Edward H. Tillinghast III

Edward Tillinghast is a partner and Practice Group Leader of the firm's Finance and Bankruptcy Practice Group. He specializes in U.S. and cross-border insolvencies, particularly involving Asia and other emerging and developing markets, and related creditors' rights litigation.

Areas of Practice

Edward specializes in corporate reorganizations, cross-border insolvencies, creditors’ rights and related litigation, distressed acquisitions and insolvency-related opinions. He advises clients in many jurisdictions throughout Asia, Australia, Europe, Russia, South America and the United States, and has been lead counsel for parties in cases in many courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States (Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, et al. v. Franklin California Tax-Free Trust, et al., Chase Manhattan Bank v. Traffic Stream (BVI) Infrastructure, Florida v. Nixon, and Rasul v. Bush) and cases in the Second and Third Circuit Courts of Appeal as well as many bankruptcy and district courts.

He has represented debtors, committees, institutional lenders, indenture trustees, and distressed asset purchasers, and has had major roles in recent chapter 11 cases including: Sanjel (USA) Inc. (lender), American Airlines (special debtor counsel), Friendly's (creditor), Hawker Beechcraft (committee member/indenture trustee), Del Biaggo (committee), Hess Publishing (creditor/landlord), Aloha Airlines (special debtor counsel), Morgan Creek Productions (lenders), Powerwave Technologies (creditor/landlord), Riverstone Technologies (committee member/indenture trustee), TerreStar Networks (special committee counsel), Vectrix (debtor), Lehman Brothers (creditor), and FGIC (indenture trustee).

Honors

Expert Guides: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Banking, Finance and Transactional Law, 2015

Expert Guides: Leading Insolvency and Restructuring Lawyers, 2013, 2014

Legal 500 - Bankruptcy & Cross-border Restructuring, 2009, 2014, 2015

New York Super Lawyer - Bankruptcy & Creditor/Debtor Rights, Super Lawyers, 2007-2019

Chamber's Leading Financial Restructuring Lawyers in Asia, 2008

Deal.com Restructuring Deal of the Year for Huffy Corp., 2005

Insights

Articles

•Preserving Value for Government Contractors in Bankruptcy, The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, July/August 2015
•Steering Clear of Global Supply Chain Pitfalls, Network, 2012 Vol. III
•Insolvency Solutions in Emerging and Developing Markets, Adapting Changes in Bankruptcy Law, Aspatore, 2009
•Selectivity + Formal Training + Day-to-Day Feedback on Serious Work = Improved Attorney Retention, New York Law Journal Magazine, May 1, 2008
•Ethanol Restructuring On The Horizon, Energy Law360, October 16, 2007
•Co-Author of CCH’s treatise entitled Asia Pacific Insolvency & Restructuring Regimes
•Chapter on Japan in Insolvency & Restructuring
•Articles in the New York Law Journal

Bankruptcy & Restructuring Law Blog Posts

• Shipping Industry Problems, February 9, 2009
• Hong Kong Judgments to be Enforced by Mainland China Courts: Is the Divide Between Two Systems Within One Country Shrinking?, August 1, 2006

Finance & Bankruptcy Law Blog Posts

• Force Majeure Clauses and COVID-19 - Can Force Majeure Clauses Excuse Performance Under New York or Delaware Law in a Pandemic?, March 13, 2020

Media Mentions

•As Bankruptcies Surge, Sheppard Mullin Adds Kirkland Partner
The American Lawyer, 04.15.2020

