Dion Hayes

Dion W. Hayes serves as the firm’s Deputy Managing Partner for Litigation and formerly served as the Chair of the Restructuring and Insolvency Department. Since 1992, he has focused his practice on insolvency law and financial restructuring, including bankruptcy, out-of-court workouts, distressed asset acquisitions and recapitalizations, and related litigation.

He has represented debtors, official and unofficial committees of creditors or equity holders, senior lenders and administrative agents, Section 363 purchasers, post-confirmation plan administrators, liquidating trustees, and bond holders, in bankruptcy courts and other courts throughout the United States.

He has represented clients with respect to derivative terminations in insolvency cases, as litigation targets in large Ponzi scheme cases, and in cross-border insolvency cases. He has led recent restructuring engagements in the following industries – energy, coal and metals mining, semiconductor, print media, health care, and hospitality.

He has recently appeared in bankruptcy courts and other federal courts in Delaware, Florida, New York, Texas, and Virginia. As noted in Chambers USA, “Dion Hayes has a national bankruptcy practice. He is experienced in insolvencies, restructurings, workouts and distressed sales for all bankruptcy parties.

He is held in high esteem by clients and peers for his work, with one source stating: ‘He very effectively balances a commercial mindset with a keen understanding of legal risk to help us craft our strategies.

He is also very effective in the courtroom as an advocate.’ ” Others commended Dion as “a strong advocate for his clients,” “experienced, smart, respectful, and very creative,” and “well versed at handling a full suite of restructuring and insolvency matters in bankruptcy and other federal courts.”

EXPERIENCE :

• DIP and First Lien Lenders in Patriot Coal II (E.D. Va.) and Alpha Natural Resources (E.D. Va.)
• Wintergreen Partners, Inc. in distress merger with affiliate of James C. Justice Companies, Inc.
• Special Counsel for Qimonda North America Corp. and Qimonda Richmond, LLC in Chapter 11 cases (D. Del.) and in Qimonda A.G. Chapter 15 case (E.D. Va.).
• Circuit City Stores, Inc. as Chapter 11 debtor (E.D. Va.).
• Majority equity holder in Heartland Automotive Services, Inc. Chapter 11 case (N.D. Texas).
• Unsecured creditors committee in U.S. Energy Biogas Corp. Chapter 11 case (S.D. N.Y.).
• Unsecured creditors committee in Schwinn Bicycle Company Chapter 11 case (N.D. Ill.).
• Several out-of-court acquisitions or recapitalizations of privately held companies in financial distress in various industries, including health care, manufacturing, and marketing services.

Education :

• William & Mary Law School, JD, 1992
• University of Virginia, BA, 1989

Admissions :

• New York
• District of Columbia
• Virginia
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit

Affiliations :

• Fellow, American College of Bankruptcy
• Member, Irish Legal 100
• Member, American Bankruptcy Institute
• Member, New York State Bar Association
• Member; Past Chair, Section of Bankruptcy, Richmond Bar Association
• Board of Editors, The Bankruptcy Strategist, Law Journal Newsletters