Susheel Kirpalani Named a 2012 “Dealmaker of the Year” by The American Lawyer

Susheel Kirpalani, a New York-based partner and head of the firm’s Bankruptcy and Restructuring Group, is one of only twelve attorneys recognized as a 2012 “Dealmaker of the Year.” The award honors attorneys who played innovative roles in mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, project finance, and bankruptcy matters. As a trial firm, this is a first for Quinn Emanuel. The American Lawyer recognized Mr. Kirpalani for his consensus-building work with myriad creditor interests as the examiner and plan mediator in the Dynegy Holdings bankruptcy. Mr. Kirpalani was appointed by the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York as examiner in the Chapter 11 case of Dynegy Holdings, LLC, et al., initially to investigate and report on the Company’s pre-planned restructuring, which had been challenged as unfair by disenfranchised creditors. Mr. Kirpalani’s report concluded that the restructuring techniques employed by the board of Dynegy Holdings, for the intended benefit of the controlling shareholder, constituted an actual and constructive fraudulent transfer and a breach of fiduciary duties. Chief Bankruptcy Judge Cecilia G. Morris then appointed Mr. Kirpalani to serve as a plan mediator to attempt to build consensus and a framework for prompt emergence from bankruptcy. Dynegy Holdings emerged from bankruptcy within months, with creditors receiving cash and 99 percent control of the reorganized company—a plan universally supported by stakeholders.