Debra Grassgreen

Debra Grassgreen, immediate past president of the International Insolvency Institute, is a senior partner in Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones’ San Francisco office and chairs the firm’s international insolvency practice. She 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. Some of her more notable engagements include representing solar power manufacturer Solyndra, American Suzuki Motor Corporation, Mesa Airlines, and the creditors (including abuse survivors) in the Weinstein Company chapter 11 case. In addition, Ms. Grassgreen has represented high profile individuals, including boxer Mike Tyson and singer Toni Braxton, among others.

Ms. Grassgreen, an American College of Bankruptcy Fellow, has held a variety of leadership positions in prestigious insolvency organizations including the International Women's Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation and the American College of Bankruptcy, chairing its Insolvency Committee and, currently, is its 9th Circuit Regent. For the past ten 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. She is widely regarded as a leading expert on cross border restructuring matters and frequently speaks and writes on cross border matters and others.

Ms. Grassgreen has garnered several accolades for her work in the insolvency arena. Last year, the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journal named Ms. Grassgreen to its list of "Top Bankruptcy Lawyers" in California and, for several years, has listed Ms. Grassgreen as 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 of its 2023 and 2022 “500 Leading U.S.  Bankruptcy & Restructuring Lawyers” and one of its 2020 “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.

Ms. Grassgreen 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.

Representations

• Debtors/trustees: 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 (cocounsel); 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: 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; counsel to former San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos as receiver of the SF Housing Authority

Professional Affiliations

• President, International Insolvency Institute (2019-)
• Executive vice president, International Insolvency Institute (2017-2019)
• Fellow, American College of Bankruptcy (Chair, International Committee, 2022-)
• 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

Programs and Lectures

News

Publications

• 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)

Events