Dennis F. Dunne

Primary Focus & Experience

Mr. Dunne has extensive experience in representing companies and creditors in reorganization cases and out-of-court workouts, acquirors of financially distressed companies, providers of financing, and board of directors of public and private companies. Mr. Dunne plays a leadership role in these matters, frequently as counsel to companies or official and unofficial committees representing key creditor constituencies, such as bondholders, agents for lender syndicates, and large debt or equity holders. He also regularly represents private equity funds, hedge funds and other financial institutions acquiring control positions in financially distressed companies, both in and out of court. In all such matters, he is a trusted advisor to his clients and draws upon his broad experience across several disciplines to craft practical solutions and build the consensus required to implement those solutions. Mr. Dunne also has unparalleled courtroom experience and clients seek him out for his in-court advocacy skills. His engagements have ranged across a wide array of industries, including automotive, airline, apparel, cable and broadcasting, chemical, construction, gaming, healthcare, housing, infrastructure, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, energy, retail, shipping, telecommunications, and textiles.

Industry Recognition, Accomplishments & Client Testimonials

Mr. Dunne is a Fellow and served as the Second Circuit Regent in the American College of Bankruptcy, and he frequently speaks on restructuring and related topics at conferences around the country. He is a Fellow in the International Insolvency Institute, and has been elected as Conferee to the National Bankruptcy Conference (NBC), a non-partisan organization of approximately sixty leading bankruptcy lawyers, law professors and judges selected to advise Congress on bankruptcy law and policy. Mr. Dunne currently serves on the Executive Committee of the NBC. He is also a member of the Federal Bar Council.

Mr. Dunne is a co-author of an article in Practical Law’s global guide titled “Restructuring and insolvency in the United States: overview.” He is also a co-author of Collier on Bankruptcy, the preeminent treatise in bankruptcy law, and he recently co-authored a chapter entitled “Evaluating strategic debt buybacks: How to pursue effective de-leveraging strategies” in Navigating Today’s Environment: The Directors’ and Officers’ Guide to Restructuring. Mr. Dunne is also co-author of “The Art of the Pre-Pack.” He is a frequent speaker at conferences sponsored by the American Bankruptcy Institute, the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and other organizations.

Mr. Dunne has garnered praise from clients who describe him as “perhaps the leading practitioner in the field – he is very creative and gets great results, and does so efficiently, which is what clients like to see.” Clients have described him as a “[s]uperb practitioner,” “quite simply a great lawyer - he’s intelligent, practical and a pleasure to work with.” He is “in a word – fabulous.” “His knowledge and insight allow him to control the table.” According to clients, “he is extremely knowledgeable, creative, and responsive,” and “can see around corners and provide great advice” “He is commercially minded and gives the practical business perspective.” "He is a smart and talented attorney, a tough adversary, and he knows how to get a restructuring done efficiently and get the best outcome for the client." "He is the perfect combination of smart and practical, with an ability to get things done despite difficult circumstances and personalities." "He brings masterful judgment and has a wealth of experience, and applies it well to every situation. You can rely on his advice because he has such gravitas." Clients appreciate that "he knows how to dissect complex issues to find the right resolution and is great at big-picture thinking." (Chambers USA). Clients have also recognized him for his “extensive legal knowledge, and an exceptional ability to recall detail.” (The Legal 500).

Mr. Dunne is currently listed in Chambers Global, Chambers USA (Band One), Legal 500 (Hall of Fame), The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Lawdragon 500, The Best Lawyers in America, The K&A Register of the Leading Bankruptcy and Financial Restructuring Lawyers and Financial Advisors, IFLR 1000, Benchmark Litigation, Legal 500 and Turnaround & Workouts Top Restructuring Lawyers of 2008, 2011 and 2014. In 2017, he was recognized by Global M&A Network’s Turnaround Atlas Awards as the Global Restructuring Lawyer of the Year.

Representative Engagements

Select Company Counsel Representations. Lucky Bucks Gaming; Yak Access, LLC.; Avianca Holdings S.A.; Guitar Center, Inc.; Biscuits UK;  Nabors Industries, Inc.; OneWeb Global Limited, Internap Corporation; 99 Cent Stores; Wesco Aviation; American Commercial Lines; Ligado Networks LLC; Abraaj Holdings; Vantage Drilling International; PHI, Inc.; Petmate, Inc.; Gymboree Group; Boart Longyear, Inc.; PA Outer Harbor, Inc.; Icicle Seafoods; Virgin America, Inc.; Fruit of the Loom, Ltd.; Intermet Corp., RA Holdings, Inc., Fortress Homes, Inc.; MacGregor Golf Company; Outback Steak House, Inc.; Nuron Biotech, Inc.; Atari Inc.; Dairy Mart Convenience Stores, Inc.; Halite Energy, Inc.; Continental Global; BTI Telecom Inc.; Ashanti Goldfields; AM Cosmetics, Inc.; Diveo Broadband Networks; Industrias Unidas, S.A. de C.V.; Vitro S.A.B. de C.V.; HomePlace Stores; Sun TV and Appliances, Inc; MDC Holdings (representation of special committee of independent directors of the board); Thrifty Payless (representation of independent directors; JUUL (representation of independent directors).

