We are the leading bankruptcy and restructuring firm in Puerto Rico. We partner with our clients to help them face virtually any aspect of an insolvency matter—whether it be creditors of a troubled company or an investor looking for the opportunity to purchase a distressed business or certain of its assets. Our lawyers have been involved in the largest and highest profile restructuring matters in Puerto Rico, including representing the Government of Puerto Rico and its public corporations in the ongoing financial restructuring of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico with more than $120 billion of debt.
Our approach is not one-size-fits-all. We use our deep bench of insolvency practitioners to assemble cost effective teams and develop and deploy bespoke transactions on behalf of our clients to navigate the unique challenges associated with each of our restructuring matters. Among our team members, we have a wide range of experience spanning nearly every business sector, including energy, transportation, cryptocurrency, banking, hospitality, healthcare, manufacturing, real estate, retail, telecommunications, media and technology. While we vigorously defend our clients’ positions, we never lose sight of our pragmatic goal to find creative resolutions. We pride ourselves on anticipating potential problems and finding creative solutions to mitigate or eliminate risk. To do this, we focus on all aspects of our clients’ investments and goals.
Our team deftly navigates clients through business cycles, bankruptcies, complex restructurings and workouts. We focus on all areas of bankruptcy, restructuring, distressed acquisitions, commercial litigation, the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA) and financial regulation and enforcement. Our lawyers have devised cutting-edge solutions for banks and other financial institutions, secured and unsecured creditors, debtors and borrowers, indenture trustees, distressed investors, and other interested parties. We have extensive experience in handling Chapter 11 cases, pre-arranged and pre-packaged bankruptcies, out-of-court restructurings, refinancings, recapitalizations and asset sales. Our lawyers have particular strength in handling complex and sophisticated creditors’ rights matters for many of leading financial institutions and commercial banks in Puerto Rico. Further, we represent nontraditional banking clients, like hedge funds and private equity firms, in distressed transactions and M&A and regulators in financial enforcement actions.
Our team represents most of the financial institutions and private equity firms doing business in Puerto Rico on chapter 11 bankruptcy matters. Our team also represents the Puerto Rico Fiscal Agency and Financial Advisory Authority (AAFAF) and the Government of Puerto Rico as counsel for bankruptcy, restructuring, and commercial litigation matters relating to the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA). In bankruptcy cases we act on behalf of creditors, trustees and fiduciaries, lessors, and other interested parties.
Our practice includes such areas as:
Our bankruptcy litigators combine restructuring and finance experience with elite dispute-resolution skills to ensure that clients have the best of both worlds. In the biggest, most contentious cases on record, our litigators have repeatedly prevailed in bankruptcy disputes, contentious plan confirmations, contested asset sales, motions to lift the automatic stay, and novel statutory interpretation issues in courts in Puerto Rico.
We advocate for clients by devising strategies, negotiating with creditors, litigating adversary proceedings, and shaping narratives—an approach that helps maximize recoveries and build favorable law. Having effective bankruptcy litigators as part of a restructuring team can drive results in court by helping facilitate a consensual resolution.
Our Bankruptcy Litigation services encompass:
Our bank finance team is adept at navigating the complex structures and sophisticated financial products that dominate today’s financial and capital markets. We represent most of the commercial banks, government lenders, private equity firms, and investment funds as lenders in financing and debt investment transactions in Puerto Rico. We also represent borrowers in financing transactions. Our interdisciplinary groups capitalizes on the varied skills of our lawyers, across multiple groups, combining copious legal experience with extensive finance and industry knowledge.
We help our clients with a wide range of bank finance transactions, including asset-based financings, bridge loans, credit facilities, mezzanine debt financings, subordination and intercreditor arrangements, and workouts and refinancings.
Our team members have substantial expertise in all matters relating to PROMESA, government contracting, and government affairs. Our firm serves as Puerto Rico counsel to all Puerto Rico governmental agencies and instrumentalities in the Commonwealth’s US$120 billion restructuring—the largest and most complex municipal restructuring in US history. Our team also provides advise to government entities on compliance with PROMESA’s requirements and PROMESA and other matters.
MPM also helps clients navigate the intersection between politics and policy to develop and execute legal and governmental solutions to their most complex challenges. We advise entities on government contracting issues, tax decrees, and financings.
