Michael D. Messersmith

Mike Messersmith, the Global Chair of the Bankruptcy and Restructuring Group at Arnold & Porter, has represented investors, ad hoc groups, and other parties in interest in some of the nation’s largest and highest-profile restructuring situations over the last 25 years. He is one of the leading practitioners for a group described by Chambers USA as “top of their field” and whose clients “have the utmost confidence and trust in their advice.”

Mike’s restructuring expertise is unique. Equally adept in the courtroom as in the boardroom, Mike’s creditor-focused practice combines his strengths as a negotiator with deep knowledge of the credit markets and his clients’ businesses, with his technical skills in finance, litigation, and bankruptcy. Chambers USA describes him as an “extraordinary attorney” and a “protector of his clients’ interests” who “possesses superb skills and judgment.”

Mike’s practice is robust and multifaceted. He represents large ad hoc groups in high-profile, broadly syndicated loan facilities, companies, trustees, and lenders faced with distressed situations, as well as financial investors looking for creative strategies in the insolvency context. His experience spans a multitude of industries, jurisdictions, and deal sizes and, his clients value his business-centered approach to complex legal situations.

Some recent public examples include Mike’s representation of the ad hoc group of lenders in the Cineworld (Regal Cinema) bankruptcy, where Mike and his team structured one of the largest DIP loans ($2.5 billion) in U.S. history in order to facilitate a debt-for-equity transaction. Mike also represented the ad hoc group of senior lenders in the Hertz bankruptcy, where such investors, owed hundreds of millions of dollars, were paid in full following a highly contentious bankruptcy. Mike also represented the U.S. Department of Treasury with respect to hundreds of millions of dollars of loans extended to companies in the travel and logistics space, including in the bankruptcy of Yellow Logistics and the restructurings of Mesa Aviation, and Republic Airways, among others. Mike also handles distressed middle-market situations, often involving private capital project finance bonds and tax-exempt offerings. Some recent public examples include Aleon Metals, Libby Glass, Rialto Bioenergy, Strategic Materials, Acme Lift, and PureCycle.

Mike’s peers recognize him as a leading expert in the restructuring field. He has provided testimony in contested litigation and is regularly called on to advise executives, investors, and other lawyers on their options in a stressed environment. He is regularly asked to write and lecture on a number of restructuring topics and has particular expertise in the debt capital markets, change of control transactions, trading dynamics, and execution and investments in stressed and distressed paper, including bonds and bank loans.