PRACTICE FOCUS
Albena Petrakov is a Principal and the Chair of the Creditors Rights, Reorganization and Bankruptcy practice group. Ms. Petrakov advises on restructuring, bankruptcy, creditors’ rights, and real estate-related litigation. Ms. Petrakov has extensive experience representing clients in bankruptcy and commercial matters in both civil and common law jurisdictions. She has represented secured and unsecured creditors, trustees, debtors, and lenders in Chapter 11 and Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases in various industries including financial services, retail, hospitality, aircraft manufacturing, energy, and technology, to name only a few.
She has counseled creditors on maximizing their return on secured and unsecured claims, including protecting and realizing collateral, negotiating critical vendor agreements, acquiring assets from a bankruptcy estate, reducing the risk of lender liability claims, foreclosures, D&O insurance.
In addition, Ms. Petrakov has experience representing design professionals, developers, and real estate brokers in commercial litigation and arbitration in disputes involving delay claims, extra work claims, wrongful termination of construction contracts, lien foreclosure actions, and real estate commission disputes.
REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE
- Represented banks and mortgage lenders in multimillion dollar indemnification proceedings brought by the Plan Administrator for Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc in connection with alleged losses from RMBS securitizations and sales of loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
- Advising clients on bankruptcy safe harbor and substantive non-consolidation opinions in connection with structured finance transactions.
- Represented creditors in the chapter 11 proceedings of Dewey & LeBeouf, Hawker Beechcraft, LightSquared, Inc., Westinghouse Electric Company, Sunedison Inc., Pacific Drilling Inc. Destination Maternity;
- Represented secured creditors in SARE reorganizations, asset buyers and other stakeholders in 363 sales, trade creditors in negotiating critical vendor agreements;
- Successfully negotiated resolution of an $18 million dollars fraudulent conveyance claim against a foreign investor;
- Successfully resolved a claim under the New York Freelance Isn’t Free Act against a start-up venture and its officers;
- Involved in all aspects of the representation of the trustee appointed pursuant to the Securities Investor Protection Act (SIPA) liquidation of Lehman Brothers Inc. Inc. in the resolution of preference and fraudulent conveyance litigation against a major bank.
HONORS & AWARDS
- New York Super Lawyers by Thomson Reuters, Rising Stars Edition, 2015-2019
