Joseph E.
Bain

Position: Partner
Office: Houston

Joe Bain is a restructuring partner in the firm’s Houston office, co-leads the firm’s bankruptcy & restructuring team, and is a member of the firm’s Litigation Practice Group.

Joe helps public and private companies, creditor committees, lenders, and other stakeholders navigate challenging and complex business restructurings, workouts, Chapter 11 reorganizations, and related multiparty negotiations and litigation. By leveraging his legal, corporate finance, and business experience, he helps his clients identify and implement pragmatic solutions in distressed situations.

When a negotiated resolution is not possible, Joe is a highly effective trial lawyer, having represented clients in bankruptcy-related and complex commercial disputes. He has more than a decade of experience handling cases in courts across the country and is a strong advocate for his clients in trials and before relevant tribunals.

Joe’s practice is national in scope and includes in-depth experience in a number of key industries, including energy, oil and gas, financial services, entertainment, aviation, hospitality, and more. Clients across these industries frequently turn to him for strategic business advice, even in non-distressed situations.

Noteworthy

Experience

Energy

Represents Chapter 11 trustee in restructuring oil and gas company operating wells and multiples gas processing refineries in Southern Alabama through Chapter 11 bankruptcy case that is pending in Jackson, Mississippi.
Represented the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case of an oil field services company in the business of providing tubular goods and threading and coupling services with locations in Texas and Pennsylvania.
Represented an independent oil and gas producer as an operator in a multiyear litigation with Chapter 11 debtors concerning more than $50 million in unfunded decommissioning obligations pertaining to the Point Arguello Unit on the Outer Continental Shelf. Negotiated a complex, multiparty settlement approved by the bankruptcy court that included a cash payment by the Chapter 11 debtors of $55 million in satisfaction of the debtors’ decommission obligations.
Represented an international offshore drilling contractor as a debtor in a pre-negotiated Chapter 11 bankruptcy case involving restructuring of approximately $1.1 billion in funded debt.
Represented the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case of a publicly traded, independent oil and natural gas company with assets in the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico.
Represented a Taiwan-based oil and gas company in connection with a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case involving oil and gas assets in Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida.
Represented the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of an oil and gas acquisition and exploitation company holding upstream and midstream assets in Texas and Louisiana.
Represented debtors in the Chapter 11 case of an independent oil and gas company operating wells in Louisiana.
Represented an Israel-based energy company as the purchaser in a Section 363 bankruptcy sale of deepwater drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico.
Represented a statutory lienholder in seeking relief from a priming debtor-in-possession (DIP) order; the client successfully recovered its collateral, a wastewater disposal facility in Utah.
Represented a fracking chemical manufacturer in a Chapter 15 international bankruptcy case and a Canadian Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act proceeding; as part of the litigation strategy, pursued claims in state court to recover amounts from independent well operators based on Texas statutory lien rights. The cases were settled on favorable terms.

Investment Management and Financial Services

Represents ad hoc committee of new market tax credit transaction participants as secured lenders in Chapter 11 bankruptcy case of the world’s largest producer of industrial wood pellets.
Represented directors of investment funds holding structured products, including collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), in the Chapter 11 case of a multibillion-dollar investment management firm.
Represented directors of investment funds holding structured products, including CLOs, in the contested Chapter 11 case of the funds’ portfolio manager.
Advised a Connecticut-based venture capital fund in winding down a distressed geophysical company that included a prearranged bankruptcy filing.
Represented an investment fund in defending against attempts to recharacterize the fund’s position in term overriding royalties in offshore leases based on Louisiana law and the federal Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act after the well operator filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Represented a royalty trust in defending against attempts to recharacterize gas royalty interests under Alabama law in connection with the bankruptcy filing by a metallurgical coal producer.
Represented a hedge fund with major holdings in Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases stemming from the largest bank failure in US history.

Healthcare

Represented the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors as conflicts counsel in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case of an international manufacturer of long-term-care medical products, including an extensive line of mobility products for physically disabled persons. Successfully negotiated resolution of multiple issues with the agent for the DIP revolving credit facility.

Entertainment

Represented a senior lender in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case of a global media and entertainment company that specializes in radio, digital, outdoor, mobile, social, live, and on-demand entertainment.
Represented an intellectual property licensee in a contested Chapter 11 bankruptcy case of a California-based media company. Based on our representation, the client was able to acquire underlying intellectual property in connection with settlement of the disputed issues.
Represented a member of the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case of the owner of the largest cinema-advertising network in North America.

Power Generation

Represented a major retail energy provider in multiple bankruptcy cases regarding energy-specific bankruptcy issues, including application of the forward contract, swap agreement, and master netting agreement safe harbors contained within the bankruptcy code.
Represented a major retail energy provider in a number of collection matters and general commercial litigation matters across the United States.

Aviation

Represented a helicopter service company in prosecuting a fraudulent transfer action against a major national bank after the company’s prior Chapter 11 bankruptcy case.

Construction

Represented a member of the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of an international construction company focused on the manufacturing of module-based multifamily residential buildings with factories in the United States, India, and Saudi Arabia.

Hospitality

Represented the successful bidder and purchaser of a portfolio of 64 hotels in a Section 363 bankruptcy sale, for approximately $1.1 billion.

Pro Bono

Represented survivors of Cameron Todd Willingham on a pro bono basis in a suit against the state of Texas, seeking posthumous exoneration from a capital murder conviction for which Willingham was executed in 2004.