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Casey Servais is a partner in Cadwalader’s Financial Restructuring Group. He has represented creditors and debtors in many of the major Chapter 11 and municipal bankruptcy cases of recent years.
Municipal Restructurings
Casey currently represents the single largest creditor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and its public corporations in restructuring proceedings under the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (“PROMESA”), the largest-ever U.S. municipal debt restructuring. Casey was involved in the drafting of PROMESA and in the negotiations leading up to the filing of formal insolvency proceedings in 2017.
Since the PROMESA proceedings commenced in 2017, Casey has played a major role in negotiating plan support agreements for the Puerto Rico Sales Tax Financing Corporation, also known as “COFINA” (2018); the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (2021); the Puerto Rico Public Buildings Authority (2021); the Puerto Rico Highways and Transportation Authority, also known as “HTA” (2021); and the Puerto Rico Convention Center District Authority (2021). These successful negotiations led to the confirmation of COFINA’s plan of adjustment in February 2019, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico’s plan of adjustment in January 2022, and HTA’s plan of adjustment in October 2022.
Casey has also played a lead role in numerous precedent-setting litigations under PROMESA that are likely to shape the future of municipal finance, including appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and petitions to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Prior to the PROMESA proceedings, Casey was involved in the representation of a major creditor and a prospective DIP lender in the historic Chapter 9 bankruptcy of the City of Detroit, Michigan. He also regularly advises clients on other distressed municipal situations.
Commercial Restructurings
Casey has represented creditors and debtors in many of the major Chapter 11 cases of recent years, as well as in out-of-court workouts. He has particular experience with restructurings in the structured finance, energy, shipping, automotive, retail, and senior living sectors:
- Structured Finance: Casey played a central role in Cadwalader’s representation of the largest single creditor in the reorganization of Residential Capital (“ResCap”), a major sponsor of mortgage-backed securities. ResCap was described by Judge Martin Glenn as “[t]he most legally and factually complex” case he ever presided over, and Cadwalader was shortlisted for an IFLR Americas “Restructuring Deal of the Year” award for its work on the case. Casey has also been involved in Cadwalader’s representation of a monoline insurer in the voluntary and involuntary Chapter 11 cases of the Zohar CLOs.
- Energy: Casey has represented creditors, DIP lenders, and equity holders in numerous energy sector restructurings, including the Chapter 11 cases of Peabody Energy, Alpha Natural Resources, Longview Power, Seadrill, Dynegy, and Gridway Energy Holdings.
- Shipping: Casey served as one of the lead Financial Restructuring attorneys in Cadwalader’s representation of a syndicate of first-lien bank lenders in connection with the comprehensive balance sheet recapitalization of Eagle Bulk Shipping, Inc. Casey was also involved in Cadwalader’s representation of a secured creditor and DIP lender in the Chapter 11 case of Marco Polo Seatrade BV.
- Automotive: Casey has represented the United States Department of Treasury in its capacity as a DIP lender in the Chapter 11 cases of General Motors.
- Retail: Casey represented a major creditor in the Chapter 11 cases of Radioshack Corporation.
- Senior Living: Casey served as debtor’s counsel in the prepackaged Chapter 11 restructuring of Amsterdam House Continuing Care Retirement Community, Inc.
Casey frequently represents parties to swaps and other derivatives contracts in insolvency proceedings, including in connection with the Chapter 11 cases of First Guaranty Mortgage Corporation, Covia Holdings, the Hertz Corporation, Transmar Commodity Group Ltd., and Cengage Learning.
Cross-Border Restructurings (Chapter 15)
Casey served as U.S. counsel to the foreign representatives of Lehman Re Ltd., a Bermuda insurance company, in the company’s case under Chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code.
Claims Trading
Casey has extensive experience negotiating and documenting the sale of bankruptcy claims, including through the development of innovative structures designed to enhance the liquidity and marketability of such claims.
Advice and Opinions
Casey frequently provides bankruptcy-related advice and opinions to banks and other institutional clients, particularly with respect to close-out and netting of derivatives contracts and Bankruptcy Code safe harbors. Casey has a particular expertise in the analysis of close-out netting with respect to municipal counterparties.
Honors and Publications
Casey has been named by The Legal 500 U.S. as a Rising Star in “Restructuring (Including Bankruptcy): Municipal” and by Super Lawyers as a New York Metro Rising Star in “Bankruptcy: Business” each year since 2017. He has authored or contributed to articles and chapters that have appeared in Law360, The Journal of Bankruptcy Law, Pratt’s Journal of Bankruptcy Law, and the American Bankruptcy Institute volume Debtor-in-Possession Financing: Funding a Chapter 11 Case. He is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute and the Turnaround Management Association.
Education and Court Admissions
Casey graduated with honors from the University of Chicago and holds a Ph.D. from Cornell University. He received his J.D. from Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where he was the Floersheimer Law and Humanities Institute Fellow, a member of the Cardozo Law Review, and the Senior Editor of the Law & Literature journal. He is admitted to practice in the State of New York, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.
