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Thomas R. Slome is a partner in the firm's Bankruptcy and Creditors’ Rights department. Tom represents a wide variety of creditors in all aspects of bankruptcy including corporate reorganization, bankruptcy related litigation, debtor-in-possession and exit financing, creditors’ rights, and out of court debt restructuring. Tom’s clients include banks, factors, equipment lessors, mutual funds, hedge and private equity funds, energy service companies, landlords, developers, brokers, hospitals, trustees, creditors’ committees and debtors.

Tom heads the Firm’s Loan Workout Group, which coordinates among over two dozen of the Firm’s attorneys, including banking, bankruptcy, foreclosure, litigation, real estate and tax attorneys, in bringing a multi-disciplinary approach in the Firm’s representation of banks and other lenders in addressing distressed loans.

Tom completed a four-year term as the Treasurer of the New York City Bar Association (2019-2023). He is also the former Chair and currently a member of the Committee on Bankruptcy and Corporate Reorganization of the City Bar. Tom is also the first and a former Chair of the Chapter 11 Lawyers’ Advisory Committee of the Eastern District of New York Bankruptcy Court, which was established by the Court as a liaison between the Bankruptcy Judges of the District and its Bankruptcy Bar.

Over the course of the last decade, Tom has represented parties involved in some of the most notable bankruptcy cases including most recently, Boston Generating, Frontier Communications, Lehman Brothers, Lyondell, Sears, SunEdison, Tribune, Vitamin World, Westinghouse and Windstream to name a few. Additionally, Tom has experience with bankruptcy cases of manufacturers, importers, retailers and service companies in a wide array of industries, including aviation, construction, electronics, energy, fashion, finance, foreign companies (Chapter 15 cases), healthcare, manufacturing, not-for-profit, real estate, retail, software, and telecommunications. Tom has also served as a court-appointed examiner and mediator in numerous cases pending in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the District of Delaware. He has mediated dozens of preference and fraudulent conveyance lawsuits and claims objections, as well as several contentious legal battles involving creditors and/or creditors’ committees and chapter 11 debtors over plans of reorganization.

Practice Areas

Bankruptcy and Creditors’ Rights Bankruptcy Litigation Secured Creditors’ and Lenders Creditors’ Committees Distressed M & A International Bankruptcy Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Debtor Representations Commercial Foreclosures/ Total Debt Restructuring Loan Workout

Admissions

  • New York State
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

Education

  • J.D., Rutgers Law School, 1983 cum laude
  • B.A., Economics, Stony Brook University, 1980 magna cum laude

Representative Experience

  • Represents numerous lenders in bankruptcy proceedings and out-of-court workouts.
  • Represents large creditors in the Chapter 11 proceedings of Publishers Clearing House pending in the Southern District of New York and in Stoli Group pending in the Northern District of Texas.
  • Represents several utilities as creditors and suppliers in various Chapter 11 proceedings in the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York and the District of New Jersey, include Rite Aid Drug Stores and Delmonte Foods.
  • Represented approximately 100 parishes and other affiliates of the Diocese of Rockville Centre in its chapter 11 proceedings in the Southern District of New York.
  • Represented the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the New York Chapter 11 proceedings of Robert Sillerman, a media entrepreneur once included on the Forbes list of 400 wealthiest individuals and was special counsel to the chapter 7 trustee after the creditors committee successfully converted the case.
  • Represented national leader in oil and gas field servicing in Chapter 11 proceedings of Sabine Oil and Gas in the Southern District of New York.
  • Represented foreign representative appointed in Singapore bankruptcy, in Chapter 15 proceedings of Berau Capital Resources in the Southern District of New York.
  • Represented foreign representative appointed in Peruvian insolvency proceedings, in Chapter 15 proceedings of Sustainable Fishing Resources S.A.C. in the Southern District of New York.
  • Represented international insurance company, several mutual funds, and a large utility as defendants in the “LBO-clawback” multi-district complex litigation pending in the District Court for the Southern District of New York, which litigation was spawned from the Tribune Company Chapter 11 proceedings in Delaware.
  • Represented several mutual funds and a trust in the claw-back litigations arising from the merger involving Lyondell Corporation and its related Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, all pending in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.
  • Represented regional bank as DIP lender in the Chicago Chapter 11 proceedings of Qualteq, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of credit and gift cards.

Professional and Community Activities

  • The Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Treasurer (2019-2023)
  • City Bar Committee on Bankruptcy and Corporate Reorganization, Member and Former Chair
  • EDNY Chapter 11 Lawyers’ Advisory Committee, Former Member and Chair
  • Big Brothers Big Sisters of Long Island, Board Member Emeritus and Former Chair
  • Trained Mediator on Mediator Panels for SDNY and EDNY

Honors and Awards

  • Recognized as one of the region’s “Top Legal Eagles” by Long Island Pulse Magazine, 2010 – 2014
  • Recognized as Long Island’s top bankruptcy attorney by Long Island Pulse Magazine, 2015.
  • Rated “AV Preeminent” by Martindale-Hubbell, the highest level in professional excellence.
  • Recognized by New York Super Lawyers, 2013-Present.

Publications

  • Written numerous articles on bankruptcy related topics in various publications including The Bankruptcy Strategist, The American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, and The American Bar Association’s The Business Lawyer.

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