Gary S. Lee

Gary S. Lee
Partner

250 West 55th Street

New York, NY 10019-9601

glee@mofo.com

(212) 468-8042

BAR ADMISSIONS

New York

England & Wales

EDUCATION

Manchester University, LL.B.

Gary advises clients on restructuring and insolvency matters in the United States, United Kingdom, continental Europe, and Asia.

Gary represents debtors and creditors in domestic and cross-border restructuring and liquidation proceedings. He has represented an ad hoc group of holders of “Constitutional Debt” issued or guaranteed by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and has acted as lead counsel to Residential Capital and its subsidiaries in their chapter 11 cases. He has been heavily involved in the implementation of foreign liquidations and schemes of arrangement in the United States and closely involved with issues arising under chapter 15 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Notably, Gary represented two of the largest Icelandic banks in their restructuring proceedings in Iceland. He has also acted as counsel to the acquirer — in and out of chapter 11 — in several major international asset purchases of mining, smelting, and oil and gas operations.

He is a fellow of the American Bar Association and former co-chair of the Transnational Bankruptcy Committee of the International Insolvency Institute. Additionally, Gary is a former member of the City Bar’s Insurance Law Committee and former co-chair of its Insolvency Committee.

Gary is listed as a leading lawyer for Bankruptcy & Restructuring in Chambers Global and Chambers USA, where he is described as “an outstanding strategic thinker and a great presenter in court.”

Experience

In re Coin Cloud

(Bankr. D. Nev.) Counsel to a secured creditor in connection with the chapter 11 cases of Coin Cloud, a digital currency platform for buying and selling 40+ types of digital currencies with over 5,000 creditors and debts of over $100 million.

Ad Hoc Group of Puerto Rico Ports Authority Bondholders

Counsel to the ad hoc group of Puerto Rico Ports Authority bondholders in connection with its restructuring of approximately $180 million of funded debt obligations owed by the Puerto Rico Ports Authority. The transaction became only the fourth successful transaction under the newly enacted Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act.

In re Real Industry, Inc.

(Bankr. D. Del.) Counsel to Real Industry, Inc., Real Alloy Recycling, Inc., and their affiliated debtors in their chapter 11 cases. Real Industry is a holding company with approximately $1 billion in tax attributes. Real Alloy, the subsidiary of Real Industry, is a large-scale recycler of aluminum with operations throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Europe. The debtors collectively filed for chapter 11 to restructure their $401 million in funded debt obligations and approximately $75 million in other obligations. Real Industry’s chapter 11 plan, which preserved its tax attributes, went effective in May 2018. Real Alloy closed a sale of all its assets and operations in May 2018, preserving 2,000 jobs and critical business relationships.

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico

Counsel to ad hoc group of holders of tax-based bonds issued by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and certain of its instrumentalities in connection with Puerto Rico’s efforts to improve its fiscal situation.

Province of Neuquén, Argentina

Counsel to an ad hoc group of unsecured notes issued by the Province of Neuquén in connection with its restructuring of more than $700 million of external indebtedness, consisting of both secured and unsecured dollar-denominated notes. The ad hoc group worked with the Province to achieve a consensual modification of its unsecured notes that provided the Province with near-term relief to assist it in navigating the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and was broadly supported by the market.

In re Residential Capital, LLC, et al.

(Bankr. S.D.N.Y.) Counsel to Residential Capital and its affiliates, comprising one of the largest residential real estate finance companies at the time of its chapter 11 filing, with assets and liabilities each in excess of $15 billion. The debtors’ business was comprised primarily of loan servicing and origination. Residential Capital was the largest bankruptcy filing of 2012, and the case represents the first time ever that a mortgage servicer was able to successfully continue servicing and originating mortgages in bankruptcy and be sold as a going concern.

In re MF Global Holdings Ltd., et al.

(Bankr. S.D.N.Y.) Advised on various issues in relation to the UK MF Global estates in order to recover assets for the chapter 11 estates, including claims into the estate of MF Global UK Limited in relation to which KPMG was appointed as the Special Administrator under The Investment Bank Special Administration Regulations 2011. This is the first time that the Special Administration Regime has been used; it was implemented in order to address difficulties that were highlighted following the failure of Lehman Brothers.

In re Ambac Financial Group, Inc.

(Bankr. S.D.N.Y.) Counsel to the official committee of unsecured creditors in one of the largest chapter 11 cases filed in 2010.

The Resolution Committees of Glitnir Bank hf. and Landsbanki Islands hf.

Counsel to two of the largest banks in Iceland, on issues related to securities matters, restructuring of assets, cross-border conflicts of law, and litigation matters as well as providing advice related to the global settlement of claims. In addition, MoFo worked with the Icelandic banks to harmonize their winding-up procedures with those of the United States, the European Union, and Canada.

In re GTE Reinsurance Company Limited

Lead lawyer representing the insurance division of the State of Rhode Island’s Department of Business Regulation, successfully obtained approval from a Rhode Island state court for the first ever proposed discharge and liquidations of the obligations of a solvent insurer in the U.S.

Madoff Proceedings

Counsel to the liquidators of several hedge funds that invested directly, or indirectly, in BMIS in proceedings in the United States, the Cayman Islands, BVI, and Europe.

In re Apex Silver Mines Ltd.

Counsel to Sumitomo Corporation in the Apex Silver Mines Limited chapter 11 case as pre petition secured lender, DIP lender, and acquirer (from Apex’s non-debtor subsidiaries) of Minera San Cristobal, the largest silver, zinc, and lead mine in Bolivia.

U.S. Subsidiaries of Hampson Industries

Counsel to the U.S. operating subsidiaries of Hampson Industries PLC, a UK publicly traded company and global manufacturer and supplier of engineered products to customers in the aerospace and specialist engineering markets, in connection with their out-of-court restructuring and ultimate sale to American Industrial Partners for approximately $44 million.

Various Cross-Border Telecom Restructurings

Counsel to major parties in the restructurings of Genuity, Global Crossing, Ish, Viatel, and Star Telecom, among others.

In re Kingate Global Fund, Ltd. and Kingate Euro Fund, Ltd.

(Bankr. S.D.N.Y.) Mediation counsel to the Kingate Funds, BVI–based feeder funds of Bernard L. Madoff Investments Securities, Inc. (BLMIS), in the settlement of $926 million in claims brought against the Funds by the Madoff Trustee. The settlement resulted in allowance of the Kingate Funds’ $800 million customer claim against the Madoff estate and a full 502(h) claim for transfers repaid to the BLMIS estate, which will unlock more than $400 million in value for the Kingate Funds’ investors.

Rankings

Ranked for Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights and Insolvency

The Best Lawyers in America 2021-2025

Recommended in the area of Corporate Restructuring

Legal 500 2024

Ranked for Bankruptcy & Restructuring – NY

Chambers USA 2024

Ranked for Bankruptcy & Restructuring – Nationwide

Chambers USA 2019

Ranked for Bankruptcy & Restructuring – USA

Chambers Global 2019