Howard Seife

Partner

Practice Description

Howard Seife, global chair of the Firm’s bankruptcy and financial restructuring practice, has represented clients in reorganizations, both domestically and internationally, of retail, technology, energy, insurance, real estate, leasing, textiles, manufacturing, telecommunications and media companies. He was recognized in Chambers USA 2010 as a "deeply experienced lawyer" and for his "expertise in cross-border and Chapter 15 issues."

Representative Matters

• Counseled the Chapter 11 creditors’ committee in Tribune, Spiegel, Inc./Eddie Bauer Inc.; Parmalat USA Corp.; Metromedia Fiber Network; New York Daily News (Maxwell Newspapers, Inc.); New York Post; and Pocket Communications.
• Counsel for Citigroup, as agent for the lender group, in the successful restructuring of Xerium Technologies (through a pre-packaged Chapter 11).
• Counsel for The Royal Bank of Scotland, as agent for the lender group, in the successful Chapter 11 reorganization of PRC, LLC.
• Represented the receiver appointed in the Russian bankruptcy proceedings of Yukos Oil Company in the first major test of Chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code.
• Represented the ad hoc committee of swap counterparties in the restructuring of the monoline insurance company, ACA Financial Guaranty.
• Represented a number of the largest creditor banks and insurance companies in Enron Corporation’s Chapter 11 and some of the largest creditors and account holders in the Lehman Brothers and Refco Chapter 11s.
• Advised multiple companies in cross-border insolvency issues, including the European bank group in the Lernout & Hauspie/Dictaphone cases.
• Served as debtor’s counsel in the successful reorganization of ATC Group Services.
• Represented Sabena Airlines in its ancillary bankruptcy proceeding.
• Represents Ernst & Young as the Australian and Bermudian liquidators in the insurance insolvency of New Cap Reinsurance Corporation Ltd.
• Represents PricewaterhouseCoopers as provisional liquidators for Independent Insurance Company, Folksam International Insurance Company Ltd., and Black Sea & Baltic General Insurance Company Ltd.
• Represents KPMG as provisional liquidator for Manhattan Investment Fund and Belvedere Insurance.
• Represented the reinsurer Hopewell International in its ground breaking ancillary bankruptcy where, after an eight-day trial, a U.S. court for the first time recognized and enforced the terms of a scheme of arrangement for a solvent company.

Honors

Activities and Affiliations

Mr. Seife is frequently invited to comment on bankruptcy issues on national media networks such as CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg, and PBS and on National Public Radio and has been frequently quoted in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

• Chair, INSOL International, International Cross-Border Insolvency and Restructuring Conference, Mexico City, 2010
• Member: International Insolvency Institute – an invitation-only organization of leading insolvency professionals, judges and academics 
• Member of the Board of Directors of INSOL International (2007 - )
• Chair, Insurance Insolvency Meeting, Eighth World INSOL International Quadrennial Congress, Vancouver, Canada, June 2009
• Chair, American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI), International Insolvency Symposium, panel on new Chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code, London, 2006
• Program Chair, INSOL Annual Americas Conference, Scottsdale, 2006
• Chair, INSOL International’s Asian Conference, panel on cross-border insolvency, Beijing, October 2002
• Chair, INSOL International, Technical Research Committee, 2003-2005
• Mediator for the Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, 1996-present
• Arbitrator for the United States District Court, Eastern District of New York, 1985-present

Publications

Speeches and Events