Kelley Cornish

Representative Matters

• The Litigation Oversight Committee to Genesis Global Holdco, LLC in two lawsuits against Genesis’s parent Digital Currency Group and its founder and affiliated entities and individuals, on behalf of creditors who are owed crypto assets worth approximately $2.2 billion. The complaints – one filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery and one in the U.S. bankruptcy court – include claims for breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, unjust enrichment, preference, and fraudulent transfer.
• The post-bankruptcy liquidating trust of Vesttoo Ltd. in an investigation and prosecution of claims on behalf of the estate, arising from allegedly fraudulent conduct by individuals and entities that resulted in Vesttoo’s bankruptcy.
• Hornblower Group, a global leader in experiences and transportation, representing the debtors as special litigation counsel in their Chapter 11 cases with respect to a dispute with the debtors’ credit card processing vendor regarding the vendor’s credit card chargeback liabilities resulting from the debtors’ cancellations of cruise trips. The debtors reached a resolution with the vendor on terms favorable to their business post-bankruptcy.
• Thebes Offshore Master Fund, LP in litigation against Lions Gate, certain of its noteholders, the indenture trustee, and Eagle Equity Partners, for breaches of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and tortious interference in connection with a non-pro-rata debt exchange scheme executed as part of the defendants’ effort to separate Lions Gate’s studio business from the unprofitable STARZ business.

Some of Cornish’s notable representations in which complex litigation was a cornerstone of the successful restructuring include:

• The Restructuring Sub-Committee of the Board of Directors of Sears in the company’s chapter 11 cases, including the investigation of claims and causes of action in related party transactions, and the commencement of an estate adversary proceeding asserting more than $1.8 billion in claims.
• Diamond Sports Group, the nation’s largest owner of regional sports networks, in an investigation of claims and causes of action against J.P. Morgan and Sinclair Inc., Diamond’s parent company, for fraudulent transfers of assets, unlawful distributions and payments, breaches of contracts, unjust enrichment, and breaches of fiduciary duties, culminating in the commencement of litigation seeking damages in excess of $2.4 billion.
• TV Azteca, S.A.B. de C.V., a leading media and television company in Mexico, and certain of its subsidiaries in the dismissal of the involuntary chapter 11 petitions filed against TV Azteca and its subsidiaries in the Southern District of New York with respect to missed interest payments on $400 million principal amount of unsecured notes.
• 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, in its complex U.S. and Canadian bankruptcy cases, including the going concern sale of its business to a leading Canadian private investment firm and the formation of a post-confirmation litigation trust to pursue securities class action claims against certain third parties that were pending at the commencement of the bankruptcy cases.
• Bumble Bee Foods, one of the world’s largest branded, shelf-stable seafood providers, in the successful going-concern sale of its businesses through coordinated chapter 11 and Canadian bankruptcy cases, resulting in the discharge of claims pending in massive, multi-district litigation asserting that the company and its private equity sponsor participated in an unlawful conspiracy to raise, fix, maintain, or stabilize the price of packaged tuna products.
• AbitibiBowater (now Resolute Forest Products), North America’s largest newsprint, paper, and wood products company, in the restructuring of more than $8 billion of prepetition indebtedness. The plan confirmation proceedings featured the company’s successful defense of multibillion-dollar fraudulent transfer claims at a lengthy trial.
• Walter Energy, a leading producer and exporter of coal for the global steel industry, in successfully restructuring more than $4 billion of secured and unsecured debt and the going concern sale of the company’s core mining operations to its senior lenders. The plan confirmation proceedings featured the company’s successful restructuring of its collective bargaining agreements following a lengthy trial.

Cornish is the chair of the board of Her Justice, which provides annually in excess of $40 million in free legal services to women living in poverty. She is an emeritus board member of Lambda Legal, an organization that focuses on LGBTQ+ causes, and the Women’s Sports Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to enabling all girls and women to reach their potential in sports and life. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the Law Board of the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and of the Board of Trustees of the Trinity School in New York City.

Cornish has been widely recognized for advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion. Crain’s New York Business included her on its list of “Notable LGBTQ Leaders and Executives.” Both the International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation and Her Justice have named Cornish their “Woman of the Year in Restructuring.” Cornish received M&A Advisor’s 2023 “Leadership Award” for her contributions to DEI, and she was honored by Tina’s Wish with the “Tina Brozman Mentoring Award.”