Paul J. Keenan Jr.

Paul has substantial experience in cross-border restructurings and bankruptcies. He speaks Spanish and has significant experience living and working in Latin America and the Caribbean. He is a Fellow of INSOL International for having completed an intensive course in cross-border restructurings. Among other accomplishments in this area, Paul represented a leading Latin American airline in its successful out-of-court restructuring of USD 2.5 billion in debt and a Mexican satellite company in its restructuring of USD 420 million in debt through a prepackaged plan of reorganization in Delaware. Paul has significant experience with the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency (enacted as Chapter 15 under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code). He obtained official recognition in Colombia of a U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization case, and also official recognition in the United States of a Colombian restructuring proceeding. In each case, it was the first time that the courts of Colombia and the United States had recognized each other’s corporate restructuring proceedings.

Paul represents clients in courts across Florida and nationwide, including wide-ranging experience before the bankruptcy courts in Delaware. He is a past President of the Bankruptcy Bar Association for the Southern District of Florida. He also provides insolvency-related structuring advice and legal opinions in connection with complex financial transactions.

Before attending law school, Paul served as an officer in the United States Navy on active duty for seven years.

Prior to joining the Firm, Paul handled the following matters:

Cross-Border

• Represented a leading airline in Colombia in its out-of-court restructuring of USD 2.5 billion in debt through an exchange of USD 550 million in Senior Unsecured Notes due 2020 for Senior Secured Notes due 2023, a new USD 250 million stakeholder facility, USD 125 million in various forms of additional financings, and the renegotiation of numerous contracts, leases and financial agreements.

• Represented a Mexican satellite company in its restructuring of more than USD 400 million in debt through a prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy case filed in Delaware. The prepackaged plan was financed through a USD 325 million high-yield offering and a USD 96 million rights offering, each of which was backstopped by the two largest bondholders, enabling the company to pay all of its creditors in full.

• Represented the operator of the fare collection system for the public bus transportation system in Bogotá, Colombia in obtaining recognition in the United States under Chapter 15 of a Colombian restructuring proceeding involving USD 100 million in debt.

• Represented the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of a seismic-data provider for the oil and gas industry in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case in the Southern District of Texas and led the team that obtained official recognition in Colombia of the Chapter 11 case under the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency.

• Represented a large Caribbean telecommunications company in all aspects of its corporate reorganization and restructuring of USD 500 million in debt.

Domestic

• Represented the court-appointed fiduciary for a commercial lending business in its Chapter 11 case filed in Florida. The company was a merchant cash advance provider that raised USD 287 million from 3,600 individual investors nationwide, which the Securities and Exchange Commission alleged was a sale of unregistered securities. To date, collections on the financial portfolio and bankruptcy litigation have allowed the bankruptcy estate to make a 40% return to investors.

• Represented a steel manufacturing company with 900 employees and manufacturing facilities in five different states in the restructuring of USD 320 million in debt through a Chapter 11 plan of reorganization filed in Delaware.

• Represented a nationwide provider of medical supplies and equipment with 1,700 employees and 300,000 customers nationwide in its Chapter 11 reorganization case filed in Delaware. Negotiated a USD 160 million claim by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) down to a structured USD 32 million settlement, enabling the company to sell substantially all its assets as a going concern and pay its creditors in full.

• Represented a national retail furniture chain with 43 “big box” stores and more than USD 400 million in annual revenue in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case filed in Delaware.

• Represented a distributor, seller and marketer of pharmaceutical products for urological disorders in the sale of its assets through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case filed in Delaware.

• Listed, Lawdragon 500 Leading US Bankruptcy & Restructuring Lawyers, 2020, 2022 and 2023
• Listed, Lawdragon 500 Leading Global Restructuring & Insolvency Lawyers, 2020  
• Listed, Corporate Restructurings, Chambers USA Guide, 2014-present   
• Listed, South Florida Legal Guide, "Top Lawyer," 2020
• Listed, The Best Lawyers in America, Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law, 2017-2020
• Winner, Daily Business Review, "Most Effective Lawyers," 2018
• Listed, The Legal 500 United States, 2011, 2016, and 2018
• Finalist, Daily Business Review, "Top Dealmaker of the Year - Corporate (International) Category," 2012
• Listed, Super Lawyers magazine, Florida Super Lawyers, "Rising Star," 2009 - 2010

• Board Member, Broward Navy Days, Inc., Board of Directors, 2014 - Present
• Member, American Bankruptcy Institute (2003 - Present)
  • Membership Relationship Manager, International Committee, 2014-2015
• Member, American Bar Association (2003 - Present)
• Member, INSOL International (2003 - Present)
  • Chair, Latin America Committee
• Bankruptcy Bar Association for the Southern District of Florida
  • President, 2009 - 2010