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Howard Steel has a track record of successful results in fraudulent conveyance and preference litigation, contested plan confirmation, DIP financing and cash collateral use, the negotiation and documentation of claims trading transactions, and other matters involving bankruptcy litigation and transactional work.  He also has extensive experience in SIPA proceedings and mass tort cases.  Clients also rely on Howard for advice on complex credit documents, including indentures, credit agreements, intercreditor agreements and other documents relating to lending transactions.

Howard regularly represents creditors’ committees, bondholders, lenders, trade creditors, landlords, distressed debt purchasers, indenture trustees and other significant parties-in-interest in many of the nation’s largest in-court and out-of-court restructurings.

REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS

• Lehman Brothers:  Representation of multiple investment funds aggregating hundreds of millions in claims in the Chapter 11 proceedings and SIPA proceeding on issues ranging across:  failed and unsettled trades; valuation of derivatives and structured securities; termination, valuation and set-off under Master Agreements; and the interpretation of customer account agreements and margin lending agreements pertaining to SIPA customer status.
• Visteon Corporation:  Representation of the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Visteon Corp., a Fortune 500 global automotive supplier, in successfully confirming a plan of reorganization, restructuring aggregate liabilities of approximately $5.3 billion, and generating a significant distribution for unsecured creditors.  This representation involved complex issues relating to valuation, reinstatement, estate causes of action and OPEB liability.
• Dipak Desai M.D. and Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada LLC:  Representation of the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Dipak Desai M.D. in Chapter 11 bankruptcy and related cases, involving mass torts connected to a hepatitis outbreak in the Las Vegas area.  This representation involved several significant issues including the development of a competing Chapter 11 Plan for the valuation and payment of tort claims.
• Verestar, Incorporated:  Representation of the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Verestar, Inc., a leading provider of global satellite and terrestrial-based network communications solutions, in successfully confirming a plan of liquidation providing for distributions of 46-50% on the dollar to once out-of-the-money unsecured creditors.  This representation included the Official Committee’s prosecution of estate causes of action, including bankruptcy avoidance actions, leading to tens of millions in recoveries.
• Other creditors’ committee representations include Nebraska Book Company (Ad Hoc Consortium of Noteholders); Green Valley Ranch Gaming, LLC (Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors); One to One Interactive, LLC (Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors)
• Representation of creditors in other proceedings including:  MF Global, Washington Mutual, ASARCO, Delphi, Solutia, Delta, New Century, American Business Financial Services, Circuit City, Linens n’ Things, Bally Total Fitness, Steve & Barry’s and Movie Gallery. 

PUBLICATIONS

• Co-author, "Five Steps Hedge Fund Managers Should Take to Mitigate Avoidance and Disallowance Risks After Delaware Court Finds That Avoidance and Disallowance Risks Travel with Trade Claims," The Hedge Fund Law Report, Vol. 5, No. 24, June 14, 2012
• Co-author, “Bankruptcies in Mass Torts Cases,” Litigating Mass Tort Cases, Supplement, 2011

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

• American Bankruptcy Institute
• Turnaround Management Association

BAR ADMISSIONS

• New York
• United States District Court for the Southern District of New York