Judith Elkin

Judith Elkin, resident in the firm’s New York office, has cultivated a national reputation over a 40+ year career representing debtors, official committees, lenders, and acquirers in chapter 11 cases for publicly traded and privately held companies throughout the country and internationally. Judith’s work for clients spans dozens of industries and has included such prominent chapter 11 engagements as representing debtors Highland Capital Management, Amyris and ATA Airlines, the official creditors’ committees in Neiman Marcus and Tailored Brands, senior secured lenders in Adelphia, Enron and SemGroup, and significant creditors and foreign representatives in chapter 11 proceedings, out-of-court restructurings and crossborder proceedings. Judith is also a trained mediator and has mediated multi-million dollar fraudulent transfer claims in the Fantasy Diamond case and was one of eighteen mediators appointed by the court to mediate mortgage indemnification claim disputes in Lehman Brothers. Judith has also represented debtor-sellers and strategic acquirers in chapter 11 assets sales in transactions totaling several billion dollars. Judith has been published and speaks frequently in both the US and internationally. Judith has been listed in Best Lawyers in America, named a Super Lawyer, recognized for Insolvency and Restructuring in Euromoney Institutional Investor Expert Guides, and granted Martindale-Hubbell’s AV Preeminent Peer Rating, its highest recognition for ethical standards and legal ability. A founding member of the International Women’s’ Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC) in 1992, Judith helped grow the organization to more than forty global networks and served as it international chair. Judith has also held leadership roles in numerous other professional organizations including serving as chair of the Insolvency Section of the International Bar Association, chair of the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Mediation Committee, chair of the ABA Litigation Section Bankruptcy and Insolvency Litigation Committee, Business Law Section International Insolvency Committee and International Section Insolvency Committee. Judith is also a member of the prestigious International Insolvency Institute, serving as a board member and chair of the Membership Committee. Judith serves as a delegate to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) on behalf of IWIRC and III for Working Group II (Dispute Resolution) and Working Group V (Insolvency). The working groups meet twice a year in New York and Vienna and assist with drafting model laws for adoption by UN member states.

Representations

• Debtor in Mirant Corporation
• Agent lender in Trinity Coal, Adelphia Communications, Magnolia Energy
• Lenders in Alpha Natural Resources, MF Global, SemCrude, Extended Stay, Calpine Corporation
• Defendant in patent dispute in Eastman Kodak Company 
• Landlords in Borders Group
• Secured lender in out-of-court restructuring of multi-billion dollar timeshare developer 
• Creditors' committee chair in Enron Corporation
• Asset purchasers in National Gypsum, Federal Mogul, and other asbestos cases
• Insurer in United States Brass
• Major shareholder and bidder in Delphi 
• Litigation defending major accounting firm in Southland case (obtained dismissal of $30 million malpractice lawsuit;  successfully defended judgment through denial of petition for writ of certiorari to U.S. Supreme Court)
• Litigation defending major real estate investment company in postconfirmation lawsuit in Extended Stay
• Foreign representatives in several U.S. chapter 15 cases

Professional Affiliations

• • Board member, membership co-chair, International Insolvency Institute
• • Co-chair, past education director, American Bankruptcy Institute Mediation Committee
• • Past co-chair, vice-chair, American Bar Association International Section Insolvency Committee
• • Past co-chair, vice-chair, International Bar Association Insolvency Section; past co-chair, Creditors' Rights Committee
• • Past chair, vice-chair, secretary/treasurer, executive committee member, International Women's Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC)
• • Member, IWIRC New York Network
• • Past co-chair, Bankruptcy and Insolvency Litigation Committee of the American Bar Association Litigation Section
• • Member, Bar Association of the City of New York Animal Law Committee
• • Past board and executive committee member, Dallas Zoological Society
• • Board of directors, Humane Society of Westchester
• • Patron, Wildlife Conservation Society

Programs and Lectures

News

Publications

I Meant What I Said and I Said What I Meant: The Enforceability of Make-Whole Provisions in U.S. Loan Agreements and Indentures, ABA Section on International Law Fall Meeting (2017)

Sauce for the Goose? Dual Standard Emerging in Cross Border Insolvencies: Domicile Not Enough to Recognize Foreign Proceeding, in program handbook for Bankruptcy & Reorganizations (Practising Law Institute 2014, 2015, 2016)

The Law of Unintended Consequences: Application of the Safe Harbor Provisions of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, ABA International Law Section Spring Meeting (2015)

Lender Liability in the US: An Exercise in Finger Pointing, 9 Insolvency & Restructuring Int'l 9 (April 2015)

Events