Oklahoma City-based Gulfport Energy and 10 of its affiliated companies filed for bankruptcy in the Southern District of Texas on Friday, and the number of law firms involved in the corporate restructuring are already piling up.
Gulfport, citing $2.52 billion in debt and more than 10,000 creditors, hired Kirkland & Ellis and Jackson Walker as its lead debtor’s counsel. The Kirkland lawyers are based in Chicago and New York. Jackson Walker partner Matt Cavenaugh is listed as co-lead counsel. Veronica Polnick and Cameron Secord of JW are also listed as debtor’s counsel.
A special committee of the Gulfport board of directors is being advised by New York-based lawyers for Wachtell Lipton and Katten Muchin.
Bracewell partners Bradley Benoit, Jonathan Lozano, Robert Burns and Mark Dendinger represent Rookies Express Pipeline, a creditor in the Chapter 11.
Porter Hedges partner John Higgins and lawyers for Paul Weiss in New York are advising an ad hoc group of noteholders.
The Bank of Nova Scotia, which is the first lien agent and proposed DIP lender is represented by Latham & Watkins, including Latham partner Trevor Wommack and associates Bryce Kaufman, Chris Wood and Michael Basist, all out of Houston. A separate Latham team is advising Midship Pipeline.
Hunton Andrews Kurth partner Tad Davidson is also advising the Bank of Nova Scotia.
The case has been assigned to Chief Bankruptcy Judge David Jones of the Southern District of Texas.