Steven W. Golden

Steven W. Golden

New York
212.561.7700
Wilmington, DE
302.652.4100

Steve Golden, resident in the firm’s Delaware, New York, and Houston offices, represents debtors, committees, foreign representatives, unsecured creditors, and other constituencies in chapter 11 and 15 bankruptcy proceedings and related litigation and appeals. Among his many engagements, Steve was instrumental in the firm’s representation of Amyris, Watsonville Hospital, and CarbonLite in their chapter 11 cases and the official creditors’ committees in dozens of chapter 11 cases such as Neiman Marcus, Payless Shoes, Studio Movie Grill, and The Weinstein Company. Steve has also represented foreign representatives in the chapter 15 cases of STS Renewables, Rokstad Power, and Nexii Building Solutions and is a member of the International Insolvency Institute NextGen Class X. Steve has authored some 20 articles and other publications on a wide range of bankruptcy topics and was named to the American Bankruptcy Institute’s (ABI) prestigious 2025 Class of 40 Under 40, in recognition of his exceptional ability, leadership, and achievement in the insolvency community. Additionally, he was recognized in 2024 as an Emerging Leader by The M&A Advisor and in 2021 as one of nineteen recipients of the American Bar Association’s inaugural “20/20 Partners Rising Young Leader Award.” Steve holds a bachelor’s degree from Emory University, a JD from Georgia State University College of Law, and an LLM in bankruptcy law from St. John’s University School of Law.

Credentials

Education

  • Emory University (B.A. 2009)
  • Georgia State University College of Law (J.D. 2014)
  • St. John’s University School of Law (American Bankruptcy Institute Scholar, LL.M. 2015)

Bar and Court Admissions

  • 2015 Maryland
  • 2015 New York
  • 2016 Texas
  • 2022 Delaware
  • 2024 Pennsylvania

Clerkships

  • Judicial intern, Judge Margaret H. Murphy (Bankr. N.D. Ga. 2013)

Representations

Amyris, Inc. (D. Del.)

  • Representation of Amyris, Inc. in its chapter 11 case in the District of Delaware. Based in Emeryville, California, Amyris is a leading synthetic biology company founded in 2003 to create a more stable supply of a key antimalarial treatment. Through its cutting-edge science, artemisinin-the most effective anti-malarial drug in the world-is now consistently available to treat the deadly disease. Using the same technological innovations that produced artemisinin, Amyris has become the world’s leading manufacturer of ingredients made with synthetic biology. Amyris provides sustainable ingredients that are eco-friendly alternatives to raw materials sourced for flavors and fragrances, sweeteners, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and other consumer products.

Watsonville Hospital (N.D. Cal.)

  • The firm was counsel to Watsonville Hospital Corporation in its chapter 11 case commenced in December 2021 in the San Jose division of the Northern District of California. The debtor operated the Watsonville Community Hospital, a 106-bed acute care facility serving patients in the Pajaro Valley area of Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. The debtor sold the hospital to a newly created local healthcare district, formed with widespread political support, placing the hospital under public stewardship and ensuring continued access to medical care for a diverse and growing community. In July 2022, the debtor confirmed a plan of liquidation that established a trust to resolve claims and make distributions to creditors.

Borrego Community Health Foundation (S.D. Cal.)

  • Representation of the creditors’ committee in the chapter 11 case of Borrego Community Health Foundation in the Southern District of California. The debtor is a nonprofit federally qualified health center that provides culturally competent healthcare services to underserved communities in San Diego and Riverside Counties. Borrego filed a chapter 11 bankruptcy case in September 2022 amid a dispute with the California Department of Health Care Services that threatened to shutter its 21 locations.

Nexii Building Solutions (D. Del.)

  • Representation of the foreign representative in the chapter 15 cases of Nexii Building Solutions and its affiliates in the District of Delaware. As the sole manufacturer of Nexiite, an energy-efficient wall panel used in high-performance buildings, the company sought protection in Canada under the CCAA. The Canadian proceedings were recognized as foreign main proceedings by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in furtherance of a crossborder sale process.

Neiman Marcus (S.D. Tex.)

  • Representation of the creditors’ committee in the chapter 11 cases of luxury retailers Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman in the Southern District of Texas. The firm negotiated a favorable settlement following an extensive investigation into the prepetition transfer of the MyTheresa brand away from Neiman Marcus and potential claims arising from the transaction. Under the global settlement, unsecured creditors-originally slated to a negligible recovery under the debtors’ plan-will instead receive a combination of stock and a cash pool of $10.0 million for general unsecured creditors undiluted by any lender deficiency claims.

LeFever Mattson (N.D. Cal.)

  • Representation of the creditors’ committee in the chapter 11 cases of LeFever Mattson and its debtor affiliates in the Northern District of California. The company controls or has ownership interests in more than 50 limited partnerships and limited liability companies, and manages a real estate portfolio of more than 200 properties, comprised of commercial, residential, office, and mixed-use real estate, as well as vacant land, located throughout Northern California. The committee is made up of investors who may have been defrauded.

Rokstad Power (D. Del.)

