John F Higgins

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Bankruptcy, Restructuring & Creditors' Rights

Few events are a bigger threat to your business interests than insolvency or bankruptcy. As a creditor, you want your claims protected or paid promptly. If you're a debtor, you want to remain viable and evaluate all options for the company, its creditors and employees. The company needs to consider the differing stakeholder interests and endeavors to reach a consensual resolution or, if necessary, be prepared to litigate. That takes experienced guidance - and you want it to come from someone who will look out for your interests.

We have represented debtors, creditors, trustees, creditors' committees, institutional lenders and investors in connection with out of court debt restructurings, acquisitions and financings, in addition to Chapter 7, 9, and 11 bankruptcy cases throughout the U.S. Our lawyers also have substantial litigation experience in bankruptcy courts, federal district courts, and federal appellate courts.

Both creditors and debtors turn to us because of our reputation for creatively resolving problems. We especially excel at reorganizations, both out of court and in Chapter 11 cases, and have handled restructurings by both financially distressed enterprises and healthy companies seeking to recapitalize or restructure their organization and finances.

Creditor Representation: Pursuing asset recovery

Numerous financial institutions and commercial credit organizations turn to Porter & Hedges to protect their interests and collateral out of court and in bankruptcy. We represent trustees, secured creditors and creditors' committees in bankruptcies, workouts, restructurings and asset sales, using our extensive knowledge of finance documentation and credit policies to advance your interests at every stage of a transaction to ensure the maximum recovery. If litigation is necessary, we represent creditors in avoidance actions brought by debtors and trustees, including debt re-characterization preferences and fraudulent transfer claims.

Asset Purchase and Sales

In addition, our bankruptcy lawyers have developed special skills in facilitating asset purchases from bankruptcy estates. We have assisted numerous companies in acquiring oil and gas properties, equipment, real estate and loan portfolios. We also advise energy industry companies on their options as trade creditors, having worked with numerous downstream, midstream and upstream producers, suppliers, marketers, and transporters in many energy-related bankruptcies, including Calpine, Entergy, Mirant, Enron and Tri-Union among others.

Debtor Representation: Advising on the best choice

We assist financially distressed companies in evaluating the full range of options open to them, taking into account each company's unique financial and market circumstances in order to arrive at the strategic option that best fits each client's desired outcome. We have experience in both true restructurings within the bankruptcy context, through the negotiation, filing and confirmation of a plan of reorganization, and liquidation, through court-sanctioned sales.

We are typically involved in every step of a reorganization effort, including structuring the terms of financing (in and out of court), addressing operational and administrative issues, negotiating with creditors and forming a plan of reorganization. Often we work in conjunction with informal or ad hoc committees of creditors to make a restructuring successful.

Porter & Hedges has enabled debtors in industries as diverse as energy, airlines, distribution, telecommunications, technology and apparel to undertake reorganization, including the negotiation of debtor in possession financing with lenders and the restructuring of existing bank debt.

Trustee Representation: Facilitating the widest options

Our lawyers have represented numerous Chapter 7, Chapter 11 and liquidating and plan agent trustees in numerous bankruptcy court proceedings. Such representation ranges from marshalling and administering estate or plan assets for distribution to creditors, execution through both litigation and asset sales, to the winding down of business operations and the closing of the bankruptcy estate.

Representative examples of the solutions we provide:

Chapter 11 Debtor Representation
* Debtor's counsel in the reorganization of Superior Offshore International, Inc., Netversant Solutions, Inc., Continental Air Lines, Inc. (Continental I), General Homes Corporation (I and II), Community Health Computing Corp., Equalnet Communications Corp., TransCom USA Management, Inc., Texas Development Investors, Ltd., Contour Energy Co., Philip Services Corporation and numerous others.
* Chapter 11 Trustee's counsel in Urban Mall Houston, L.P.
* Representation of an apparel company in connection with the negotiation and implementation of DIP financing with asset-based lenders.

Chapter 9 Debtor Representation
* Debtor's counsel in multiple municipal bankruptcy cases.

