Rachel Strickland is global chair of the firm’s business restructuring practice and brings decades of experience to advising distressed companies and investors in complex restructuring matters. Companies turn to Rachel in Chapter 11 cases and out-of-court restructurings, while top private equity firms, hedge funds, and strategic investors seek out her guidance when maximizing recoveries and acquiring distressed targets. She also has significant experience in mass tort restructuring matters.
Consistently recognized in Chambers USA and Chambers Global as a leading bankruptcy and restructuring lawyer, Rachel has advised debtors, creditors, and other stakeholders in precedent-setting restructurings across industries, including media, transportation, financial services and technology, along with financial and strategic investors. Clients have included Walgreens Boots Alliance, DISH Network, KKR, and JPMorgan Asset Management, among many others.
Rachel is known for being “smart and effective” and “can command a room and drive the process,” according to Chambers. In addition to Chambers, she has been lauded by The Legal 500 US, Crain’s New York Business, Turnarounds & Workouts, and Business Insider, which named Rachel among “ten lawyers who navigated the biggest bankruptcies in history.”
A leader in the bankruptcy law community, Rachel is 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 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 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 New York City, and has also supported Tina’s Wish, a cancer research nonprofit named in memory of former chief judge of the Southern District of New York Bankruptcy Court, Tina Brozman.
Experience
- Represented the board of directors of PDV Holding, Inc. the US holding company of Citgo Petroleum Corp. and subsidiary of PDVSA, Venezuela’s state-owned oil company in connection with (1) the judicial sale of PDVH’s shares in Citgo to satisfy creditors of Venezuela proceeding in DE district court holding claims in excess of $20 billion, (2) litigation over the legitimacy of $3 billion of bonds issued by the Maduro regime in 2020 secured by a pledge of Citgo stock, and (3) the impact of the Maduro arrest and subsequent relationship between the US government and the VZ government led by interim president Delcy Rodriguez.*
- Represented Walgreens Boots Alliance in connection with the restructuring of its $6 billion investment in managed care businesses VillageMD and CityMD/SummitHealth in advance of Sycamore Partners’ $10 billion+ take-private transaction.*
- Represented NanoString Technologies, Inc., a leading life sciences company specializing in spatial biology and genomics solutions, and its affiliated debtors in their chapter 11 cases, including a court-supervised sale of substantially all assets to Bruker Corporation for approximately $393 million.*
- Represented Mondee Holdings, Inc. and certain of its affiliates in their chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, filed to address approximately $250 million in funded debt through a court-supervised sale of substantially all assets implemented pursuant to a restructuring support agreement and investigate potential claims and causes of action.*
- Represented Near Intelligence, Inc., a data intelligence company providing real-world consumer behavior analytics, and its affiliated debtors in their chapter 11 cases, filed to address approximately $100 million in funded debt, including a court-supervised sale of substantially all assets, confirmation of a liquidity chapter 11 plan, and the establishment of a litigation trust to pursue estate causes of action for the benefit of stakeholders.*
- Represented Clovis Oncology, Inc. and certain of its affiliates in their chapter 11 cases filed to address over $750 million in debt, facilitate two 363 sale transactions, and negotiate and consummate a liquidating chapter 11 plan.*
- Represented Global Brands Group, Inc. and certain of its affiliates in their chapter 11 cases filed to address over $238 million of funded debt, facilitate multiple 363 sale transactions of various licensed brands, and negotiate and consummate a liquidating chapter 11 plan.*
- Represented an ad hoc group of senior noteholders in connection with the chapter 11 cases of The Hertz Corporation and its affiliates, representing approximately $1.14 billion of aggregate holdings of senior unsecured notes.*
- Represented an ad hoc group of Windstream bondholders, comprised of seven large financial institutions, holding in excess of $1 billion of debt in connection with the company’s consent solicitations and exchange offers.*
- Represented certain holders of second priority senior secured notes issued by Caesars Entertainment Operating Company, Inc. in connection with its chapter 11 restructuring of the company.*
