Kirkland & Ellis restructuring partners James Sprayregen, David Seligman, Sarah Seewer, and Joshua Sussberg are acting as general bankruptcy counsel to EME. Court records show that Kirkland partners are billing between $665 and $1,335 per hour, of counsel between $455 and $1,150, and associates ranging from $370 to $795. In December EME paid the firm a $250,000 retainer, and Kirkland has received additional amounts from the debtor totaling $5.15 million.
McDonald Hopkins partner David Agay in Chicago is serving as conflicts counsel to EME. The Windy City–based firm was paid a $100,000 retainer last month for its services in the case, according to bankruptcy court filings, which show McDonald Hopkins partners billing between $315 to $690, counsel between $330 and $650, and associates at rates ranging from $200 to $380.
Daniel McDevitt serves as general counsel for Rosemead, California–based Edison International, which took a $1.5 billion tax charge in the fourth quarter of last year because of EME's insolvency, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Golden Guernsey Dairy
After being acquired by private equity firm OpenGate Capital in 2011, 83-year-old dairy processor Golden Guernsey Dairy has filed for Chapter 7 liquidation in Delaware, according to The Associated Press. The company cites lower prices for milk and other dairy products as the reason for its insolvency.
Mark Desgrosseilliers, a bankruptcy and corporate restructuring partner with Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice in Wilmington, has taken the lead advising Waukesha, Wisconsin–based Golden Guernsey. The firm has not yet filed billing statements with the bankruptcy court and its client has yet to submit a list of creditors.
LodgeNet Interactive
LodgeNet Interactive, a Sioux Falls, Iowa–based on-demand movie provider for hotel rooms, announced on New Year's Eve that it will file for bankruptcy as part of a deal to sell a controlling stake to affiliates of private equity firm Colony Capital.
Weil, Gotshal & Manges business finance and restructuring partners Gary Holtzer and Sylvia Mayer, as well as IP and technology partner Jeffrey Osterman, are representing Lodgenet on a $60 million recapitalization agreement with Colony. Minnesota firm Leonard, Street and Deinard is serving as corporate counsel to LodgeNet, according to a press release by the company, which has not yet begun Chapter 11 proceedings.
Sullivan & Cromwell M&A partner Alexandra Korry and restructuring head Andrew Dietderich are serving as cocounsel to Santa Monica–based Colony along with Los Angeles firm Liner Grode Stein Yankelevitz Sunshine Regenstreif & Taylor.
Ronald Sanders serves as Colony's general counsel, while James Naro has served as LodgeNet's top in-house lawyer since 2006. Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld is advising a steering group of LodgeNet lenders that are backing a five-year extension to a secured $346 million credit facility for the company.
New England Compounding Pharmacy
The Framingham, Massachusetts–based compounding pharmacy filed for bankruptcy just before Christmas after being hit with a blizzard of lawsuits stemming from its alleged involvement in a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak last fall.
