California Attorney Suzzanne Uhland

Discusses Most Challenging Case

In 2013, attorney Suzzanne Uhland, who focuses her practice on corporate restructurings and Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganizations, gave an interview to the publication Law 360. During that conversation, Ms. Uhland discussed the case she saw as her most challenging—and most rewarding.

As co-lead counsel for New Century Financial Corporation in its Chapter 11 filing, Ms. Uhland dealt with a highly complex case. New Century had been among the major subprime mortgage lenders in the United States, and it became one of the first such corporations to file for bankruptcy in spring 2007.

Ms. Uhland, primarily based in the San Francisco and Newport Beach, California, offices of O’Melveny & Myers, LLP, assisted her colleagues in counseling New Century’s board members and management team as they proceeded through the Chapter 11 requirements. During the case, the O’Melveny & Myers team had to navigate unfamiliar legal and political waters.

The vast scale of the subprime crisis had begun to emerge, and the client needed to simultaneously conclude its business operations and meet the requirements of an ongoing official investigation. Ms. Uhland and her co-counsel additionally saw the necessity of maximizing returns for stakeholders by helping their client extract as much value as possible from its remaining assets.

Suzzanne Uhland and her co-counsel resolved the New Century matter within a year and a half of its Chapter 11 filing, and the Turnaround Management Association selected the case as among the most successful corporate restructurings in 2008.