Thomas B. Walper

Mr. Walper is ranked as a leading lawyer in Chambers USA as well as The Best Lawyers of America. He was recently recognized by the Turnaround Management Association with a Turnaround and Transaction of the Year Award for his representation of iHeartMedia. Mr. Walper has twice been recognized by Turnarounds and Workouts magazine as one of the top 12 bankruptcy lawyers in the United States and recently as a Global Thought Leader. For years he has been listed in the Guide to the World’s Leading Insolvency Lawyers and since 2018 was recognized by the publication as a “Thought Leaders” in the United States. He is also a fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy and a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute.

Mr. Walper’s practice involves the representation of debtors, creditors, creditors’ committees, unsecured creditors, boards of directors, as well as the purchasers of financially troubled companies both in and outside of bankruptcy. He has played an important role in many of the country’s largest chapter 11 cases, including most recently iHeart Media, Nine West, Toys “R” Us, Forever 21, Payless ShoeSource, The Gymboree Corporation, Linn Energy and Berry Petroleum, Energy Future Holdings, Residential Capital, Edison Mission Energy, Syms/Filenes Basement, Enron, Pacific Gas & Electric. From 2007 to 2009, Mr. Walper was head of corporate restructuring for a $5 billion investment firm in Greenwich, Conn. In this role, Mr. Walper contributed to the analysis and underwriting of distressed investments and developed and implemented both consensual and litigated exit strategies. He also acted as a principal representative on numerous formal and informal creditors committees.

Mr. Walper was one of the founders of the Debtor Assistance Program of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. This organization provides insolvency services to indigent consumers with over 150 attorney volunteers within the Central District of California.

Mr. Walper is a frequent speaker on complex bankruptcy and reorganization topics, serving as program chair and panelist for bankruptcy programs sponsored by The Practising Law Institute, Corporate Finance Magazine, CLE International, SRI, the University of Southern California, UCLA School of Law and Columbia Business School. Mr. Walper has also written extensively in the field of bankruptcy, having co-authored The Creditors’ Committee Manual, published by Warren Gorham & Lamont, and he was a long-term member of the Board of Editors of “The Bankruptcy Strategist.”