Eight Haynes Boone lawyers have been included in the 2023 Lawdragon 500 listing of the nation’s leading bankruptcy and restructuring lawyers: Partners Charlie Beckham, Eli Columbus, Patrick Hughes, Ken Kattner, James Markus, Ian Peck, and Stephen Pezanosky and Counsel Kourtney Lyda.
The Lawdragon editorial team selected the 500 honorees through submissions, research and vetting from a board of peers and clients.
“This elite corps of U.S. lawyers represent the best of the best helping companies navigate ailing economies and uncertain times,” the publication states. “Among their signature traits is the ability to be calm, deliberate and creative while it feels worlds crash around them. They find the through line to the future.”
Read more about our 2023 leading restructuring lawyers:
Charlie Beckham: During his 30-year career, Charlie has represented clients in cases large and small, in courtrooms and boardrooms across the country. He has played a key role in representing secured lenders, creditors’ committees, buyers, debtors and other parties-in-interest in a variety of industries, including numerous oil and gas, midstream, power, and energy-related bankruptcies. He is regularly asked to speak on various bankruptcy matters in the U.S. and internationally.
Eli Columbus: Eli assists banks, private equity funds, commercial lenders and other secured creditors in commercial bankruptcy cases and out-of-court restructurings. He represents buyers in distressed asset acquisitions, including 363 sales, and debtors in Chapter 11 cases. Eli also counsels unsecured creditors, including landlords, vendors, lessors, trade creditors, investors, unsecured creditors' committees and other unsecured creditors in commercial bankruptcy cases and adversary proceedings.
Patrick Hughes: Pat has represented countless business debtors, secured creditors and court-appointed committees in numerous restructuring cases throughout the country. He has an active business litigation practice and has also counseled boards and management teams on various transactional and litigation matters, which arise out of restructuring situations. Pat’s practice has involved key roles in some of the largest business bankruptcy cases filed.
Ken Kattner: Ken focuses on bankruptcy, insolvency and litigation matters and has been involved in numerous bankruptcy, reorganization and litigation cases involving heavily litigated and complex legal issues. He has experience with many reorganization efforts representing debtors, secured and unsecured creditors, committees and asset purchasers in a wide range of cases involving manufacturing companies, airlines, computer and software firms, hospitality businesses, strategic asset acquisitions, retailers, wholesalers, real estate companies, service firms, travel agencies and individuals.
James Markus: In practice for more than 40 years, Jim Markus represents financial institutions, corporations, private equity firms and alternative lenders on a range of corporate finance and restructuring transactions. Jim’s practice focuses on commercial lending and corporate finance, with a special emphasis on asset-based lending, syndicated financings, leveraged acquisitions and mezzanine finance. He also handles complex workouts of troubled loans, including in-court and out-of-court restructurings.
Ian Peck: Ian handles complex Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases, out-of-court workouts and distressed mergers and acquisitions transactions across range of industries. He understands that debt restructuring or bankruptcy can often be the most stressful and critical event in a client’s history, and he brings a sense of calm determination to each restructuring engagement. His experience involves leading roles in some of the largest restructuring cases in recent history, including when he led the successful Chapter 11 reorganization of nationwide retailer Tuesday Morning, which resulted in payment of creditors in full and reinstatement of equity, despite the challenges of COVID-19.
Stephen Pezanosky: Steve has handled complex financial restructurings for three decades. He represents debtors, lenders, lender groups and other constituents in insolvency matters across the country, as well as buyers and sellers of distressed companies. Although he has worked in numerous business sectors over the years, Steve has developed particular knowledge in the energy, real estate and technology industries.
Kourtney Lyda: Kourtney represents debtors, secured creditors, unsecured creditors, administrative agents, lessors, asset purchasers and other parties in complex matters and advising corporate clients in their business dealings with financially distressed counterparties. Her experience includes the representation of Chapter 11 and 15 debtors, as well as other parties-in-interest in a variety of business restructuring matters. She handles both in-court and out-of-court restructurings for clients in industries such as aviation, commodities, E&P, gas storage facilities, oilfield services, pharmaceuticals, franchised restaurants and utilities.
Haynes Boone’s Restructuring Practice Group handles issues in large and complex out-of-court financial restructurings and Chapter 11 reorganization cases. In 2023, the practice was again listed as one of the top-ranked bankruptcy/restructuring teams in Texas in the Chambers USA (Chambers and Partners) directory.