Restructuring and Workouts
* Representation of a national homebuilder in connection with restructuring of existing bank facility.
* Representation of energy services companies in connection with recapitalization and restructuring of existing equity and bank debt.
* Representation of a diversified industrial company in connection with a workout and restructuring of in excess of $100 million in syndicated bank loans.
* Counsel for Phillips Petroleum Company, Mission Resources, Inc., Torch Energy, Inc., Bridgeline Holdings, L.P., Contour Energy Co., and numerous other entities in the Enron Corp., et al. bankruptcy cases.
* Representation of Bank of New York as Indenture Trustee in the reorganization of EOTT Energy Partners and Mirant Corporation.
* Representation of numerous creditors in SemCrude, LP.

Asset Sales
* Representation of Equus Capital Management Corp. and affiliates as the post-petition lender and purchaser of substantially all of the assets in the Chapter 11 case of Reliant Building Products, Inc.
* Representation of purchaser of over $7 million in assets from the estates of Transcoastal Marine Service, Inc. and its affiliates.
* Representation of purchaser of Washington steel foundry from the estate of TIC United Corp.
* Representation of numerous purchasers of oil and gas assets in various Chapter 11 cases.

Debtor-in-Possession Financing
* Representation of debtor in possession lenders in numerous Chapter 11 cases.

Board Representation
* Representation of board members and special committees in numerous cases, including the Committee of Independent Directors in Asarco, LLC.

General Bankruptcy Litigation
* Representation of former officers and directors in lender liability suits brought by debtors and liquidating trusts.

Bankruptcy Trustees
* Representation of Liquidating Trustees in numerous cases including McGinnis Partners Focus Fund, L.P., Russia Value Fund, LP, and McGinnis Global Fund, Ltd., Allied International Sales Corp., Liquidating Trustee of Newport Development and TransCom USA Liquidating Trust and over 100 other cases.

Whether you're a creditor, debtor or trustee, bankruptcy is ultimately about doing business under difficult circumstances. The Bankruptcy Code allows for a wide range of business options, and we are skilled at pursuing them. Our goal is to develop the most effective and creative strategies to get the best business result for any client in bankruptcy or reorganization.

Board Certified, Business Bankruptcy - American Board of Certification

John F Higgins
Porter & Hedges LLP
1000 Main St #3600
Houston TX 77002
Tel: 713 226-6648
Fax: 713 226-6248
E-mail: jhiggins@porterhedges.com

PRACTICES
* Bankruptcy, Restructuring & Creditors' Rights
- Creditors' Representation
- Creditors’ Committees
- Debtor Representation
- Trustee Representation
* Litigation
- Complex Business Litigation
- Energy Litigation

John Higgins is a partner in the bankruptcy and litigation sections of Porter & Hedges, and has represented clients for over 20 years in numerous workouts and Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases in Texas and across the country. He is listed as one of America's leading lawyers in bankruptcy/restructuring by Chambers USA and has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America, Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law, since 2004. Mr. Higgins was also listed as one of the state's leading lawyers in the Insolvency and Restructuring practice by Who's Who Legal: Texas in 2007 and 2008. In 2008 and 2009, Mr. Higgins was recognized as a Top Lawyer by Super Lawyers - Corporate Counsel Edition, and has been listed as a “Texas Super Lawyer” in Bankruptcy Law in Texas Monthly's annual surveys since 2003. The Texas Monthly surveys have also named him as one of the Top 100 lawyers in the State of Texas in 2007, and in the Houston Region from 2005 -2008. Mr. Higgins' practice focuses on corporate reorganizations and restructurings and acquisitions. He has extensive experience in representing entities in their Chapter 11 cases and/or out of court restructurings/reorganizations, creditors' committees, Chapter 11 and 7 Trustees, and institutional and corporate creditors. His practice also includes general civil litigation in both federal and state courts.

Mr. Higgins serves on the board of directors of the Turnaround Management Association (Houston chapter), has served as an adjunct professor of bankruptcy law at the University of Houston Law Center and is a Certified Mediator (Attorney-Mediator Institute, January, 1996).