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Reorganization under the Bankruptcy Code has become an important strategic tool for businesses that face substantial debts or liabilities, and it also presents significant problems to creditors. Economic downturns raise novel and unsettled issues of law and practice that require the attention of lawyers well-versed in insolvency, bankruptcy, industry practices, and related legal subjects. Effective representation in these fields demands knowledge of established principles, experience and business common sense. Our bankruptcy lawyers meet the highest standard of excellence in these areas. U.S. News – Best Lawyers has recognized our practice as Tier 1 Nationwide for Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law.

What Distinguishes Schnader’s Practice?

Our Creditors’ Rights and Business Restructuring Practice Group provides aggressive, full-service, interdisciplinary knowledge to solve our clients’ insolvency issues. We also provide the experience and insight of lawyers well-versed in the related areas of lender liability, professional malpractice, and director and officer liability. Our bankruptcy services routinely include representations of both debtors and creditors in cases filed under Chapters 7 and 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. In In re Harder, a team of Schnader lawyers represented the debtor-in-possession in the largest Chapter 11 bankruptcy case ever filed in Oregon. The case involved over 200 assisted living facilities in 37 states, more than 100 institutional lenders asserting secured claims of $1.8 billion, and 2,000 unsecured creditors and investors asserting claims in excess of $600 million.

Our Clients Are Diverse

Our insolvency and bankruptcy lawyers represent a wide variety of sophisticated clients, including but not limited to:

  • financially troubled companies and individuals;
  • secured and unsecured creditors;
  • equipment lessors;
  • vendors;
  • creditors committees;
  • trustees;
  • landlords;
  • pension funds; and
  • equity shareholders.

We represent these and other parties in bankruptcy cases and in non-bankruptcy reorganization, restructuring, workout and liquidation. We both support and draw upon our highly experienced colleagues in lending, litigation, real estate, securities, business, environmental and tax matters. Our attorneys combine insolvency law experience and technical knowledge with Schnader’s litigation prowess to provide unique, aggressive representation in the bankruptcy forum.

Leadership in a Wide Range of Specialty Areas

We have particular industry capability in transportation, including aircraft and train finance; asset securitization; equipment finance; nursing homes and other medical care providers; commercial, vacation and residential real estate reorganization and acquisition; telecommunications, high-tech and intellectual property driven companies; and the steel, asbestos and construction industries.

Counseling, Dispute Resolution, and Litigation

Representations include tactical planning in response to financial problems and in anticipation of filing bankruptcy; assistance in private and judicial liquidations and reorganizations, both before and in bankruptcy; the acquisition of financially troubled businesses and their assets; the prosecution and defense of insolvency-related litigation; and the analysis of environmental and clean-up / site remediation issues in bankruptcy cases on behalf of property owners, trustees, asset purchasers, creditors, and debtors.

A Broader Perspective

Members of the team lecture widely on insolvency topics, including workout and bankruptcy strategies, lender liability, environmental issues, and directors’ and officers’ liability. We are experienced in the sophisticated new techniques and strategies in this field. We are active in industry, bar and insolvency organizations at a leadership level.

Our Attorneys

Richard A. Barkasy

Richard A. Barkasy

215-751-2526

Philadelphia, PA Wilmington, DE

rbarkasy@schnader.com

 215-751-2526 Philadelphia, PA Wilmington, DE
Kristi J. Doughty

Kristi J. Doughty

302-482-4038

Wilmington, DE Philadelphia, PA

kdoughty@schnader.com

 302-482-4038 Wilmington, DE Philadelphia, PA
Walter B. Ferst

Walter B. Ferst

215-751-2370

Philadelphia, PA

wferst@schnader.com

 215-751-2370 Philadelphia, PA
Stephen A. Fogdall

Stephen A. Fogdall

215-751-2581

Philadelphia, PA Washington, DC

sfogdall@schnader.com

 215-751-2581 Philadelphia, PA Washington, DC
Megan E. Harmon

Megan E. Harmon

412-577-5209

Pittsburgh, PA

mharmon@schnader.com

 412-577-5209 Pittsburgh, PA
Arleigh P. Helfer

Arleigh P. Helfer

215-751-2430

Philadelphia, PA

ahelfer@schnader.com

 215-751-2430 Philadelphia, PA
George H. Kalikman

George H. Kalikman

415-364-6734

San Francisco, CA

gkalikman@schnader.com

 415-364-6734 San Francisco, CA
Nicholas J. LePore, III

Nicholas J. LePore, III

215-751-2286

Philadelphia, PA

nlepore@schnader.com

 215-751-2286 Philadelphia, PA
Cynthia A. Murray

Cynthia A. Murray

212-973-8077

New York, NY

cmurray@schnader.com

 212-973-8077 New York, NY
Kenneth R. Puhala

Kenneth R. Puhala

212-973-8140

New York, NY Jakarta

kpuhala@schnader.com

 212-973-8140 New York, NY Jakarta
David Smith

David Smith

215-751-2190

Philadelphia, PA

dsmith@schnader.com

 215-751-2190 Philadelphia, PA

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The Higher Calling Of The Law Requires...

