Global Restructuring Review’s The Art of the Pre-Pack, March 4, 2022
• Insight: Directors and Officers Insurance Policies—Are You Covered?, Bloomberg Law, Sept. 20, 2018.
• D&O Insurance & Insolvency: Navigating the Intersection, Corporate Governance Advisor, May/June 2017.
• Pushing the Borders of Chapter 15: When a Foreign Representative “Flouts” the Purposes of Cross-Border Insolvency in the United States, Pratt’s Journal of Bankruptcy Law, July/Aug. 2014.

Mr. Schak received his J.D., magna cum laude and with the Order of the Coif, from the New York University School of Law. He also received B.A.’s in Mathematics (with highest honors) and Computer Science from Swarthmore College. Mr. Schak was a law clerk for the Honorable Naomi Reice Buchwald of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.