Saturday, January 21, 2012

Sullivan & Cromwell's First Debtor Lead Counsel Gig

While reading the Wall Street Journal's write-up on Eastman Kodak's bankruptcy filing, and going through the company's voluntary petition, one of the first things I noticed was the hiring of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP as the debtor's lead bankruptcy counsel.  I found it unusual that Eastman Kodak hired the firm.

Why am I mentioning this? Because if you are a bankruptcy lawyer, or a fan of corporate bankruptcies, you would know that big companies who file for bankruptcy usually hire bankruptcy teams from Weil Gothshal, Kirkland & Ellis, or Skadden Arps.

While I thought I was the only one who noticed the hiring, I was proven wrong because The American Lawyer had a write-up on exactly the same observation.

Brian Baxter, in a Jan. 19 AmLaw Daily article, related that Eastman Kodak is a longtime client of Sullivan & Cromwell's.  The same article also pointed out an interesting fact: S&C was founded in 1879, the same year when George Eastman, founder of Kodak, sought to obtain a patent on a plate-coating machine that would eventually give rise to his iconic camera company.


Andrew Dietderich, the head of S&C’s bankruptcy and restructuring group, who spoke with The Am Law Daily, said Eastman Kodak's is the first debtor's case where the firm will serve as a Sec. 327(a) debtor's counsel.  Mr. Dietderich also related to AmLaw Daily that the firm has represented Kodak since 1972 and it's bankruptcy filing is the 173rd matter the firm has handled for the company.

While the Eastman Kodak bankruptcy case may be the first time S&C will serve as a Sec. 327(a) debtor's counsel, S&C is not a newbie in billion-dollar cases.  Recently, as noted by the AmLaw Daily, S&C has served as counsel for the board of directors of CIT Group, which emerged from bankruptcy in 2009.  The report noted that Sullivan & Cromwell was/is involved in several major Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases, but the firm is not part of the debtor's lead bankruptcy counsel.

A full-text copy of Jan. 19 AmLaw Daily article is available here


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