Inclusion. When Pennsylvania Attorney General William Schnader left politics and sought to return to private practice in Philadelphia, he discovered that no major Philadelphia law firms would hire his protégé, Bernard Segal, a Jewish attorney. In response, in 1935, William Schnader, Bernard Segal and Francis Lewis formed a new law firm, Schnader & Lewis -- the first religiously integrated law firm in Philadelphia.

Innovation. Because Schnader was religiously integrated from its founding, many local clients in the Philadelphia area would not retain the firm in the 1930s and 1940s. Accordingly, the firm sought to represent larger, national companies.

Vision. Firm founder William Schnader was president of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, which drafted and developed the Uniform Commercial Code. He successfully campaigned for the Code's adoption in 49 states.

The pursuit of freedom. At the request of President Truman, firm founder Earl Harrison, as Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, toured displaced persons camps at the end of World War II and recommended to the President that displaced persons in Europe be permitted to resettle in Palestine. His report was a major factor that led to American support for the establishment of Israel.

The pursuit of justice. Firm founder Earl Harrison testified on behalf of an African-American student denied entry to the University of Texas School of Law because of his race. The case challenged the "separate but equal" doctrine, as applied to state law schools and laid the foundation for Brown v. Board of Education. The Supreme Court eventually overturned the lower courts' decisions and ordered the University of Texas to admit qualified black applicants.

Courage. Firm founder Bernard Segal convinced the Philadelphia bar to defend nine accused Communists pro bono. The defendants were convicted but their cases were thrown out on appeal. As a result, the Justice Department abandoned Smith Act prosecutions across the country.

The pursuit of justice. When George Wallace threatened to block integration of the University of Alabama, Schnader’s Bernard Segal drafted a statement in opposition. He and Jerome Shestack called lawyers all over the country requesting their support. The statement was published in the Birmingham News with 53 prominent lawyer signatories and provided support for President Kennedy's Executive Order federalizing the Alabama National Guard.

The pursuit of justice. In the wake of George Wallace's efforts to impede the integration of the University of Alabama, and at the urging of Schnader’s Bernard Segal, President Kennedy convened 244 lawyers at the White House to ask them to move the battle for civil rights and racial equality to the courts. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law was born and Jerome Shestack became its full-time executive director while continuing to practice at Schnader.

Inclusion. Firm founder Bernard Segal was chair of the ABA’s Committee on the Federal Judiciary. He advocated the appointment of federal judges of all genders and races.

Inclusion. Firm founder Bernard Segal was the first Jewish person to serve as Chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association. He encouraged the bar into public service and expanded its racial horizons.

Inclusion. Schnader was one of the first major Philadelphia firms to hire a female attorney.

Diversity. Schnader was a founding member of the Philadelphia Diversity Law Group, which aims to increase the number of diverse attorneys in-house and in private practice.

Inclusion. The firm appointed Albert Dandridge as Chief Diversity Officer and charged him with increasing and developing our bench of diverse attorneys.

Service. The firm adopted Caton Village (now closed), a halfway house for women in Philadelphia, where we provided free legal clinics and social and educational activities for its residents.

Service. Schnader lawyers regularly represent undocumented children who were abused or abandoned by their parents. We help these children obtain guardians, stop removal proceedings, and begin the path to citizenship.

Service. As U.S. veterans waited an average of four years for a ruling on the denial of their disability benefits, Schnader attorneys led a campaign advocating for a solution to address the backlog.

The pursuit of justice. Schnader attorneys represented Guantanamo Bay detainees, advocating for fair treatment and due process against a byzantine legal landscape.

Service. With a nonprofit partner, Schnader attorneys and staff designed and taught a pilot life skills seminar for young adults aging out of the foster care system. The program included lessons on securing vital documents, opening a bank account, looking for jobs and going to an interview.

Service. Schnader attorneys help middle school students in Pittsburgh set up a youth court, prepare for mock trials and draft a bill of rights for their school. The students learn about Constitutional law, advocacy and restorative justice from participating in these programs.

Service. Bernard Segal, a founder of the firm, believed that Schnader's hallmark is its "dedication to the higher calling of the law," which he defined as "the lawyer's obligation to assume an active role in the pursuit of a just and ordered society, in helping to solve the emerging problems of social, economic and political importance, and to serve the public as his or her client, as she or he would serve a full-paying client."

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