Leading Restructuring Lawyer Luc Despins Joins Paul Hastings in New York

November 24, 2008

New York, N.Y. (November 24, 2008) -- Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP announced today that Luc A. Despins has joined the firm as a partner and chair of its Global Restructuring practice. Mr. Despins, 48, is based in the New York office. He is a bankruptcy practitioner with over 23 years of experience representing debtors and creditors in some of the most high-profile and complex restructuring matters. Mr. Despins will lead the firms efforts to further grow its restructuring practice both domestically and internationally.
Luc is one of the leading financial restructuring lawyers in the world and is a great addition to Paul Hastings, said Seth M. Zachary, Chairman of Paul Hastings. Lucs counsel and services are highly sought after and we are confident that our clients will benefit from his unparalleled experience in both international and domestic bankruptcy and restructuring cases.

I am very excited to join the talented lawyers at Paul Hastings and to collaborate with them in building a market leading global restructuring practice, said Mr. Despins. Paul Hastings, with its extensive international footprint, is well positioned to provide top-tier restructuring counsel to global clients in these increasingly challenging economic times.

Prior to joining Paul Hastings, Mr. Despins was a senior partner in the Financial Restructuring Group of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy. During his 23 year career, Mr. Despins has represented clients in a variety of high-profile restructurings, including serving as counsel for: the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc.; the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Refco, Inc.; the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Enron Corp.; Fruit of the Loom, Inc. (as chapter 11 debtor); Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V., L&H Holdings USA, Inc., and Dictaphone Corporation (as chapter 11 debtors); Safety Components International, Inc. (as chapter 11 debtor); HomePlace Stores, Inc. (as chapter 11 debtor); Sun TV, Inc. (as chapter 11 debtor); Seven-Up/RC Bottling Company of Southern California, Inc. (as chapter 11 debtor); and many others.

Mr. Despins is widely recognized as one of the worlds leading financial restructuring lawyers and has been cited on numerous occasions for his role in major bankruptcies. Among other honors, Mr. Despins has been chosen as: The American Lawyers Top 45 Under 45 [For all practice areas] (January 2003); Turnarounds and Workouts Special Report: (Top Ten) Outstanding Bankruptcy Lawyers 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, and 2006; Chambers Global: The Worlds Leading Lawyers; Chambers USA: Americas Leading Lawyers; The Legal 500 US: Corporate and Finance (Corporate Restructuring); Lawdragons Leading Dealmakers and Leading 500 Attorneys and The Best Lawyers in America 2008 (Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law); among others. Mr. Despins is listed in the K&A Register of the Leading Bankruptcy and Financial Restructuring Lawyers and Financial Advisors in the United States.

Mr. Despins is a graduate of Harvard Law School where he earned his LLM (Viscount Bennett Scholar). He clerked for a justice of the Supreme Court of Canada from 1983-1984.
Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP is one of the world's leading law firms, with 1,300 lawyers in 18 international offices. Our practice breadth enables us to deliver innovative legal solutions to financial institutions and Fortune 500 companies. Please visit www.paulhastings.com for more information.