Speaking Engagements

•Harvard Business School’s, Asia Business Conference 2017, “Asia in a Changing World,” March 4, 2017
•International Insolvency Institute's Annual Conference, The Knock-On Effect: Adverse Consequences for China’s Trading Partners and Industries Around the Globe, Tokyo, June 2016
•Tokyo Bar Association, The U.S. Bankruptcy Code - An Overview, Tokyo, June 2016
•Osaka Bar Association, Distressed Acquisitions Under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, Osaka, June 2016
•Harvard Business School’s, Asia Business Conference 2016, China and the Global Economy, February 2016
•University of Toronto, Faculty of Law, Graduate L.L.M. Course on International Insolvency, Adjunct Professor, Naples, July 2015
•International Insolvency Institute's Annual Conference, Restructuring Cross-Border Debt in Asia and Use of UK and US Legislative Regimes, June 2015
•Harvard Business School Conference, The Chinese Economy: China's Changing Economy and Emerging Issues in Corporate Restructuring, March 2015
• Insolvency Regimes and Restructuring - Is A Country’s Labor Policy A Driving Force, International Insolvency Institute, Mexico City, Mexico, June 2014
• United States Bankruptcy Code Overview, October 2013 and June 2014
• Real Estate Bankruptcy Issues, October 2013 and February 2014
• An Acquisition of U.S. Companies in Bankruptcy: How Companies Can Successfully Acquire Valuable Assets Through U.S. Bankruptcy Proceedings, Chamber of Commerce, Seoul, South Korea, December 2013
• Cross-Border and Chapter 15 Insolvency Issues: Overview of Chapter 15 of the United States Bankruptcy Code and Cross-Border IP Issues, Seoul, Korea, December 2013
• Working Magic: How Chinese companies Can Successfully Acquire Valuable Assets Through U.S. Bankruptcy Proceedings, American Chamber of Commerce, Beijing, China, December 2013
• Intellectual Property Issues Under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, American Chamber of Commerce, Beijing, China, December 2013
• Intellectual Property Issues Under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, American Chamber of Commerce, Shanghai, China, December 2013
•Breakfast With Your Finance & Bankruptcy Lawyers, Enforcement of Judgments - Between Contract Enforcement and Bankruptcy, October 2013
•Breakfast With Your Finance & Bankruptcy Lawyers, Intellectual Property Issues in Bankruptcy: Assumption and Assignment, Distinctions Between Patents, Copyrights and Trademarks, Distressed Acquisitions and How to Protect Your IP, June 2013
•Breakfast With Your Finance & Bankruptcy Lawyers, Real Estate Bankruptcy Issues: Cash Collateral, the Automatic Stay, Assignments of Rent, Lease Assumption and Rejection and Plan Issues, April 2013
•Lunch With Your Finance & Bankruptcy Lawyers, Real Estate Bankruptcy Issues: Cash Collateral, the Automatic Stay, Assignments of Rent, Lease Assumption and Rejection and Plan Issues, April 2013
• Current Developments: Intellectual Property in U.S. Bankruptcy Cases and Chapter 15 Trends, TerraLex-European Bankruptcy/Insolvency Practice Group Meeting, Barcelona, Spain, March 2013
•Breakfast With Your Finance & Bankruptcy Lawyers and Robert Rauch of Gramercy, Lessons from Vitro: Chapter 15 is Not a Rubber Stamp for Bad Policy, February 2013
•Breakfast With Your Finance & Bankruptcy Lawyers, The Future Of Metavante And Its Impact On New Financings Supported by Hedges, January 2013
•Bisnow FedTech Forum, Contracting with Uncle Sam When Budgets Get Tight, October 2012
•International Insolvency Institute's 11th Annual International Insolvency Conference, New York, NY, Getting Your Money out from Behind the Great Wall
•Realizing Value through Distressed Investments in Italy, Navigating a Course through the Italian, U.S. and Cross-Border Regimes, June 2011
•Addressing the Issues Raised by Bankruptcies of Your Vendors & Distributors, Third Thursday Emerging Company Webinars, July 2010
•Realizing Value Through Insolvency and Cross-Border Proceedings in Mexico, February 2009
•3rd Annual Distressed Debt & Restructurings Conference, January 2008
•International Insolvency Institute Symposium, New York, NY, Restructuring Distressed Debt in China
•IATA Legal Symposium, Bangkok, Thailand, Dealing With Airline Insolvencies in 2009 and Beyond
•Distress Debt & Restructurings, Frankfurt, Germany, Emerging Markets: Focus on China--Exploring Opportunities While Avoiding the Pitfalls
•Financial Research Associates and Legal Education Associates, New York, NY, Financial Restructuring in the International Arena
•Inter-Pacific Bar Association, Beijing, China, The Challenges and Measures in Achieving a Successful Debt Restructuring in China, The Changing Face of Legal Practice & the Entry of Foreign Law Firms, and Case Study on Crude Palm Oil-Supplies
•Institutional Investor, New York, NY, U.S. Turnaround Management & Distressed Investing: Maximizing Opportunities in Emerging Markets: Brazil, Russia, India and China
•INSOL 2005 Seventh World Congress, Sydney, Australia, Formal Reorganisations
•Canada-China Chamber of Commerce, Beijing, China, A Tale of Two Realities: Exercising Enforcement Remedies on Investments in China
•China Business Counsel, Beijing, China, Distressed Asset Acquisitions in the United States
•Peking University School of Law, Beijing, China, The United States Bankruptcy Code: An Overview
•Legal Education Associates, New York, NY, Benchmarking for Law Firms
•Association of the Bar of the City of New York, New York, NY, Post-WTO China -- Exercising Enforcement Remedies on Investments in China: Greater Beijing First Expressways -- the First Judicial Liquidation of a Chinese Joint Venture
•Washington Satellite Association, Washington, D.C., Satellite Company Bankruptcies: Common Issues Confronting Operating Companies and Vendors
•District of Columbia Bar Association/International Monetary Fund, Washington, D.C., Restructuring Troubled International Projects
•AIJA Annual Congress, Sydney, Australia, Officer's and Director's Liabilities in the Zone of Insolvency
•USAID/World Bank, Timisoara, Romania, Syndic Judge Training Seminar -- A Model Plan for Restructuring Insolvent Companies

Events

•How To Successfully Invest in Japan
New York, 10.2016

•Breakfast With Your Finance & Bankruptcy Lawyers
Key Issues in Cross-Border Insolvency Cases, Sheppard Mullin New York, 05.12.2016

•Breakfast With Your Finance & Bankruptcy Lawyers
Doing Business in Italy: Which Factors Are at Play in the Economy Rebound?, 06.09.2015

•Breakfast With Your Finance & Bankruptcy Lawyers
Leverage Buyouts & Fraudulent Conveyances Risks, 07.23.2014