Afforded greater partner strength following Jason Taylor's recent internal promotion and the arrival in December 2023 of the highly regarded Simon Baskerville from Latham & Watkins, Willkie Farr & Gallagher (UK) LLP has the resources and expertise to service a vibrant and balanced mix of stakeholders across the full range of restructurings and workouts, in both domestic and cross-border settings. The team has an ‘innovative approach to structuring solutions to complex problems’ which has manifested itself in relation to work on UK restructuring plans (including for regulated businesses), niche advice to convertible bondholders on their rights in restructurings, and work with the US offices to advise on the English law aspects of Chapter 11 cases. The ’technically excellent’ Graham Lane, who co-heads the team alongside Baskerville, is particularly effective at representing funds looking to capitalise on restructuring opportunities and to protect and optimise existing investments. Iben Madsen and the ‘exceptionally bright’ Edward Downer are also adept at working with fund clients, with all the aforementioned partners often working in a collaborative fashion with the firm’s broader private equity and capital markets teams. Alexander Roy became in-house counsel for a financial services firm.
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'The Willkie restructuring team is very knowledgeable and has excellent experience on all manner of restructurings and workouts.'
- 'They operate as trusted advisers, who work as an extension of your team rather than an arms' length adviser.'
- 'Commercially smart and astute and collegiate with all sides of the transaction.'
- 'They are particularly strong advising groups of convertible bondholders. Not just technically good, the team has a strong understanding of the markets and an innovative approach to structuring solutions to complex problems.'
- 'They are experts in restructuring plans and regulated businesses.'
- 'Edward Downer is exceptionally bright and always available with guidance and advice when it is needed most.'
- 'Graham Lane, Jason Taylor and Iben Madsen, in particular, are all technically excellent lawyers and a complete joy to work with.'
Key clients
- AlixPartners
- GLAS
- Kroll
- Lifeways
- Monarch Alternative Capital
- Searchlight Capital Partners
Work highlights
- Advised Lifeways, one of the UK's largest care home providers, on the first successful use of a restructuring plan by a UK healthcare regulated business, and one of only a handful of restructuring plans in the UK since their introduction by new legislation in 2020.
- Advised an ad hoc committee of bondholders on the complex financial restructuring of AFE SA, a specialist European non-performing loan and real estate investment firm affiliated with Veld Capital (formerly AnaCap Credit).
- Continued to represent the official unsecured creditors committee of Scandinavian airline SAS in respect of its ongoing bankruptcy proceeding, leading to a $1.2bn investment by a consortium involving fellow airline Air France-KLM, a move that will help SAS to exit bankruptcy protection.
Lawyers
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Graham Lane, Simon Baskerville