Baker McKenzie LLP

Banking and Finance

Debra A. Dandeneau is a partner in Baker McKenzie's Global Restructuring & Insolvency Group based in the Firm's New York office. Her practice focuses on distressed situations, including debtor and creditors' rights. Debra served as Chair of the Global Restructuring & Insolvency Group from 2016 through 2022.

Debra has been ranked by Chambers & Partners in their 2024 guide in the area of Bankruptcy and Restructuring and was awarded “Highly Commended” in the Chambers 2024 awards for US Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year. Debra also has received a number of other recognitions in the field of Restructuring & Insolvency, including Restructuring & Insolvency Lawyer of the Year from the Women in Business Law Awards 2023/Americas (short-listed in 2024); Lawdragon’s 2024 list of the 500 Leading Global Bankruptcy & Restructuring Lawyers; one of the 2023 “Notable Women in Law” in Crain’s New York; "Lawyer of the Year" in “Litigation – Bankruptcy” in Best Lawyers in America, New York City in 2022; and the Top Women in Dealmaking award (Restructuring) from The Deal in 2021 and 2022.

Debra regularly speaks on restructuring issues and is frequently quoted in, and interviewed by, the media, including The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, and BBC Radio.

Debra's debtor representations include Aleris International, Armstrong World Industries, Brothers Gourmet Coffee, Daffy's, Eagle-Picher Industries, Formica Corporation, LandSource Communities Development (Newhall Land & Farming), Magellan Health Services, Maidenform Corporation, Okeelanta Power Corporation, Petite Concepts, Sun Healthcare Group, and Takata Corporation. In addition to her many out-of-court restructuring deals, Debra has represented creditors and other parties in a number of high-profile bankruptcy cases, including those of GOL Linhas, Highland Capital Management, Westinghouse, Essar Steel Minnesota, Mt Gox, MF Global, Empire Generating, Catalina Marketing, TerraVia, Caesars Entertainment, the Archdiocese of Portland, the Diocese of Spokane, the city of Stockton, the city of San Bernardino, Homer City Generating, and Montreal, Maine & Atlantic.