Debra Grassgreen, resident in the firm’s San Francisco office, has significant experience representing debtors, trustees, and creditors’ committees in large and complex chapter 11 cases nationwide and internationally in the technology, media, telecommunications, and life sciences industries both in and out of court. Debra is the past president of the International Insolvency Institute, is widely regarded as a leading expert on crossborder restructuring matters, frequently speaks and writes on crossborder matters and chairs the firm’s international insolvency practice. Some of Debra’s more notable engagements include representing solar power manufacturer Solyndra, synthetic biology company Amryis, American Suzuki Motor Corporation, Mesa Airlines, the creditors’ committees (including abuse survivors) in the Weinstein Company and Sunpower chapter 11 cases. In addition, Debra has represented high-profile individuals, including boxer Mike Tyson and singer Toni Braxton, among others.
Debra has held a variety of leadership positions in prestigious insolvency organizations including the International Insolvency Institute, the International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation and the American College of Bankruptcy, chairing its Insolvency Committee and, currently, is its Ninth Circuit Regent. For the past sixteen years, she has participated in the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law’s Working Group V and its expert group meetings as an NGO delegate.
Debra has garnered numerous accolades for her work in the insolvency arena. Last year, the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journal named Debra to its list of “Top Bankruptcy Lawyers” in California and, for many years, has been named one of its “Top Women Lawyers.” In 2021, the International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation selected her as its 2021 “Woman of the Year in Restructuring.” She holds Chambers USA’s highest rank (Band 1) in Bankruptcy/Restructuring and Martindale-Hubbell’s highest recognition for ethical standards and legal ability (AV Preeminent). She is listed in Who’s Who Legal: Thought Leaders—Global Elite; Lawdragon as one “500 Leading U.S. Bankruptcy & Restructuring Lawyers” and one of its “500 Leading Global Restructuring & Insolvency Lawyers”; and in Best Lawyers in America (every year since 2001) for her work in both Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law and Litigation – Bankruptcy.
Debra is a graduate of the University of Florida, where she also received her J.D., and is admitted to practice in Florida as well as California.
Education
- University of Florida (B.S.B.A. 1988; Outstanding Female Graduate)
- University of Florida (J.D., with honors, 1991)
Bar and Court Admissions
- 1992, Florida
- 1994, California
- Debtors/trustees: Synthego Corporation; Gritstone bio Inc.; Amyris; Watsonville Hospital; MobiTV; Solyndra LLC; American Suzuki Motor Corporation; Blue Earth; APVO; Tintri; New Zoom; Ultura (APTwater Rochem); Airxpanders; Select Staffing; Exigen (USA); Digital Domain Media; Highway Technologies; Global Aviation (co-counsel); Mesa Air Group; MagnaChip Semiconductor; Dunmore Homes; Woodside Homes; Webvan Group; Pacific Crossing Limited (subsidiary of Global Crossing); RBX Industries; Laura West Enterprises; Clarent Corporation; Breed Technologies; TCW/Camil Holdings; Sleepmaster Corporation; Sizzler International; Fresh Choice; Tri-Valley Growers; Dana Corporation (cocounsel); Le-Nature’s; Crown Paper; Mike Tyson; Toni Braxton; Ronald Isley
- Creditors’ committees: SunPower Corporation; LeFever Mattson; Professional Financial Investors; Chinos Holdings (J.Crew Group); EP Energy; The Weinstein Company; Open Road Films; Payless Holdings (2017); Payless Holdings (2019); Zetta Jet; BCBG Max Azria; SFX Entertainment; RDIO, Inc.; BR Festivals; Twenty First Century Film Corporation; Death Row Records/Marion “Suge” Knight; Flying J; Trident Microsystems (Far East) Ltd; LandSource Communities Development; Chrysler (cocounsel); SK Foods; Frank Parsons International
- Tort claimants’ committee in Boy Scouts of America
- Lenders/investors/creditors in Videology (Group M); Ciber (Zayo); Baupost (PG&E); Stion (Khosla Ventures); Quirky Inc. (KleinerPerkins, A16, Norwest); Nirvanix; KiOR (Khosla Ventures); PacWest Telecom (CVC)
- Out-of-court workouts: International bioengineering firm; Israeli solar developer; Spanish & US-based wind developer; provider of end-to-end mobile media solutions; solar module manufacturer Amonix; numerous venture-backed technology companies
- Other: Counsel to Uber Technologies; counsel to PharmaTop, creditors’ committee chair in Mallinckrodt LLC (represented chair of creditors committee and GUC Trust); counsel to former San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos as receiver of the SF Housing Authority; counsel to buyer and license counterparty in Zymergen; counsel to Kodiak, buyer in Retrotope; counsel to DIP Lender Orbimed in Proteus
- Fellow, American Bar Foundation (2025 – Present)
- President, International Insolvency Institute (2019 – 2021)
- Executive vice president, International Insolvency Institute (2017-2019)
- Fellow, American College of Bankruptcy (Ninth Circuit Regent, 2023-; Chair, International Committee, 2022-2023)
- Board of directors, American College of Bankruptcy Foundation (2013-2016)
- Member, Advisory Committee of the American Bankruptcy Institute Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11
- Board of directors, International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (“IWIRC”)(2010-2014)
- IWIRC delegate to UNCITRAL
- Member, International Bar Association
Practicing Law Institute (standing faculty); American Bankruptcy Institute; Turnaround Management Association; State Bar of California; Beverly Hills Bar Association; American Bar Association; Bar Association of San Francisco; University of Florida College of Law; California Continuing Education of the Bar; Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Accountants; International Council of Shopping Centers, International Insolvency Institute, INSOL, UNCITRAL
- The Use of Mediation to Improve Global Restructuring Outcomes in a Post-Pandemic World Global Restructuring Review (GRR), September 10, 2021
- First Day Motions (3d ed.) A Guide to the Critical First Days of a Bankruptcy CaseAmerican Bankruptcy Institute, June 2012
- Valuation and the Chapter 11 Process Contested Valuation in Corporate Bankruptcy: A Collier Monograph (LexisNexis), 2011
- Individual Chapter 11 Cases After BAPCPA What Happened to the “Fresh Start”?2006 Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law 309 (West 2006), 2006
- Coauthor with M. Litvak: First Day Motions: A Guide to the Critical First Days of a Bankruptcy Case (ABI 2d ed. 2006)(sole author of 1st ed. 2003)
- Coauthor with P. Egan: “Valuation and the Chapter 11 Process” in Contested Valuation in Corporate Bankruptcy – A Collier Monograph (LexisNexis 2011)
- Author: “Individual Chapter 11 Cases After BAPCPA: What Happened to the “Fresh Start?” 2006 Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law 309 (West 2006)
- “Property of the Estate,” in Understanding the Basics of Bankruptcy & Reorganization 2005, 880 PLI/Comm 145 (2005)
- “Sale of Assets,” in Understanding the Basics of Bankruptcy & Reorganization 2005, 880 PLI/Comm 249 (2005)
- “Rejection, Assumption and Assignment of Real Estate Leases Generally,” in Impact of Bankruptcy on Real Property Transactions (Cal. Cont. Ed. of the Bar 2003)
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