Lawfuel – The Law Newswire – New York, June 4, 2007 – Dewey Ballantine LLP, a leading international law firm, announced today that William H. Schrag has joined the firm’s Corporate Department as a partner in the Corporate Reorganization and Bankruptcy Group resident in the New York office. Mr. Schrag, formerly a partner at Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, has broad experience in the areas of bankruptcy, creditors’ rights and commercial litigation.
“Bill is a tremendous, high caliber lawyer who will greatly strengthen our reorganization and bankruptcy practice,” said James A. FitzPatrick Jr., chair of the firm’s Global Corporate Department. “Clients of the firm’s transactional practice areas will benefit immediately, as will those who request our assistance with bankruptcy litigation during the next active cycle of insolvencies.”
While Mr. Schrag’s practice focuses primarily on the representation of bank lenders and agents, he has also represented major manufacturers and institutional creditors, individually and as members of a group, as well as official creditors’ committees, Chapter 11 trustees, purchasers of estate assets and a court-appointed examiner. Mr. Schrag has also represented commercial lenders in state and federal courts, including actions to enforce creditors’ rights and to defend against lender liability claims.
“I am pleased to become a part of the Dewey Ballantine Corporate Reorganization and Bankruptcy Group,” said Mr. Schrag. “There are a number of very talented people on the team and there is tremendous potential for growth. Dewey has a history of playing a primary role in some of the most visible and successful restructurings of recent years. I look forward to being a core part of the group offering clients enhanced service moving forward.”
Mr. Schrag graduated from George Washington University with a B.A., where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and went on to Brooklyn Law School where he received a J.D. degree. Prior to working at Morgan Lewis, Mr. Schrag practiced with Zalkin, Rodin & Goodman, a highly respected creditors’ rights firm that merged into Morgan Lewis eight years ago. He has also previously served as an Assistant Corporation Counsel in the New York City Law Department’s Commercial Litigation Division and has been part of various bankruptcy-related programs sponsored by the ABA, ABI, Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors, IBA and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York as a lecturer and panelist. He has written several papers on issues of transnational bankruptcies and is a member of the Global INSOLvency.com Advisory Board.
The firm also announced today that joining Mr. Schrag will be William C. Heuer as counsel in the Corporate Reorganization and Bankruptcy Group resident in the New York office. Mr. Heuer joins Dewey Ballantine from the Hartford, Connecticut office of Bingham McCutchen LLP, prior to which he practiced with Mr. Schrag at Morgan Lewis. Mr. Heuer’s practice focuses on bankruptcy and creditors’ rights litigation. He has been involved in many landmark bankruptcy cases before the United States Supreme Court, including Travelers Cas. & Surety Co. of America v. Pacific Gas & Electr. Co.; Marrama v. Citizens Bank of Massachusetts; DeRoche v. Ariz. Indus. Comm’n; Marshall v. Marshall; and In re Howard Delivery Service, Inc.. Beyond matters before the Supreme Court, Mr. Heuer brings with him broad experience in bankruptcy appellate matters before District Courts and Courts of Appeals.
Mr. Heuer also has significant bankruptcy litigation experience, and has both counseled clients and been involved in cases in a broad range of industries including financial services, real estate, healthcare, fire and life safety equipment and services, telecommunications, shipping (international and domestic), and consumer products and services.
“I am quite pleased to be joining such a stellar team of attorneys in a cutting-edge practice group. I look forward to offering firm clients comprehensive services and advice at all stages of bankruptcy practice, including matters before appellate courts,” said Mr. Heuer.
Mr. Heuer received his B.A. from the State University of New York/Buffalo, and his J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law. He is the former editor of the American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review.
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Notes for Editors
The firm has been growing rapidly over recent weeks. Mr. Schrag is the 19th partner arrival in less than three months.
On May 30, the firm announced the opening of a new office in Charlotte, North Carolina to be founded by partners Jamie Bryant and Todd Stillerman.
On June 1, Dewey Ballantine announced the arrival of Tax Department partner Todd McArthur to the firm’s Washington, D.C. office from KPMG LLP.
About Dewey Ballantine
Dewey Ballantine LLP, an international law firm with approximately 550 lawyers located in New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, East Palo Alto, Austin, London, Charlotte, Warsaw, Frankfurt, Milan, Rome and Beijing, was founded in 1909. Through its network of offices, the firm handles some of the largest, most complex corporate transactions, litigation and tax matters in areas such as M&A, private equity, project finance, corporate finance, corporate reorganization and bankruptcy, antitrust, intellectual property, sports law, structured finance and international trade. Industry specializations include energy and utilities, health care, insurance, financial services, media, consumer and industrial goods, consumer electronics, technology, telecommunications and transportation.
