Co-Head of Paul, Weiss Capital Solutions & Restructuring, Jamie Sprayregen has spent more than three decades leading many of the largest and most complex restructurings, representing debtors, creditors, boards of directors and other key stakeholders. Sprayregen has advised on numerous high-profile cross-border distressed situations, and his work has touched a wide range of industries.
Sprayregen leverages decades of corporate restructuring and capital solutions experience, including lengthy stints in private practice and on the business and financial advisory side. He founded the worldwide restructuring practice at another major firm, building it into a leading international restructuring practice, then left to co-head the Restructuring Group at Goldman Sachs from 2006 to 2008, advising clients and deploying capital in restructuring and distressed situations, before returning to private practice for 16 years. From 2024 to 2026, he served as Vice Chairman, Global Strategy & Growth at Hilco Global, a diversified financial services company and subsidiary of ORIX Corporation delivering integrated professional services and capital solutions.
From 2013 to 2015, Sprayregen served as President of INSOL International, the world’s leading international insolvency association. He was an adjunct full professor of finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he taught a joint course on corporate restructuring with Penn Law. Sprayregen is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, a member of the National Bankruptcy Conference, and a former member of the ABI Bankruptcy Reform Commission. He is a frequent speaker and writer on issues pertaining to restructuring.
Lawdragon Honors
| Honor | Year | Practice |
|---|---|---|
| Lawdragon Announces 2026 Hall of Fame Inductees | 2026 | Restructuring |
| 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 |
| The 2023 Lawdragon 500 Leading Energy Lawyers | 2023 | Energy Restructuring |
| 2022 Lawdragon 500 Leading U.S. Bankruptcy & Restructuring Lawyers | 2022 | Bankruptcy & Financial Restructuring |
| The 2020 Lawdragon 500 Leading Global Restructuring & Insolvency Lawyers | 2020 | |
| The 2020 Lawdragon 500 Leading U.S. Bankruptcy & Restructuring Lawyers | 2020 |
Representative Experience
Energy & Infrastructure
- Edison Mission Energy and certain subsidiaries in its chapter 11 restructuring of approximately $5 billion of bond and project finance debt
- McDermott International and 225 subsidiaries and affiliates in prepackaged chapter 11 cases confirmed in less than 60 days, deleveraging over $4 billion of funded debt, preserving $2.4 billion in prepetition letters of credit, and facilitating the $2.725 billion sale of the Lummus technology business
Food & Beverage
- Fleming Companies, then the nation’s largest distributor of consumable packaged goods, in all aspects of its restructuring, maintaining operations throughout and paying more than $7.7 billion to taxing agencies, vendors, employees and service providers
- Sbarro Inc., an owner, operator and franchisor of Italian quick service restaurants, and 27 affiliates in its chapter 11 cases
Retail & Consumer
- Toys “R” Us and several subsidiaries in one of the largest ever retail chapter 11 filings in the Eastern District of Virginia, including global settlement agreements among all stakeholders and five distinct chapter 11 plans
- Zenith Electronics Corporation in its prepackaged chapter 11 case, completed in under three months, including cross-border insolvency issues in connection with its acquisition by LG Electronics
Media & Communications
- iHeartMedia and certain subsidiaries in their chapter 11 restructuring — the largest chapter 11 of 2018 based on outstanding debt, reducing the company’s debt by more than $10 billion out of over $20 billion consolidated
- United Artists Theatre Company, one of the largest movie theater chains in the country, and its affiliates in their prearranged chapter 11
Manufacturing
- Babcock & Wilcox, a worldwide manufacturer of boilers and other products with approximately $1.5 billion in revenue, in its chapter 11 case involving hundreds of thousands of asbestos claims
- Harnischfeger Industries, a manufacturer of pulp and papermaking machinery and mining equipment, and 59 of its subsidiaries with annual sales of $2 billion, in their chapter 11 reorganization cases
Aviation, Automotive and Other Transportation
- Japan Airlines Corporation, Asia’s largest air carrier, as international restructuring counsel advising on all aspects of the restructuring of its global operations and representing it in cases; JAL maintained $28 billion in debt at the time of filing
- UAL Corp. (United Airlines), the world’s second largest airline, and certain affiliates in their chapter 11 reorganization — one of the largest bankruptcy cases ever filed — restructuring leases on approximately 450 aircraft generating approximately $850 million of annual savings, and restructuring $1.7 billion in municipal bond obligations and multibillions of dollars in labor and pension agreements
Real Estate, Gaming & Hospitality
- Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. in its chapter 11 restructuring of more than $18.4 billion in funded debt, recognized by the Turnaround Management Association as “Mega Company Turnaround of the Year” in 2018
- MSR Resort Golf Course and 29 affiliates in their chapter 11 reorganization, involving five iconic luxury resort properties including the Grand Wailea, La Quinta Resort & Club, Arizona Biltmore, Doral Golf Resort, and Claremont Hotel
- South Bay Expressway, San Diego County’s only toll road, in its chapter 11 reorganization
Financial Services
- Corus Bankshares, Inc., formerly the holding company of Corus Bank, N.A., a federally chartered bank with approximately $7 billion in assets, in its restructuring following regulatory closure
- An ad hoc committee of bondholders and Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in Williams Communications, negotiating a consensual plan that converted approximately $6 billion in debt to equity and was confirmed within six months