- Represented rue21, Inc., a specialty fashion retailer operating more than 500 retail locations nationwide, and its affiliated debtors in their chapter 11 cases, including going-out-of-business sales at all retail locations, the liquidation of inventory and other assets, and the sale of the company’s intellectual property.*
- Represented Momentive Performance Materials, Inc., a maker of silicone and quartz products, and certain affiliates (“MPM”) in connection with their chapter 11 bankruptcy cases.*
- Represented first lien lenders, including Oaktree Capital Management and Caspian Capital, in an out-of-court restructuring of QCE LLC, the Quizno’s sandwich chain.*
- Represented Otelco, Inc., an Alabama-based telecommunications company, in the structuring, negotiation and documentation of its prepackaged plan of reorganization and related restructuring support agreement with key creditors.*
- Represented Rural/Metro Corporation, the largest U.S. ambulance and related services provider, in its balance sheet restructuring through a chapter 11 process.*
- Represent Charles W. Ergen and SPSO, an investment vehicle formed by Mr. Ergen, in LightSquared chapter 11 bankruptcy, adversary proceeding and plan confirmation dispute over approximately $1 billion investment.*
- Represented Angiotech Pharmaceuticals in connection with chapter 15 proceedings in the United States Bankruptcy Court recognizing the company’s Canadian restructuring proceedings.*
- Represented Broadview Networks, a provider of communications and IT solutions, in the formulation, negotiation and bankruptcy court process for its prepackaged chapter 11 plan.*
- Represented DISH Network in connection with its “stalking horse” bid of $1.375 billion in cash and the assumption of liabilities for TerreStar Networks, an integrated satellite and terrestrial telecommunications company in chapter 11.*
- Represented Appaloosa in connection with several material investments in various commercial mortgage-backed securities and other material matters, including in connection with investments in the hotel chain owned by Innkeepers USA, and Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town, a multi-billion dollar residential development.*
- Represented the European Term Loan Lenders in Aleris’s cross-border, chapter 11 cases in contesting a plan of reorganization that threatened to subvert the interests of European lenders in favor of creditors of U.S. affiliates.*
- Represented an ad hoc committee of equity holders in the chapter 11 cases of Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation.*
- Represented a Luxembourg-based private equity firm in its stalking horse bid for substantially all of the assets of Polaroid Corporation and its affiliated debtors.*
- Represented Pardus in connection with its proposed investment as one of six proposed plan sponsors of Delphi Corporation and then in the defense and settlement of significant litigation commenced by the debtor.*
- Represented the U.K.’s Pension Protection Fund in connection with the AMF Bowling chapter 11 cases.*
- Represented Adelphia Communications in its chapter 11 cases.*
- Represented Ampex Corporation in its chapter 11 cases.*
- Represented Hechinger Investment Company in its chapter 11 cases.*
- Represented Journal Register Company in its chapter 11 cases.*
- Represented LandAmerica Financial Group, Inc. in its chapter 11 cases.*
- Represented Mosler, Inc. in connection with its restructuring.*
- Represented USinternetworking, Inc. in its chapter 11 cases.*
- Represented Verestar, Inc. in its chapter 11 cases.*
- Represented investors in connection with the restructuring of AES Eastern Energy.*
- Represented an investor in connection with the restructuring of AM General.*
- Represented bondholders in the chapter 11 cases of Cooper Standard Automotive.*
- Represented American Express in the chapter 11 cases of Delta Air Lines, Inc.*
- Represented the bidder of assets of General Media, Inc., a chapter 11 debtor.*
- Represented the licensor and a creditor in connection with the restructuring of Indesco International, Inc.*
- Represented a noteholder group in connection with the restructuring of Integrated Alarm Services Group.*
- Represented secured lenders in the chapter 11 cases of Intermet Corporation.*
- Represented bondholders in the chapter 11 cases of Liberty Tire Recycling.*
- Represented the OpCo and HoldCo bondholder in the chapter 11 cases of Nebraska Book Company.*
- Represented the acquirer of assets of New Century TRS Holdings, Inc., a chapter 11 debtor.*
- Represented a noteholder in connection with the restructuring of Port Townsend Paper.*
- Represented Fulton County election workers in the chapter 11 case of Rudolph Giuliani.*
- Represented the bidder of assets of Summit Global Logistics.*
- Represented Fulton County election workers in litigation involving The Gateway Pundit.*
*Experience prior to joining Ropes & Gray