Areas of Practice

Lauren joined Ropes & Gray’s Chicago office in 2024 and works in the business restructuring group. Lauren earned her J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law, where she was an editor for the Journal of Law and Social Policy. Lauren graduated cum laude from the University of Florida, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Philosophy.

Experience

  • Representing Hooters of America, LLC, an iconic casual dining and sports entertainment chain, and its affiliated debtors in their pending chapter 11 cases involving the restructuring of approximately $380 million of funded debt. Hooters’ chapter 11 cases are the first whole business securitization filings of their kind and are supported by $40 million of debtor-in-possession financing and a Restructuring Support Agreement with near unanimous support from its key stakeholders.
  • Represented Aimbridge Hospitality in connection with a comprehensive out-of-court restructuring supported by 100% of the company’s lenders that successfully converted more than $1 billion of senior and junior debt into equity and infused the company with $100 million in new capital. Aimbridge is the leading third-party hotel management company, managing over 1,000 hotels globally and employing approximately 47,000 individuals.
  • Represented Hearthside Foods and its affiliated debtors in their prearranged chapter 11 cases involving approximately $3.0 billion of funded debt. A leading contract manufacturer and producer of convenience foods, including baked, refrigerated, and frozen foods, sweet and salty snacks and nutrition bars, Hearthside serves as a full-service provider of food packaging services for many of the world’s premier brands and is the largest private bakery in the industry with a production network of 27 facilities powered by a skilled and dedicated workforce of approximately 12,000 employees. Hearthside’s prearranged chapter 11 plan eliminated approximately $2 billion of funded debt and provided $200 million of new money through an Equity Rights Offering and approximately $190 million of additional capital from a new asset backed loan facility. Hearthside emerged from chapter 11 with approximately $600 million of liquidity and rebranded as Maker’s Pride.

Areas of Practice