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Kirpalani, Susheel

Susheel Kirpalani

Partner

susheelkirpalani@quinnemanuel.com
Direct Tel: +1 212-849-7200, Direct Fax: +1 212-849-7100
New York
Tel: +1 212 849 7000 Fax: +1 212 849 7100

Susheel Kirpalani is the Head of Special Situations and founder of the firm’s Bankruptcy and Restructuring Group.  For more than 30 years, Susheel has been at the forefront of legal issues on behalf of companies and investors in numerous “first ever” situations.  In addition to being an accomplished courtroom advocate, Susheel regularly supports transactional lawyers behind the scenes with creativity and passion for problem-solving.  Chambers ranks him in Band One, stating “Susheel is among the strongest bankruptcy lawyers in the market. It is unusual to find such strong litigation skills as well as commercial sense and deal-orientation in the same person.” 

Susheel’s notable representations include:

  • Examiner and mediator in Dynegy and Cenveo;
  • Independent fiduciaries in Voyager Digital, Crew, Accuride, and NII International;
  • Special litigation counsel to the company in Wesco Aircraft, TriMark, Bittrex, Kingfisher Midstream, New GM, Washington Mutual, American Home Mortgage, and Solutia;
  • Private equity sponsors in LyondellBasell, Fisker Automotive, Sabine Oil & Gas, and Sbarro;
  • Founders of WeWork and Steward Health Care;
  • Statutory creditors’ committees in Lehman Brothers, Enron, Refco, Sentinel, SemCrude, RadioShack, Idearc, and NewPage;
  • The ad hoc groups of COFINA Senior and Lawful Constitutional Debt Coalition Bondholders during Puerto Rico’s financial crisis,* as well as the lead monoline in Jefferson County’s Chapter 9 case;
  • Litigation trustees of Lucky Bucks, Physiotherapy, Remington Outdoor, SemCrude, and Refco;
  • Government of Antigua & Barbuda in amending their Company Act legislation;
  • Dubai World in drafting Dubai’s legislation for public decree companies;
  • The Joint Liquidators of the Kingate Global and Euro Funds in Madoff’s SIPC case; and
  • The foreign representatives of OAS and InterCement in U.S. aspects of their Brazil judicial recovery proceedings.

*In connection with the Puerto Rico financial crisis, at the request of the Speaker of the House, Susheel worked on the bill and testified before Congress regarding the fairness of the restructuring title of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA), which was promptly enacted into law in a bipartisan vote.

Susheel is a member of the National Bankruptcy Conference and is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy. He is also a recipient of the South Asian Bar Association of New York’s esteemed Litigation Achievement Award.

Susheel is a frequent lecturer and panelist across the country on topics relating to financial crisis litigation and emerging developments in bankruptcy.  He is also a member of the Dean’s Planning Council of Fordham University School of Law, where he has created an endowed fund for public service legal work.  Susheel also endowed the annual symposium of the Center for Ethnic, Racial, and Religious Understanding at Queens College of the City University of New York.

  • Fordham University School of Law
    (J.D., 1994)
    • Dean's List (all years)
    • Fordham Law Review:
      • Associate Editor 1993-1994
  • Queens College
    (B.A., Economics 1991)
    • Omicron Delta Epsilon (Economics Honor Society)
  • The State Bar of New York
  • United States Supreme Court
  • United States Court of Appeals:
    • Second Circuit
    • Third Circuit
    • Sixth Circuit
  • United States District Court:
    • Eastern District of New York
    • Southern District of New York
  • Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP, New York:
    • Partner, 2001-2006
    • Associate, 1998-2001
  • Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, LLP
    • Associate, 1994-1998
    • Summer Associate, 1993
  • Conferee of the National Bankruptcy Conference
  • Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy
  • Ranked in Band 1 for New York and Nationwide Bankruptcy/Restructuring Litigation, Chambers USA; peer-reviewed as “fantastic and creative” and “the single best bankruptcy litigator in the business. He is excellent and he has this ability to exude confidence and calmness.”
  • Hall of Fame by Legal 500 USA in Restructuring (Including Bankruptcy): Corporate
  • LawDragon 500 Leading Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyer
  • Best Lawyers in Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law
  •  “Super Lawyer” for Bankruptcy, Creditor Debtor Rights, Business Litigation by SuperLawyers Magazine 
  • Two-time winner of Law360 “Bankruptcy MVP”
  • The American Lawyer “Dealmaker of the Year” (2013)
  •  “Top 30 most pre-eminent Insolvency Lawyers in America in 2012” by Expert Guides, the Legal Media Group Guides to the World’s Leading Lawyers
  • Previously named two years in a row (from nationwide bankruptcy practitioners under 40) by Turnarounds & Workouts as among the “Outstanding Young Restructuring Lawyers”
  • Named by The Deal Magazine in 2009 as one of the future leaders of the bankruptcy bar “from Houston to Paris.”