Debra Grassgreen

Ms. Grassgreen is a senior partner in the firm’s San Francisco office and heads the firm’s international insolvency practice. She is president of the prestigious International Insolvency Institute (the first woman to be elected to that position) and is widely regarded as a leading expert on cross border restructuring matters. Ms. Grassgreen has significant experience representing debtors, trustees, and creditors’ committees in large and complex chapter 11 cases nationwide and internationally. Ms. Grassgreen has participated in the United Nations working group (UNCITRAL) developing a uniform international insolvency law and materials to assist countries in the adoption and implementation of insolvency legislation for over ten years.

In 2022, the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journal named Ms. Grassgreen to its list of "Top Bankruptcy Lawyers" in California. In 2021, the International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC) selected Ms. Grassgreen as its 2021 Woman of the Year in Restructuring. Ms. Grassgreen is listed in Who’s Who Legal: Thought Leaders—Global Elite 2019, one of only seven U.S.-based lawyers listed for Restructuring and Insolvency and has been named by the Daily Journal as one of the top 100 women lawyers in California for several years. She is a fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy, and has been listed 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 holds an AV Preeminent Peer Rating, Martindale-Hubbell’s highest recognition for ethical standards and legal ability, and is ranked among Bankruptcy/Restructuring attorneys by Chambers USA. Every year since 2010, she has been named a “Northern California Super Lawyer” by San Francisco Magazine. She was also listed by Lawdragon as one of the 2022 "500 Leading U.S. Bankruptcy & Restructuring Lawyers" and one of the 2020 "500 Leading Global Restructuring & Insolvency Lawyers." 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: 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