Suzzanne Uhland represents public and private companies, lenders, sponsors, and investors in a wide array of restructuring transactions, including their high-stakes chapter 11 reorganizations and out-of-court restructurings.

Suzzanne is widely recognized as one of the leading restructuring lawyers in the United States. She has been a fellow of the prestigious American College of Bankruptcy since 2011. Suzzanne leverages her keen market perspective and her decades of experience to devise creative solutions in clients’ most complex distressed situations.

She partners with clients to diffuse volatile situations involving financial distress and acts immediately to protect her clients’ commercial interests. Suzzanne builds consensus across key stakeholders to maximize client value and expeditiously achieve successful outcomes.

Her experience spans technology, real estate, energy, and municipal restructurings and financings, as well as international insolvencies and debt restructurings. She advises clients on insolvency related risks in structured finance and derivative transactions, including those involving cryptocurrency and other digital assets.

Accolades and Recognitions

Throughout her career, Suzzanne has been consistently recognized for her excellence by publications, clients, and peers. Suzzanne has been ranked by Chambers since 2008 and is touted as “practical, has very good solutions and commands the respect of the room.” Chambers has also quoted clients describing her as “very creative and very knowledgeable on case law," and also appreciate that “she has no ego; she just does the job and works with everyone's talents to get the right answer for the client. She is a real joy to work with in a very difficult situation.” Lawdragon describes her as “one of the leading bankruptcy attorneys in the U.S. today, sought after both for her skill in shepherding companies to higher ground and for her views and insights on matters of international debt and restructuring.” 

Suzzanne has been named a leading restructuring lawyer by the Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America, Best Lawyers in America (New York, California), The International Who’s Who Restructuring and Insolvency Lawyers, The Legal 500 (Recommended for Finance: Restructuring) US 2021, National Litigation Star from Benchmark Litigation 2021-2023, and Top USA Women Dealmakers 2019 from Global M&A Network. Suzzanne has been profiled in Lawdragon’s Lawyer Limelight and Women Worth Watching.

Known for her critical thinking on trends within the insolvency space, Suzzanne regularly speaks on panels at industry events. In addition to the American College of Bankruptcy, Suzzanne is a member of the highly selective International Insolvency Institute and is recognized as a Thought Leader for restructuring and insolvency by Who’s Who Legal in affiliation with Global Restructuring Review.

Suzzanne serves on the board of the Friends of Orinda Creeks, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and restoring the Orinda watershed in California.

Suzzanne's broad experience includes representing:

Company-Side Restructurings

  • National CineMedia Inc. in the restructuring of National CineMedia LLC through its chapter 11 bankruptcy
  • MD Helicopters in connection with its chapter 11 bankruptcy and sale transaction, selected as Distressed M&A Deal of the Year (over $100M) in the 17th Annual Turnaround Awards
  • Puerto Rico’s Fiscal Agency and Financial Advisory Authority in restructuring debt obligations of Puerto Rico and its instrumentalities, including completed restructurings of the Puerto Rico Government Development Bank, COFINA, and Puerto Rico Ports Authority*
  • Pacific Drilling in emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
  • Yueting Jia (founder of Faraday Future) in the international restructuring of Jia’s more than US$3 billion of guaranty and other Chinese business liabilities through US chapter 11, which garnered recognition as Turnaround Atlas Awards’ 2021 Cross Border Turnaround of the Year (Large)
  • Lead lawyer for joint provisional liquidators in obtaining recognition under chapter 15 of the bankruptcy code of a Cayman provisional liquidation proceeding. In re Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. 520 B.R. 399 (Bankr. SDNY 2014)
  • Cal Dive International in its bankruptcy proceedings, which garnered recognition as Turnaround Atlas Awards’ 2016 Cross Border Distressed M&A Deal of the Year (Middle Markets)*
  • Ocwen Financial Corporation in its out-of-court restructuring of US$10 billion of debt, as well as its ongoing financing arrangements*
  • New Century Financial Corporation, one of the largest subprime lenders to file chapter 11, in general bankruptcy, corporate, and litigation matters as debtor in possession*
  • A leading computer accessories manufacturer in its out-of-court restructuring, including amending and restating its first-lien credit and exchanging its second-lien indebtedness and senior subordinated notes for the company’s equity*
  • Advanced Marketing Services, a major distributor of books to retailers, in its chapter 11 case, including 363 sales of its two major business divisions*
  • Crow Winthrop Operating Partnership, owner of one of Orange County’s largest office complexes, in its chapter 11 case*
  • SeraCare Life Sciences, as special litigation and corporate counsel in its chapter 11 case*
  • Cable internet company Excite/At Home in its chapter 11 proceeding, and the At Home Liquidating Trust in the winddown of the estate*
  • Wherehouse Entertainment, one of the nation’s largest music retailers, in its chapter 11 proceeding*
  • Premier Laser Systems, a public medical device company, in its chapter 11 case*