  • Representation of the foreign representative in the chapter 15 cases of Rokstad Power Corporation and its affiliates, a British Columbia-based utility services provider, in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The foreign representative of the debtors, a leading provider of transmission and distribution services for critical electrical power infrastructure throughout North America, filed for chapter 15 bankruptcy in November 2024, seeking recognition of a Canadian receivership. The Canadian proceeding was recognized as a foreign main proceeding by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, pursuant to which the foreign representative successfully obtained an order recognizing and enforcing the going-concern sale of Rokstad’s United States assets.

Payless Shoes (E.D. Mo.)

  • Representation of the creditors’ committee in the second chapter 11 bankruptcy filing of Payless Holdings LLC. The debtor’s second filing came less than two years after it emerged from its previous bankruptcy, in which the firm also represented the creditors’ committee. The debtor was forced to file again after its prior reorganization left the company with a significant remaining debt, a large store footprint, and a yet-to-be-realized systems and corporate overhead structure consolidation. Payless closed all of its stores in the U.S. and Canada.

Professional Affiliations

  • Turnaround Management Association
  • Association of Insolvency & Restructuring Advisors
  • Delaware Bankruptcy American Inn of Court
  • International Insolvency Institute NextGen (Class X)

Publications

  • “COMI Chameleon: Is ‘COMI Manipulation’ in Chapter 15 a Ballooning Problem?,” American Bankruptcy Institute Journal Special International Issue (August 2025)
  • 2024 Second Circuit Review, Norton Bankruptcy Law Advisor (Spring 2025)
  • 2023 Second Circuit Review, Norton Bankruptcy Law Advisor (Spring 2024)
  • 2022 Second Circuit Review, Norton Bankruptcy Law Advisor (Spring 2023)
  • 2021 Second Circuit Review Norton Bankruptcy Law Advisor 4 (Spring 2022)
  • Sections 327 Through 330 Recent Developments in the Law of Employment and Compensation of Bankruptcy Professionals 2021 Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law 439, October 2021
  • Sections 327 Through 330 Recent Developments in the Law of Employment and Compensation of Bankruptcy Professionals 2020 Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law 411, October 2020
  • 2017 Second Circuit Review, Norton Bankruptcy Law Advisor (Spring 2019)
  • Sections 327 Through 330 Recent Developments in the Law of Employment and Compensation of Bankruptcy Professionals 2019 Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law 475, October 2019
  • 2017 Second Circuit Review, Norton Bankruptcy Law Advisor (Spring 2018)
  • Sections 327 Through 330 Recent Developments in the Law of Employment and Compensation of Bankruptcy Professionals 2018 Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law 547, December 2018
  • The Delaware of Asia Singapore Establishes Itself as a New Restructuring Center, American Bankruptcy Institute Journal (Aug. 2017), 2017
  • 2016 Second Circuit Review, Norton Bankruptcy Law Advisor (Spring 2017)
  • Recent Developments in Sections 327 – 330: Employment and Compensation of Bankruptcy Professionals, Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law (Spring 2017)
  • Stripping Down and Stripping Off In Chapter 11 and Chapter 13: Does Caulkett Change the Calculus?, Norton Journal of Bankruptcy Law & Practice (Spring 2017)
  • The Role of Insolvency Practitioners in the United States Presented to the INSOL International Seoul One-Day Seminar, February 2017
  • Headed Through the Boomerang Tube: Professional Compensation After ASARCO 2016 Norton Survey of Bankruptcy Law 220
  • “In Art We Trust: The Intersection of Trust and Bankruptcy Law in Detroit,” 48 Texas Tech Law Review 313 (Spring 2016)
  • “The End of Fees for Fees: The Supreme Court Speaks in ASARCO,” 24 Norton Journal of Bankruptcy Law & Practice 634 (December 2015)
  • “A Lease by Any Other Name: Section 365 and Oil and Gas Leases,” 13 ABI Young and New Members Committee Newsletter (June 2015)
  • “Let’s Keep This Between Us: Protecting PII in Bankruptcy Sales,” ABI Business Reorganization Committee Newsletter (February 2015)
  • “Absolutely Absolute? The Extension of 203 N. LaSalle to Insiders,” 11 ABI Unsecured Trade Creditors Committee Newsletter (June 2013)
  • Coauthor, “Stripping Down and Stripping Off in Chapter 11 and Chapter 13: Does Caulkett Change the Calculus?” 26 Norton Journal of Bankruptcy Law & Practice art. 4 (No. 2 April 2017)
  • Coauthor with Robert J. Feinstein, “2016 Second Circuit Review,” Norton Bankruptcy Law Adviser (No. 2 February 2017); “2017 Second Circuit Review,” Norton Bankruptcy Law Adviser (No. 3 March 2018); “2018 Second Circuit Review,” Norton Bankruptcy Law Adviser (No. 3 March 2019)
  • Coauthor, “Recent Developments in Section 327-330: Employment and Compensation of Bankruptcy Professionals,” 2016 Norton Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law 14 (2016).
  • Coauthor, “Rule 3002.Fun: Does the Rule Need Negative Notice,” Vol. 32 ABI Journal 36 (July 2013)
  • Rule 3002.Fun: Does the Rule Need Negative Notice, ABI Journal (July 2013) (Co-Author)
  • Everything You Need to Know About Bankruptcy Claims, ABA (2013) (Co-Editor)
  • Coeditor, Bankruptcy Claims Handbook,” American Bar Association Business Bankruptcy Committee (2013)