Womble Bond Dickinson announced Edward Schnitzer, David Banker and Wojciech Jung have joined the Capital Markets practice and Bankruptcy team in New York. Schnitzer and Banker join the firm from Montgomery McCracken; Jung joins from Lowenstein Sandler.
“Ed, David, and Wojciech are excellent bankruptcy lawyers and will expand the footprint of our bankruptcy practice into the New York office to establish a strong foothold for our department in the financial center of the country,” said Merrick Benn, Womble’s Vice Chair and Capital Markets Practice Group Leader. “Their experience working on some of the country’s most high-profile bankruptcies will be of tremendous value to our clients on a broad spectrum of capacities, including as counsel for debtors, creditors’ committees, lenders, and individual constituents, both in and out of court.”
“Among other things, we were attracted to Womble’s nationwide footprint, the diversity of legal services offered by the firm’s 1,000+ attorneys, and the strength of its Bankruptcy, Restructuring, and Creditors’ Rights practice, including the handling of all types of engagements involving financially distressed situations,” said Schnitzer.
This news is the latest in a string of recent strategic hires and expansion across the firm’s footprint, including the acquisition of two California-based litigation boutiques earlier this month and the addition of nearly 50 laterals in the last year.
“At the start of COVID, many large firms began an aggressive hiring campaign for bankruptcy attorneys to address what they perceived as an anticipated onslaught of new engagements. We took a different approach, instead waiting to see the impact of the pandemic on Wall Street and Main Street,” said Matthew Ward, Leader of the Bankruptcy, Restructuring, and Creditors’ Rights practice and Managing Partner of the Wilmington, Delaware, office. “Now that both interest rates and inflation are on the rise, moratoriums have lifted, labor and supply costs have risen, and government aid has been constrained, we recognized that the time to grow had arrived.”
“Each of these partners is well respected and highly regarded in the New York bankruptcy community, and their professionalism was universally and unequivocally evident during the interview process. We could not be more pleased that they have joined our firm,” said Deborah Vernon, Managing Partner of the New York office.
The New Partners
Schnitzer has experience representing unsecured creditor committees, litigation and liquidation trustees, debtors, banks, equity committees, and creditors in all aspects of bankruptcy practice, with a particular focus on bankruptcy litigation, including the prosecution and defense of preferences, fraudulent transfers, and other avoidance actions, claims objections, and collection and turnover actions. He is a court-approved mediator in various bankruptcy courts, serves as the co-chair for the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Mediation Committee, and frequently writes on bankruptcy mediation.
Banker focuses his practice on creditors’ rights in complex bankruptcies, including counseling unsecured creditors' committees, equity committees, institutional trade creditors, plan trustees, investment funds, secured lenders, and lessors. He has extensive experience representing parties in preference and fraudulent conveyance actions in numerous jurisdictions throughout the country, as well as writing and presenting on the topic. Banker is also a certified mediator on the register of mediators for the Southern District of New York and Delaware Bankruptcy Courts.
Jung represents debtors and creditors (and creditors’ committees) in corporate restructuring and turnarounds, liquidations, and bankruptcy. He also advises purchasers of distressed assets, parties to out-of-court workouts, trustees, and post-confirmation trusts. Wojciech frequently represents plaintiffs and defendants in a wide range of commercial litigation, including disputes involving business partners and investors, startups, contract disputes, and real estate transactions. Throughout his career, he has advised clients in various industries, including media, chemicals, real estate, hospitality, retail, airline, pharmaceutical, poultry, nursery, fiber optics, nutritional supplements, and manufacturing.