OVERVIEW
Chris Graham has nearly 40 years of experience representing clients in bankruptcy and insolvency matters. He focuses on the representation of secured creditors in Chapter 11 matters and also counsels creditors and shareholders, purchasers in bankruptcy 363 sales, outside board of director members of Chapter 11 debtors-in-possession, mezzanine lenders, trustees, receivers, state regulatory agencies, foreign liquidators in international cases, and debtors-in-possession. Chris is recognized for his particular experience in Chapter 11 cramdown plans and defenses and Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcies.
Chris also handles complex real estate foreclosures and related litigation in New York courts against hotels, commercial office buildings, co-ops, condos and construction sites. He has experience counseling receivers in state and federal receivership matters involving real estate, mortgage-backed securities and asset-backed securities and also handles related Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) foreclosures on equity interests and common stock.
Beyond his practice, Chris has served as an adjunct professor of bankruptcy law at St. John’s University School of Law in New York since 1999.
Recognition and Involvement
Recognition & Involvement
Chris is an AV® Preeminent rated by the Martindale-Hubbell peer review rating system. He was selected to New York Magazine’s Leading Lawyers for 2018 and included in New York Super Lawyers from 2006 to 2020. Chris is a two-time member of the Board of Directors of the American Bankruptcy Institute. In 2012, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Bankruptcy Institute.
In addition to serving as adjunct professor of bankruptcy law at St. John’s University School of Law, Chris serves as Advisory Board Member to the law school. He is Co-Chair of the Lawyers Committee of the John Jay Homestead in Katonah, New York.
Chris is a little league and youth soccer coach and an NFL Flag Football head and assistant coach for the Pound Ridge Recreation League.
Credentials
Bar and Court Admissions
New York
U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Tax Court
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York
U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of New York
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Hawaii
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
Education
University of Pennsylvania Law School, JD, 1982
Georgetown University, BS, 1979, magna cum laude
News & Insights
REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
- Appointed by chief judge of the Southern District of New York as Examiner of Jesup & Lamont Securities, a 135-year-old Wall Street firm that had failed
- Served as lead bankruptcy counsel to Suffolk Regional OTB in the largest Chapter 9 case confirmed in New York which resulted in a successful plan that paid creditors 100 percent
- Represented the Government of Canada and its Industry Canada Ministry in multi-billion dollar joint cross-border financing alongside U.S. Treasury in GM and Chrysler Chapter 11 restructuring
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Advised creditors, contract parties and asset purchasers in the Chapter 15 proceedings of Parmalat, Virgin Atlantic, Global Airlines and Millenium Global
- Retained by the Danish bankruptcy receivers of Denmark’s largest corporation to act as bankruptcy counsel in connection with the resolution of claims against the North American subsidiaries employing over 3,000 persons in the U.S. and Canada
- Served as counsel to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) in the Drexel Burnham Lambert case in New York