Michael L. Schein

Michael Schein helps creditors, especially secured lenders and equipment lessors, navigate all aspects of bankruptcy and creditors’ rights, both in and out of court, from identifying issues and opportunities aimed at maximizing returns on their investments to recovering collateral and enforcing their rights and claims against debtors and other third parties.

Guiding clients through the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process from beginning to end, Michael works with agents and lenders in syndicated lending groups, financial institutions, private credit lenders, alternative asset managers and distressed investors. He brings substantial experience and expertise to his clients in all phases of the restructuring process, including purchases and sales, debt restructurings, distressed financing transactions, intercreditor issues, cash collateral matters, and liability management disputes, both on a transactional and litigation basis.

Representing clients across industries, including commercial & industrial, health care, digital assets, financial services, hospitality and transportation (automotive, railcar and marine), Michael helps businesses navigate complex situations, keeping their focus on their business needs rather than just their pride. Clients value his guidance and experience, timely and practical legal advice, and his ability to effectively communicate key issues to senior-level decision-makers.

Michael supports his client work with industry knowledge through his involvement as a long-standing member of several professional associations, including, among others, the Maritime Law Association, where he has been a member of the Maritime Bankruptcy and Insolvency Committee and the Marine Finance Committee, the Turnaround Management Association, and the American Bankruptcy Institute. 

Experience

• Represented the largest equipment lessor in a Texas energy crisis bankruptcy filing, leading to the continued use of substantially all of the client’s railcars and the payment of most claims, both prepetition and post-petition. This was notable because most other equipment lessors had their railcar leases rejected, their railcars abandoned and their claims eliminated. As a result, these reorganized debtors remain one of the client’s most valuable customers today.
• Represented a major equity holder in the loyalty program of the largest Latin American airline, including the sale of the client’s equity interests in excess of $500 million. Representation required, among other things, the successful prosecution of the client’s claims, interests and rights through a lengthy, complex and adversarial bankruptcy case.
• Guided a banking client through the liquidation of a national retailer, resulting in the payment in full of the client’s claims, including the recovery of default interest and reimbursement of all expenses related to the prosecution of the client’s liens and claims, both in the debtors’ Chapter 11 and Chapter 7 cases.