Select Official Committee Representations. Intelsat; Talen Energy; PG&E Corp.; Lehman Brothers Holding, Inc.; Sanchez Energy Corporation, FirstEnergy Solutions Corp.; Mossi & Ghisolfi USA Corporation; Takata Holdings, Inc.; Alpha Natural Resources, Inc.; Eastman Kodak Company; Arcapita Bank; Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, Inc.; Fleming Companies; Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc.; Enron Corp.; Charys Holding Company; VICORP Restaurants, Inc.; RCN Corporation; Rhythms NetConnections Inc.; Pliant Systems, Inc.; Hvide Marine Inc.; TBS International, Limited; ICO Global; World Access, Inc.

Select Secured Creditor Representations. US Renal; Rodan + Field; Yellow Trucking; Wheels Up; NBG Homes; Inotiv; Ascena Retail Group, Inc. Quorum Healthcare; Windstream Holdings, Inc.; FullBeauty Brands; Commonwealth & Instrumentalities of Puerto Rico; Waypoint Leasing Holdings Ltd.; Energy XXI; Jones Energy; 21^st Oncology; American Airlines; Hexion, Inc.; Quicksilver Resources, Inc.; Midstates Petroleum Co.; Pacific Drilling; Verso Corp.; Molycorp; Toisa Ltd.; Genco Shipping & Trading Ltd.; New Page Corp.; Cengage Learning, Inc.; Magnetation LLC; Momentive; Texas Competitive Electric Holdings Company LLC; Overseas Shipholding Group; Carrix, Inc.; Bosque Power Company LLC; Transeastern LLC; Journal Register; HomeBanc Corp.; Adelphia Communications Corp.; Petrozuata Corp.; Ampex Inc.; Herbst Gaming Inc.; Northwest Airlines Corp.; Polymer Group Inc.; Westlake Chemicals Inc.; InterGen Corp.; New Edge Networks.

Select Ad Hoc Unsecured Noteholder Representations. Bausch Health; Natural Resource Partners; Diversified Healthcare; Gulfmark Offshore; Ultra Resources; Ferrellgas Partners LP; Frontier Communications Corp.; Affinion Group Inc.; Nortel Networks, Inc.; Tronox, Inc.; GEO Homebuilding; Black Elk Energy LLC; Prisa, SA; American Color Graphics; Newark Group; Advanstar;Foster Wheeler Ltd.; Wolverine Tube Inc.; Calpine Corporation; Eagle Foods; Midway Games; Anvil Holdings, Inc.; Delta Air Lines, Inc.; SuCasita; aai Pharma Inc.; Applied Extrusion Technologies, Inc.; US Airways; Primus Telecommunications; Mpower Communications; NCS Healthcare; HealthSouth.

Select Acquiror and Other Representations. Aeroméxico (counsel to plan sponsors and funders); Garrett Motors (counsel to plan sponsors and investors); JUUL (counsel to independent directors); PLI Card (counsel to the portfolio company in an out-of-court restructuring); Jackson Hewitt Corp (counsel to acquiror); Madoff Liquidation (counsel to feeder fund); C&S Wholesale Grocers, Inc. (counsel to acquiror of chapter 11 debtor The Grand Union Company); Waste Systems, Inc. (counsel to acquiror of chapter 11 debtor); Sylvania Lighting, Inc. (counsel to acquirors of chapter 11 debtor); Magellan Healthcare (counsel to standby equity purchaser).

Select International Restructurings. Aeroméxico (counsel to sponsor of reorganization plan); Takata (counsel to official committee in bankruptcy of Japanese airbag manufacturer); Global A&T Electronics Ltd. (counsel to lenders in restructuring of Singapore company); Mossi & Ghisolfi SpA (counsel to official committee in bankruptcy of Italian chemicals company); Tidewater, Inc. (counsel to agent on Troms facility); Vitro SAB. Vitro Packaging de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. (counsel to company in cross-border restructuring and in chapter 15 case); IUSA (counsel to company in cross-border restructuring and in chapter 11 cases of subsidiaries); Lehman Brothers Holding, Inc. (counsel to official committee in multinational bankruptcy); GEO Homebuilding (counsel to ad hoc committee of Noteholders in Mexican restructuring); Prisa Corp. (counsel to ad hoc committee of noteholders in out-of-court restructuring of Spanish company); SuCasita Corp. (counsel to ad hoc committee of noteholders in out-of-court restructuring of Mexican company); Arcapita Bank (counsel to creditors committee in restructuring of Bahrain private equity firm); Nortel Networks, Inc. (counsel to ad hoc committee of bondholders in US, Canadian, and UK bankruptcy proceedings);   Sino-Forest Corp. (counsel to foreign representative in chapter 15).