Creditor- and Investor-Side Restructurings

  • Barclays Bank, as first-lien agent, in Hertz Global Holding’s chapter 11 restructuring, which Global M&A Network recognized as 2022’s Turnaround of the Year (Mega +US$5 billion)
  • KKR & Co. Inc., as creditor and shareholder, in the restructuring of an intellectual property-intensive, middle-market consumer goods company
  • Leadenhall Capital Partners LLP, as secured creditor and DIP lender, in the chapter 11 case of Reverse Mortgage Funding LLC
  • Paladin Health Care’s non-debtor property-owning affiliates in the chapter 11 case of the operating company of Hahnemann Hospital
  • The ad hoc group of first-lien lenders in Foresight Energy’s successful 2016 out-of-court restructuring*
  • Bank of America, as agent bank for revolving credit lenders, in Stone Energy’s prearranged chapter 11 restructuring*
  • Wilmington Trust, as second-lien term loan agent, in Bennu Oil & Gas’ chapter 7 bankruptcy cases*
  • Agent bank in Castex Energy Partners’ prearranged chapter 11 restructuring*
  • Beach Point Capital, as secured creditor, in real estate holding company Variant Holding’s bankruptcy*
  • The ad hoc group of second-lien lenders in the successful chapter 11 reorganization of AMF Bowling and its affiliates and acquisition of preservation of NOLs*
  • Three of Gramercy Capital’s distressed debt funds, as leading creditors, in the involuntary chapter 11 case and subsequent international reorganization of PT Berlian Laju Tanker, a shipping company based in Indonesia and Singapore*
  • A private equity fund in resolving its distressed gaming investments, including issues relating to gaming licenses and multi-employer plans*
  • Western Digital in acquiring substantially all of Read Rite Corporation’s assets and related proceedings related to intellectual property license rights*
  • BNP Paribas in resolving its portfolio of distressed healthcare credits, including skilled nursing and medical device related credits*

*Matter handled prior to joining the firm

Recent Speaking Engagements

  • "Managing Deteriorating and Distressed Credit," International Association of Credit Portfolio Managers 2022 Fall Conference (December 2022)
  • "Real Estate Workouts and Bankruptcies," PLI 24th, 23rd, 22nd Annual Commercial Real Estate Institute (November 2020, 2021, 2022)
  • “Retail Bankruptcies — where we've been and where we're going,” ABI’s Southwest Bankruptcy Conference 2019 (September 2019)
  • “Government and Quasi-Government Issuers,” International Insolvency Institute’s 18th Annual Conference (September 2018)
  • “Restructuring Issues in FinTech and Cryptocurrency,” IWIRC on the Vine (September 2018)
  • “Drilling Down in Oil and Oilfield Services Bankruptcies,” Financial Lawyers Conference (February 2017)
  • “International Investment in the U.S.” International Women's Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation Fall Conference, (October 2016)
  • “Makewhole Mishaps, Collateral Gaps and Interest Caps,” Financial Lawyers Conference (March 2015)

Thought Leadership

  • Consulting Editor, Lexology’s Getting the Deal Through Insolvency Litigation Guide (2022, 2023)
  • “The Pandemic’s Impact on Real Estate Transactions,” PLI’s Negotiating Real Estate Deals (June 2021)
  • “The Retail Apocalypse’s Impact on Grocery Chains,” Turnaround Management Association (June 2019)
    “Better Watch Your Assets in Bankruptcy Sales,” Financier Worldwide (March 2014)

Bar Qualification

  • California
  • District of Columbia
  • New York

Education

  • JD, Yale Law School, 1988
    Co-Editor in Chief, Yale Journal on Regulation
  • MA, Stanford University, 1986
  • AB, Stanford University, 1984
    with distinction, Phi Beta Kappa