New York Stephen A. Rutenberg joined Kaye Scholer as a partner in the firm’s Bankruptcy & Restructuring Department in New York. Previously a partner at Sidley Austin, Rutenberg counsels hedge funds, private equity firms, broker-dealers and other global financial institution clients on legal issues related to the purchase and sale of loans and securities of distressed and bankrupt companies, including A/R, trade claims and bank debt, domestically and in Europe. Rutenberg will be joined by Sidley senior associate Michael Greenblatt, who has extensive experience building this practice.

“Our Bankruptcy & Restructuring Department is committed to delivering the highest quality legal services, and Stephen’s arrival will only further strengthen the range of capabilities that we offer to our clients,” said Firm Managing Partner Michael Solow, a noted bankruptcy lawyer. “We are pleased to add another top caliber lawyer to our team.”

Rutenberg and his team will continue to focus on advising clients on all aspects of investing in special situations opportunities, including in-depth credit analysis and negotiation of documentation. Recent representations include advising on the purchase, sale and financing of bankruptcy trade claims in several major Chapter 11 Cases, including Lehman Brothers, AMR Corporation, the Dewey insolvency, and the MF Global and Icelandic bank liquidations. He also served as senior legal counsel for the EMEA Global Loans and Special Situations Group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in London.

Admitted to practice in New York and as a solicitor in England and Wales, Rutenberg has significant experience advising on cross-border bankruptcy matters. He has represented many of the major broker-dealers, investment banks and hedge funds on all aspects of secondary distressed and par loan transactions, including the analysis and review of loan documentation, security packages, transferability restrictions and the preparation of secondary trading documentation. He has also counseled clients in the negotiation of total return swaps, credit default swaps and other structures for the purchase andor financing of loan and claim portfolios as well as other synthetic methods of obtaining exposure to the secondary loan and claims markets.

“This is a great opportunity to combine our significant experience in special situations credit trading with Kaye Scholer’s leading creditor rights practice,” said Stephen Rutenberg.

“Stephen’s extensive cross-border experience will be a great asset to our clients both in the US and in Europe, where we have a substantial presence in the UK and Germany advising on some of the biggest restructurings in those markets. Our goal is to be the premier firm in all aspects of credit trading around the globe,” said Bankruptcy & Restructuring Department Co-Chair Mark Liscio.