Richard Graham
Biography
Overview
Mr. Graham is counsel in White & Case's Financial Restructuring & Insolvency Practice Group in New York and represents debtors and creditors in a variety of restructuring matters, including Chapter 11 cases and cross-border matters.
Mr. Graham's recent Chapter 11 representations include, among others, debtor Joerns Woundco Holdings, Inc., and its affiliates in their chapter 11 restructuring, Daimler AG as creditor and customer in the global restructuring of automotive supplier Takata Corporation and its affiliates (including several under chapter 11), BNDES as largest aircraft creditor in the Republic Airlines and AMR/American Airlines Chapter 11 cases, and IHI Corporation, as shareholder and creditor in the Westinghouse chapter 11 case. Mr. Graham has represented foreign representatives in the United States in several cross-border cases, including Kaupthing (an Icelandic Bank), New World Resources NV (a UK-based coal producer), Wind Hellas (a Greek telecommunications operator), Magyar Telecom B.V. (a holding company in the Hungarian telecommunications group), Zlomrex International Finance S.A. (part of the Cognor group, a Polish steel manufacturer), and JSC BTA Bank and JSC Alliance Bank (Kazakhstan banks).
Mr. Graham is an International Insolvency Institute NextGen Leadership Program Delegate, a member of INSOL International and of the American Bankruptcy Institute, and has contributed to numerous publications on international insolvency law, including the Part IV (dealing with the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency) of the treatise, European Insolvency Regulation, the chapter 15 chapter (Ancillary and Other Cross-Border Cases) of the Collier Bankruptcy Practice Guide, International Corporate Review, and Euromoney Global Insolvency & Restructuring Review.
In 2006 and early 2007, Mr. Graham was associated with the Firm's Hamburg office.
Prior to joining White & Case, Mr. Graham practiced from 2002–2005 as an associate at the New York office of another leading international law firm, where he was involved in representing chapter 11 debtors WorldCom, Inc., Sunbeam Corporation and International Wire Group, Inc., as well as numerous creditors and investors in other cases. Mr. Graham has also provided bankruptcy-related consumer finance law advice to large credit institutions.
Mr. Graham clerked for Chief Judge Philip H. Brandt of the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Ninth Circuit and the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Washington and for Judge Lee M. Jackwig of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Iowa. He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy (B.S.) and the University of Washington School of Law (J.D.).
Mr. Graham was an active duty officer in the United States Army from 1991–1996.
Experience
Represented Joerns WoundCo Holdings, Inc. and its affiliated debtors in their expedited prepackaged Chapter 11 reorganization that resulted in a balance sheet deleveraging of more than $320 million through a conversion of prepetition debt to equity and a $40 million new money exit facility.
Served as Special Counsel to the Debtors in the Waypoint Leasing bankruptcy proceedings, including the coordination of the sale of more than 125 aircraft on lease to 42 lessees in 31 different jurisdictions.
Represented automobile manufacturer Daimler AG and its subsidiaries in connection with the global restructuring of Takata Corporation and its subsidiaries, component part suppliers responsible for the largest-ever consumer products recall. White & Case has assisted Daimler AG and its subsidiaries in navigating the complex issues arising out of insolvency proceedings in the U.S. and Japan and coordinated out of court restructurings in Europe and elsewhere.
Represented BNDES as largest aircraft creditor in the Republic Airlines and AMR/American Airlines Chapter 11 cases
Represented IHI Corporation, as shareholder and creditor in the Westinghouse chapter 11 case
Represented Kaupthing (an Icelandic Bank) in relation to its Icelandic winding-up proceedings given full force and effect in the US by the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in a Chapter 15 proceeding.
Represented New World Resources, a UK-based coal producer with operations throughout central Europe, in connection with the successful recognition of its UK Schemes Arrangement in the US under Chapter 15. The Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York granted full force and effect to NWR's restructuring, which also included a related €118 million rights issue and a €32 million private placing.
Represented Wind Hellas, a Greek telecommunications operator, in its €1.8 billion restructuring, implemented by way of an English scheme of arrangement and 'pre-packaged' administrations given full force and effect in the US by the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in a Chapter 15 proceeding.
Represented Magyar Telecom B.V., a holding company in the Hungarian telecommunications group, restructured through an English scheme given full force and effect in the US by the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in a Chapter 15 proceeding.
Represented Zlomrex International Finance S.A., part of the Cognor group, a Polish steel manufacturer, restructured through an English scheme given full force and effect in the US by the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in a Chapter 15 proceeding.
Represented JSC BTA Bank and JSC Alliance Bank, Kazakhstan banks, restructured via Kazakhstan restructuring "bail-in" plans given full force and effect in the US by the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in a Chapter 15 proceeding.
IP Ownership, Licensing Agreements, and Bankruptcy, Bloomberg Law, April 2020
Part IV (UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency and Chapter 15 of the United States Bankruptcy Code) of the four-part treatise, European Insolvency Regulation, ed. K. Pannen, De Gruyter 2007
US Bankruptcy Court Refuses to Defer to Law of Foreign Main Proceeding, International Corporate Rescue, January 2012
US Bankruptcy Court Rules on Extraterritorial Scope of Automatic Stay Arising upon Recognition of Foreign Main Proceeding, International Corporate Rescue, October 2011
Enforcement by US Courts of Releases Granted in Foreign Insolvency Proceedings, International Corporate Rescue, Vol. 8, Issue 4, August 2011
Is Getting US Recognition of an Off-Shore Fund Insolvency Proceeding Now Almost Impossible?, Law360, August 2008
