A partner in the Paul, Weiss Restructuring Department, Chris Hopkins has broad experience representing companies, ad hoc groups and individual creditors in chapter 11 cases, out-of-court restructurings, cross-border engagements, and other distressed transactions.
Hopkins has been listed in Lawdragon’s “500 Leading Global Bankruptcy & Restructuring Lawyers,” which recognizes the top attorneys helping companies navigate ailing economies and uncertain times. Hopkins co-authored, alongside fellow Paul, Weiss attorney Lara Luo, an article for Chambers and Partners called “Debtor in Possession Financing Trends in the United States – Equity-Based Terms and Fees.” Hopkins has been recognized as a Lawdragon “500 X – The Next Generation 2023,” which recognizes future leaders in the legal profession.
Lawdragon Honors
| Honor | Year | Practice |
|---|---|---|
| The 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Global Bankruptcy & Restructuring Lawyers | 2026 | Bankruptcy & Financial Restructuring |
| The 2025 Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation | 2025 | Restructuring & Insolvency |
| The 2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Global Bankruptcy & Restructuring Lawyers | 2025 | Bankruptcy & Financial Restructuring |
| The 2024 Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation | 2024 | Restructuring & Insolvency |
| The 2024 Lawdragon 500 Leading Global Bankruptcy & Restructuring Lawyers | 2024 | Bankruptcy & Financial Restructuring |
| The 2023 Lawdragon 500 Leading Bankruptcy & Restructuring Lawyers | 2023 | Bankruptcy & Financial Restructuring |
| Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation | 2023 | Restructuring & Insolvency |
Hopkins’s company and sponsor-side engagements include:
- 23andMe (n/k/a Chrome), a leading human genetics and biotechnology company, in its plan of reorganization under chapter 11 proceedings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. Through its bankruptcy proceedings, the company successfully closed the sale of substantially all of its assets to TTAM Research Institute for $305 million
- Rite Aid Corporation, a full-service pharmacy company providing a broad range of services, including retail pharmacy, PBM, and mail order, across 17 states, in the company’s successful chapter 11 plan of reorganization
- Party City, a global leader in the celebrations industry, and certain domestic subsidiaries in its prearranged chapter 11 proceedings, as well as the provision of $150 million of debtor-in-possession financing, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of Texas
- CHC Group, one of the largest providers of helicopter services, in connection with a comprehensive out-of-court recapitalization transaction involving the reduction of up to $520 million in funded debt and over $100 million in new money and other liquidity enhancements
- Diamond Offshore Drilling, a leading provider of offshore drilling services, and 14 of its U.S. and foreign subsidiaries, in their chapter 11 cases in the Southern District of Texas, which provided for the equitization of approximately $2.1 billion in senior unsecured note obligations and the provision of over $625 million of new capital
- Bumble Bee Foods, one of the world’s largest branded shelf-stable seafood providers, and its affiliates, in the successful going-concern sale of its businesses for $928 million through coordinated chapter 11 cases and Canadian restructuring proceedings
- Certain subsidiaries of CGG S.A., a Paris-based global geophysical and geoscience services company serving customers principally in the oil and gas exploration and production industry, in their prenegotiated chapter 11 cases by which the company and its subsidiaries equitized approximately $2 billion of unsecured debt through concurrent restructuring proceedings in France and the United States
- Performance Sports Group, a leading developer and manufacturer of sports equipment and apparel with products marketed under the BAUER, MISSION, MAVERIK and EASTON brand names, among others, as U.S. counsel in its complex U.S. and Canadian bankruptcy cases, including the going concern sale of its business to a third party stalking horse bidder
- The equity sponsors of software company Sungard Availability Services, a provider of IT production and recovery services, in its prepackaged chapter 11 case, approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York less than 24 hours after the company filed for chapter 11 protection
- Cumulus Media, the nation’s second largest radio company with 446 stations spread across 90 markets, and certain of its affiliates in their chapter 11 cases, including a multi-day chapter 11 plan confirmation trial addressing, among other things, various valuation issues
- Noranda Aluminum, a leading U.S. producer of primary aluminum and aluminum foil products, and its wholly owned subsidiaries in all aspects of their chapter 11 cases, including (a) the sales of Noranda’s upstream and downstream businesses, (b) the rejection of a burdensome supply contract over the objection of a counterparty who was seeking to assume the same contract in its own chapter 11 case, and (c) a global settlement with various creditor groups
