Sidley Lands Winstead Bankruptcy Partner Rakhee Patel

As corporate mergers, acquisitions and capital market practices have slowed in Texas the past few months, the focus on business bankruptcies and restructurings has returned. And the Texas offices of Sidley Austin have made one of the first big lateral moves. Rakhee Patel confirmed Tuesday that she has left Winstead after seven years as a shareholder and joined Sidley this week as a partner in the firm’s Dallas office. The timing could not be better for Sidley.

April 4, 2023 Mark Curriden

Diamond Sports Group Files $8B Restructuring in SDTX

The operator of the Bally Sports Networks has hired Porter Hedges, Paul Weiss and Wilmer Cutler to lead the company through Chapter 11 bankruptcy and restructuring.

March 15, 2023 Mark Curriden

Avaya Hires Kirkland, Jackson Walker to Lead Bankruptcy Restructuring in Houston

Cloud communications company Avaya Holdings and a dozen of its affiliated businesses filed for bankruptcy Tuesday in the Southern District of Texas seeking to shave billions of dollars of debt from its balance sheet.

February 15, 2023 Mark Curriden

Tuesday Morning Selects Munsch Hardt to Lead Second Bankruptcy

In the world of corporate bankruptcy, Dallas-based Tuesday Morning Corp. has entered what is known as Chapter 22. For the second time in three years, the discount retailer Tuesday Morning filed for Chapter 11 protection Tuesday in the Fort Worth Division of the Northern District of Texas citing liabilities of $100 million to $500 million.

February 14, 2023 Mark Curriden

Fifth Circuit: Bankruptcy Court Cannot Decide Validity of ERCOT, PUC Pricing During Winter Storm Uri

Just Energy, a Canadian-owned power retailer operating in Texas, must go through state administrative proceedings and state court in Travis County – not federal bankruptcy court – to challenge the record-high rates that the Electric Reliability Council of Texas charged power companies during Winter Storm Uri in February 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled Thursday.

January 6, 2023 Mark Curriden

Just Energy’s $335M Bankruptcy Dispute at Fifth Circuit

In yet another example of the massive complex litigation stemming from 2021’s Winter Storm Uri, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is being asked to balance the usually broad authority of federal bankruptcy judges in restructuring cases against the potential sovereignty of Texas energy regulators to set rates. Canadian energy retailer Just Energy and the ERCOT squared off Tuesday before a three-judge panel in a dispute over whether a Houston bankruptcy judge can order ERCOT to repay Just Energy up to $335 million from payments made following the February 2021 storm.

November 10, 2022 Mark Curriden

Talen Energy Bankruptcy Inches Toward Resolution

Lawyers for Talen Energy and its creditors say they are “powering forward” toward a Dec. 15 confirmation hearing that will begin The Woodlands-based company’s exit from bankruptcy. Talen and most of its creditors have until the end of business on Dec. 6 to obtain votes of approval of the proposed plan from claim holders that would eliminate $1.4 billion and make the bondholders owners of the business. Opponents of the plan must file objections that same day, Dec. 6.

November 6, 2022 Mark Curriden

Bankruptcy Judge ‘Conditionally Approves’ Brazos Disclosure Agreement After Intense Hearing

Over the objection of a single power generator and distributor, U.S. Bankruptcy Chief Judge David Jones of Houston gave “conditional approval” of a multibillion-dollar preliminary settlement agreement – aka a “disclosure statement” – in the Brazos Electric Power Cooperative bankruptcy case. The 74-minute hearing was intense at times because of an exchange with a lawyer for South Texas Electric Coop, but Judge Jones said Brazos’ “very complicated” 172-page proposed agreement “strikes a very nice balance.”

September 14, 2022 Mark Curriden