Mark A.

Mintz

Position: Partner
Office: New Orleans

Mark Mintz is a restructuring partner in the firm’s New Orleans office and co-leads the firm’s bankruptcy & restructuring team.

Mark is co-leader of Jones Walker’s bankruptcy and creditors’ rights team and represents clients in a wide range of creditor and debtor rights matters, with a particular focus on creditors’ committees. Among his notable engagements, Mark advised a client involved in the bankruptcy of a Houston-based oil exploration and production (E&P) company that, at the time, was the largest bankruptcy filing in the United States. In addition to his work on behalf of creditors’ committees, Mark counsels secured and unsecured creditors, bankruptcy trustees, lenders, private equity groups, portfolio companies, debtors, and other parties in Chapter 7 and 11 bankruptcies, workouts, restructurings, and reorganizations and in related litigation.

Mark has advised numerous clients in the oil and gas, energy, natural resources, and maritime industries. He is also regularly retained by banks, international manufacturers, restaurant chains, health systems and hospitals, and other clients in cases across the country, including in Texas, Michigan, and several other states.

Drawing on his comprehensive knowledge of bankruptcy law and his national experience with the bankruptcy courts that oversee these matters, Mark provides focused counsel at every step. He regularly helps clients develop proactive strategies to address the financial distress of business partners. He also serves as committee counsel representing the interests of key committee members.

Of particular importance, Mark understands the collective and competing objectives of creditors’ committees and their individual members, and helps resolve these pressures in order to achieve the most effective resolution for all parties. He also recognizes that bankruptcies do not arise in a vacuum, and works closely with colleagues within the firm, in-house legal teams, and other outside counsel to manage a wide range of associated disputes, including white-collar criminal matters and international trade issues, that may arise in the context of a bankruptcy case.

Mark joined Jones Walker after serving as a law clerk to the Honorable Carl J. Barbier of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. He is an adjunct professor of law at Tulane Law School, where he teaches a class on business reorganizations, and writes and speaks frequently on bankruptcy-related issues.

Noteworthy

Experience

Represented the creditors’ committee in a $100 million bankruptcy, including the successful negotiation for the repayment of proceeds resulting from the litigation
Represented a Chapter 11 trustee, as trial counsel and in the context of the bankruptcy of a mortgage servicing company whose owner absconded with $50 million and required repatriation to the United States, in a successful suit to avoid a $20 million security interest
Represented large private equity funds in the $54 million bankruptcy of an E&P company, serving as lead counsel in negotiating cash collateral and plan provisions, leading to the successful sale of a secured debt position
Represented equity holders in the bankruptcy of a Louisiana oil services company, leading to the settlement of a $154 million claim against the debtor entity
Represented a large unsecured creditor in the bankruptcy of one of the country’s best-known monthly magazines, leading to the sale of licensing rights for the creditor
Represented an unsecured creditors’ committee in the bankruptcy of a rent-to-own trucking company, which concluded with a plan to pay the unsecured creditors 20%–25% of the claims — an amount significantly greater than the average 5% recovery
Served as co-counsel for a restaurant chain filing for Chapter 11, receiving a bankruptcy plan confirmation allowing the debtor to remain open for business under new ownership
Represented an Alabama coal mining company in its $20 million Chapter 11, whose assets were sold at public auction after stabilizing the estate
Acted as lead counsel to a large engineering and construction firm in a lawsuit to recover unpaid fees in excess of $20 million associated with the bankruptcy of a major oil and gas E&P company
Negotiated a $120 million settlement on behalf of an archdiocese with respect to claims associated with the bankruptcy of a payroll processor
Represented a client’s claims in a $500 million bankruptcy filing following the debtor’s failure to complete construction of a wood-pellet manufacturing facility