NYU Law alumni named among 2010 Dealmakers of the Year by the American Lawyer

NYU Law alumni named among 2010 Dealmakers of the Year by the American Lawyer

NYU Law alumni Matthew Feldman '88 and Stephen Karotkin '76 were recognized in the April 2010 issue of the American Lawyer as among the top 10 bankruptcy “Dealmakers of the Year.” The annual list recognizes outstanding transactional attorneys for their work across a wide range of industries.

Feldman is a partner and co-chair of the Business Reorganization and Restructuring Department of Willkie Farr & Gallagher. In 2009, Feldman was tapped by the Obama Administration as chief legal advisor for the Task Force on the Auto Industry. The Task Force was assembled to advise treasury secretary Timothy Geithner and National Economic Council Director Lawrence H. Summers on the strategy to restructure and recapitalize automobile manufacturers. The American Lawyer wrote: “In Washington, Feldman advised on the government's role in restructuring GM, Chrysler, Delphi Corporation, and GMAC. ‘Each one of them was an all-consuming, full-time job,’ Feldman says. But as the task force's chief legal adviser—and only one of the task force's 11 members hired to practice law—all four jobs were his."

Karotkin is currently a business finance and restructuring partner at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, and served as a lead attorney in the General Motors chapter 11 case. The American Lawyer lauded Karotkin’s team for their swift work—the fourth largest bankruptcy reorganization in U.S. history was completed in just over a month. “We had a goal to achieve within a very aggressive timetable,” Karotkin told the magazine. “And not getting it done in that time frame was just really not an option.”

Posted May 3, 2010