David Seligman is a partner in the Restructuring Practice Group who concentrates in all aspects of U.S. and worldwide corporate restructurings and insolvency proceedings. He has extensive experience advising large publicly-and privately-held U.S. and multinational corporations and their boards in complex domestic and international restructuring matters, both in and out of court. David also advises buyers and lenders in complex distressed situations and insolvency planning matters, as well as trustees, administrators and creditors committees, in all types of bankruptcy and insolvency proceedings. David’s experience is broadly across all industries, with particular focus on transportation, energy, financial institutions, gaming, technology and real estate.

David is a frequent lecturer and author on restructuring matters, having spoken at conferences sponsored by the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors, the Turnaround Management Association, the Chicago Bar Association, the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and the Ontario Bar Association, among others. David also has taught several advanced restructuring courses at the University of Chicago’s Graham School, NYU Law School, Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business, and York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School. David served on the Advisory Committee for Labor and Benefits Issues as part of the 2013 ABI Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11.

Described as “amazing” and “a great lawyer and tireless,” David has been recognized as a leading restructuring lawyer in Chambers USA, America’s Leading Lawyers for Business every year since 2006. Most recently, Chambers acknowledge him as “outstanding to deal with and has a great command of the Bankruptcy Code and relevant case law.” In 2019, Who’s Who Legal described David as “a distinguished name at the firm,” and someone who “continues to impress market sources with his deep understanding of Chapter 11 restructurings.” In 2015, sources commended David for being “calm under pressure, solution-oriented and extraordinarily responsive.” Chambers has noted that clients find him to be “a thoughtful attorney,” “particularly effective when considering highly complex legal matters,” and “able to communicate those complex matters to his clients in a way that those issues can be understood and acted upon by boards.” Previous editions praise David as a “smart, professional problem solver” who possesses “extraordinary knowledge and responsiveness” and “can answer any question fired at him off the top of his head.” Best Lawyers named David the 2018 Lawyer of the Year for Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law in Chicago. Lawyer of the Year recognitions are awarded to individuals with the highest overall peer feedback for a specific practice area and geographic location. Only one lawyer is recognized as the Lawyer of the Year for each specialty and location. David also has been recognized for his successful representations in large corporate restructurings, including for: North American Petroleum (“Energy Deal of the Year” at the M&A Advisor 2012 Turnaround Awards); Calpine Corporation (one of Turnarounds & Workouts’ “successful restructurings of 2007”); and United Airlines (Turnaround Management Association’s (Chicago/Midwest) 2006 Large Turnaround of the Year).

Kirkland & Ellis LLP

Our market-leading Restructuring Group provides a broad range of business advisory and crisis management skills to navigate clients through the turmoil of situations involving financially troubled companies. With more than 170 attorneys in the Firm’s U.S., London, Munich and Hong Kong offices, the group is a leader in complex domestic and cross-border restructuring and insolvency matters. Kirkland’s Restructuring Group, along with hundreds of other attorneys with specific restructuring experience throughout the Firm, operates worldwide as one practice to provide seamless service to restructuring clients facing complicated global issues and has experience across multiple industries, including automotive, media, entertainment, telecommunications, transportation, manufacturing, healthcare, energy, retail and real estate.

Our lawyers have unique, widespread experience in all forms of complex financial and operational restructurings and insolvency proceedings, including representing debtors, distressed investors, and creditors in all restructuring efforts both in and out of Chapter 11. Kirkland acts on behalf of domestic and multinational corporations experiencing financial difficulties, lenders or creditors in contentious restructurings, and private equity or hedge funds looking to take a stake in a stressed or distressed company.

Furthermore, we regularly draw upon and benefit from the experience of Kirkland’s internationally recognized lawyers in securities, debt finance, tax, real estate, litigation and intellectual property to provide the full-service capabilities our clients need for the various legal matters they retain Kirkland to handle.