Isaac M. Pachulski is currently a partner at Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones (“PSZJ”) in Los Angeles. Prior to joining PSZJ, he was a shareholder at Stutman, Treister & Glatt. Mr. Pachulski was admitted to private practice in 1974 before the State Bar of California.
Throughout his legal career, Mr. Pachulski has specialized in corporate reorganization, insolvency, and bankruptcy law. He has represented debtors, significant creditors, and official and unofficial committees and creditor groups in cases around the country. His recent, public representations include: representing a substantial holder of claims against Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc. and its affiliated debtors in connection with their respective chapter 11 cases, including participation in plan negotiations; representing a holder of in excess of $100 million in senior notes in connection with the Tribune Co. chapter 11 case; representing holders of in excess of $200 million of secured notes in the chapter 11 case of Scotia Pacific Co.; and representing the holders of in excess of $3 billion of senior unsecured debt of Enron Corp. in Enron’s chapter 11 case. Mr. Pachulski regularly advises hedge funds on a non-public basis in connection with actual or potential investments in distressed debt and the evaluation of strategic alternatives.
Mr. Pachulski’s other recent engagements include representing an owner of multiple ethanol manufacturing plants in connection with an out of court restructuring of its debt; acting as appellate co-counsel for certain holders of Calpine’s 6% Convertible Notes; acting as special conflicts counsel to a group of bondholders of Adelphia Communications Corp. in Adelphia’s chapter 11 case; and representing the holders of $275 million of debt in the Owens-Corning chapter 11 case. He also acted as lead chapter 11 counsel for Mariner Post-Acute Network, Inc., Mariner Health Group, Inc., and 185 affiliated entities which collectively operated approximately 400 skilled nursing and long-term acute care facilities as of the chapter 11 filing, and who successfully confirmed a chapter 11 plan.
Mr. Pachulski has also devoted a significant portion of his practice to appellate matters. Some of the reported appellate opinions in which he has appeared as counsel of record include: U.S. Bancorp Mortgage Corp. v. Bonner Mall Partnership, 513 U.S. 18, 115 S. Ct. 386 (1994) (counsel for amicus); Chemical Bank v. First Trust of New York (In re Southwest Banking Corp.), 156 F.3d 1114 (11th Cir. 1998); United States v. Wyle (In re Pacific Far East Lines), 889 F.2d 242 (9th Cir. 1989); First Fidelity Bank v. Public Service Co. of New Hampshire (In re Public Service Co. of New Hampshire), 879 F.2d 987 (1st Cir 1989); Willamette Waterfront, Ltd. v. Victoria Station (In re Victoria Station Inc.), 875 F.2d 1380 (9th Cir. 1989); In re Bullion Reserve of North America (Danning v. Bozek), 836 F.2d 1214 (9th Cir. 1988); Landes Constr. Co. v. royal Bank of Canada, 833 F.2d 1365 (1987); Sambo’s Restaurants v. Wheeler (In re Sambo’s Restaurants, Inc.), 754 F.2d 811 (9th Cir. 1985); Harris v. Emus Records Corp., 734 F.2d 1329 (9th Cir 1984); Salomon v. Logan (In re International Envtl. Dynamics, Inc.), 718 F.2d 322 (9th Cir 1984); Aoki v. Shepherd Machinery Co. (In re J.A. Thompson & Son), 665 F.2d 941 (9th Cir. 1982); Royal bank of Canada v. Trone (In re Westgate California Corp.), 634 F.2d 459 (9th Cir. 1980); Casady v. Bucher (In re Royal Props., Inc.), 621 F.2d 984 (9th Cir. 1980); and C.F. Brookside, Ltd. v. Skyview Memorial Lawn Cemetery (In re Affordable Hous. Dev. Corp.), 175 B.R. 324 (Bankr. 9th Cir. 1994).
Mr. Pachulski is a member of the National Bankruptcy Conference, the International Insolvency Institute and the American College of Bankruptcy and has testified before Congress. He has lectured on a variety of bankruptcy-related topics, such as bankruptcy appellate practice; intellectual property licenses and security interests in bankruptcy; the trading of claims in bankruptcy; and issues in real estate bankruptcies. Mr. Pachulski’s articles include “Levy v. Cohen: Another Pitfall for Creditors in Bankruptcy Proceedings,” 53 Los Angeles Bar Journal 278, 1977, and “The Cram Down and Valuation Under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code,” 58 N.C.L. Review 925 (1981).
Mr. Pachulski received his J.D., summa cum laude, from Harvard University in 1974, earning the Fay Diploma (which is awarded to the graduate with the highest cumulative grade average). While at Harvard, he received the Sears Prize in 1972 and again in 1973, and was a member of the Harvard Law Review for the academic year 1972-73. He received his B.A., summa cum laude, from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1974.