Rachel C. Strickland
Partner, Business Reorganization & Restructuring
Rachel C. Strickland is a partner and Chair of the Business Reorganization & Restructuring Department and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. She focuses on advising distressed companies in complex chapter 11 cases and out-of-court restructurings. Rachel also advises financial and strategic investors looking to maximize recoveries or acquire a distressed target.
Rachel represents debtors in large, complex, chapter 11 cases and out of court restructurings. Clients in this area have included Broadview Networks, Inc., Rural/Metro Corporation, LandAmerica Financial Group, Inc., Journal Register Company, Ampex Corporation, International Outsourcing Services, Teksid Aluminum, Adelphia Communications, Verestar, Inc., Mosler, Inc., Hechinger Investment Company, The Multicare Companies, AMF Bowling Worldwide, and USinternetworking.
Rachel also regularly represents hedge funds and Private Equity Firms, such as Appaloosa Investment L.P., Senator Investment Group, Pardus Capital Management, Caspian Capital, Royal Bank of Scotland, Citadel Investment Group, Greywolf Capital Management, Genii Capital and Twin Haven Capital, in their capacities as investors, lenders and creditors of distressed entities. She also represents creditors and other stakeholders, investors, acquirers and lenders in chapter 11 cases and non-judicial restructuring matters. Such clients have included American Express, CMA CGM, Fortent, Inc., Space Systems Loral, AFA Polytek, Fidelity National Financial and Donald J. Trump.
Rachel is a leading bankruptcy and restructuring law practitioner in Chambers Global (2021-2023) and Chambers USA New York (2009-2023) and Nationwide (2019-2023), highlighting that she is "a force to be reckoned with," “a bankruptcy and restructuring superstar" and “outstanding in court." She was also named to the 2021 “Notable Women in Law” list by Crain’s New York Business, honoring talented attorneys for their achievements in the law, professional leadership and philanthropic activities. Also in 2021, she was named an “Outstanding Restructuring Lawyer” by Turnarounds & Workouts. In 2020, Business Insider named her among “ten lawyers who navigated the biggest bankruptcies in history and are seeing a boom in business thanks to a restructuring surge.” In 2015, Turnaround & Workouts Magazine recognized Rachel for her lead role representing the Debtors in the precedent-setting restructuring of Momentive Performance Materials, which was featured on the publication’s listing of the most successful restructurings of 2014.
Experience
A leader in the bankruptcy law community, Rachel was elected a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, recognizing “exceptional bankruptcy professionals for their work, their contributions to the administration of justice, their public service and their integrity.” She has served as a member of the Committee on Bankruptcy and Corporate Reorganization of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.
Rachel holds leadership roles in several New York-based organizations. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Her Justice (formerly known as inMotion), which provides pro bono legal services to women living in poverty in NYC, and has also supported Tina’s Wish, a cancer research nonprofit named in memory of former chief judge of the SDNY Bankruptcy Court Tina Brozman. She is also a volunteer with CARE (Credit Abuse Resistance Education), a nonprofit focused on financial literacy and personal financial management skills, regularly giving educational presentations to NYC public high school students about the importance of financial literacy and responsible decision-making.
Rachel lectures on bankruptcy-related matters for seminars and panels sponsored by the Turnaround Management Association, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and other professional organizations.
Rachel has been instrumental, on behalf of clients, in several complex chapter 11 cases and non-judicial matters, including:
- Adelphia Communications (Debtor)
- AES Eastern Energy (Investors)
- Aleris International (Secured Lenders)
- AM General (Investor)
- AMF Bowling Worldwide, Inc. (Debtor)
- Ampex Corporation (Debtor)
- Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Debtors)
- Broadview Networks (Debtors)
- Caesars Entertainment (Bondholders)
- Clovis Oncology, Inc. (Debtor)
- Delphi Corporation (Stakeholder and Investor)
- Delta Airlines, Inc. (Creditor)
- General Media, Inc. (Bidder of Assets)
- Hechinger Investment Company (Debtor)
- Indesco International, Inc. (Licensor and Creditor)
- Integrated Alarm Services Group (Noteholder Group)
- Intermet Corporation (Secured Lenders)
- Journal Register Company (Debtor)
- LandAmerica Financial Group, Inc. (Debtor)
- Liberty Tire (Bondholders)
- LightSquared Inc. (Potential Acquirer of Assets and Creditor)
- Momentive Performance Materials (Debtor)
- Mosler, Inc. (Debtor)
- Nebraska Book Company (OpCo and HoldCo Bondholder)
- New Century TRS Holdings, Inc. (Acquirer of Assets)
- Otelco Inc. (Debtors)
- Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town (Investor)
- Polaroid Corporation (Acquirer and Affiliates)
- Port Townsend Paper (Noteholder)
- Quiznos (First Lien Lenders)
- Rural/Metro Corporation (Debtors)
- Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. (Investor)
- Summit Global Logistics (Bidder of Assets)
- Tecstar, Inc. (Creditors’ Committee Member)
- TerreStar Networks Inc. (Largest Creditor and Acquirer)
- Trump Entertainment Resorts (Shareholder and Director)
- USinternetworking, Inc. (Debtor)
- Verestar, Inc. (Debtor)
Credentials
Education
New York University School of Law, J.D., 1998 Michigan State University, B.A., 1994
Bar Admissions
Court Admissions
United States Court of Appeals, 10th Circuit, 2015 United States District Court, District of New Jersey, 1998 United States District Court, Eastern District of New York, 1999 United States District Court, Southern District of New York, 1999