September 12, 2002
The September fourth edition of The American Lawyer features an in-depth profile of partner Marc Abrams and the firm’s work representing Adelphia Communications Corp. in its current bankruptcy proceedings.
The September fourth edition of The American Lawyer features an in-depth profile of Willkie partner Marc Abrams and the firm’s work representing Adelphia Communications Corp. in its current bankruptcy proceedings. The article (“Off The Charts”) chronicles Willkie’s representation of Adelphia, which commenced last March when the firm was hired to negotiate a simple debtor-in-possession loan from Adelphia to one of its subsidiaries, which had been spun off a few months earlier. The firm’s role expanded dramatically with its successful negotiation of a $1.5 billion DIP financing arrangement. The article reports that to help the court understand the intricate structure of the $24.4 billion communications giant, Mr. Abrams presented a three-foot long coded flow chart representing the labyrinth and competing interests of Adelphia’s nearly 240 subsidiaries and their credit arrangements. In one of the more complicated DIP financings of his career, Mr. Abrams noted that 13 parties were involved in the loan deal. Mr. Abrams told The American Lawyer that while most companies have one overarching credit facility serving the entire corporation, Adelphia had six. Willkie’s representation of Adelphia has also been reported in the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Communications Daily and The National Law Journal. Marc Abrams is a partner in the Business Reorganization and Restructuring Department of Willkie Farr & Gallagher in New York. He is the current Chair of the Committee on Bankruptcy and Corporate Reorganization of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.