Our experience includes prepackaged or prearranged chapter 11 cases and has been lead counsel to most of the pre-petition lenders in the leading pre-packaged bankruptcy cases filed in Puerto Rico. Our approach is to achieve an expeditious and economical restructuring that maximizes value. These structures are a hybrid of an out of court restructuring and a traditional chapter 11 case. Under this structure, debt refinancing terms are worked out prior to the filing of a chapter 11 petition, thus significantly shortening the time a debtor spends in chapter 11 and the time to achieve a consensual resolution. MPM has significant experience advising entities on the advantages and disadvantages of these hybrid models and implementing the restructuring in a cost-efficient manner.
Our team has substantial experience with banking regulation and requirements in Puerto Rico. Our firm serves as counsel to the Puerto Rico Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions (OCFI) in monitoring, enforcing, restructuring, and as appropriate, litigating issues relating to its regulation of International Banking Entities (IBEs) and International Financial Entities (IFEs). Previously, members of our team were also lead counsel to a commercial financial bank in its negotiations and winding down of operations through the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, represented the holding company of a commercial financial bank in a bankruptcy proceeding, and have advised financial entities in compliance issues with the FDIC and other regulatory agencies. The firm also represents investors and investment companies in structuring their operations to maximize benefits under Puerto Rico law and thereafter in compliance issues with their relevant Puerto Rico regulatory bodies.
Our team regularly advises on the sale or acquisition of distressed companies whether in-court or out-of-court. MPM has extensive experience in distressed buyouts, chapter 11 plan sponsorships, and sales under section 363(b) of the Bankruptcy Code. Purchasing a company and/or acquiring large amounts of its debt can yield substantial returns, whether done through a direct acquisition, becoming a chapter 11 sponsor, or a 363 sale. MPM has applied its experience with restructurings to assisting buyers and sellers of distressed companies.
By offering creative, practical, and thoughtful solutions, our team ensures that clients achieve the most effective counsel regarding the complex issues associated with distressed M&A transactions.
MPM’s extensive experience in this area extends to representing institutional and strategic purchasers of assets of troubled companies in distressed out-of-court M&A transactions as well as bidders in sales conducted under the Bankruptcy Code, including the special requirements, issues, and pitfalls related to these transactions (e.g., successor liability; bidding strategies, procedures, and protections).
At Marini Pietrantoni Muñiz, our legal team is comprised of litigation and real estate attorneys who focus on assisting financial institutions and private equity funds to manage commercial relationships in distress. We have achieved a high rate of success in commercial collection and foreclosure matters, which include the recovery of nonperforming commercial loans as well as the rescue of rapidly deteriorating commercial properties and housing complexes.
Our team works closely with bank officers and investors to develop recovery strategies in the most efficient manner. On the transactional side, our representation encompasses the gamut of scenarios including forbearance agreements, structured settlements, deeds “in lieu”, deeded judicial sales acquisitions, and lien perfection issues.
Our litigators have a long record of delivering exceptional results for financial services clients, guiding them through cases that challenge business practices. Our team helps financial services firms and other creditors identify and achieve critical goals in high stakes litigation. Our team has substantial experience at the trial and appellate levels on insolvency related litigation such as:
Our group at Marini Pietrantoni Muñiz regularly handles foreclosure matters, from the filing of the complaint to the disposition of the collateral through a public sale. We have substantial experience in defending lender liability maters and on all areas relating to Puerto Rico’s redemption statute. As part of our representation of lenders and financial institutions, our attorneys have appeared on behalf of creditors in the Puerto Rico Supreme Court, the Puerto Rico Court of Appeals, as well as the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico and First Circuit (and the bankruptcy and appellate courts therein) on matters relating to Puerto Rico’s redemption statute, foreclosure, and lender liability disputes.
Our team has a deep bench with vast experience in different practice areas and has been at the forefront of landmark cases across varios sectors.
Our team has received widespread market recognition for their experience and service to clients.
Our team is also deeply involved in the insolvency community:
Our team is also deeply involved in the insolvency community:
Among our lawyers are:
Our lawyers have contributed or published leading industry articles on numerous topics relevant to our practice areas and expertise.