Mr. Bentley's practice focuses on bankruptcy litigation and other complex commercial litigation. He has handled a wide variety of disputes and investigations on behalf of official creditors' committees, creditor and investor groups, debtors, trustees and examiners in bankruptcy courts, district courts and courts of appeal.

Representative Matters

• In the W.R. Grace bankruptcy, a mass tort bankruptcy involving litigation over the validity of billions of dollars of asserted asbestos claims, currently represents the Official Committee of Equity Holders.
  
  
• In the Bayou Group bankruptcy, recently represented 70 former hedge fund investors in litigation brought by Bayou to recover $35 million in redemption payments. Achieved global settlement resolving Bayou's claims at a net cost of less than one third of the amounts sought.
  
  
• In the Adelphia Communications Corp. bankruptcy, represented FrontierVision noteholders at six-week trial of intercompany claims, including $850 million of claims asserted against FrontierVision. Subsequent global settlement paid FrontierVision's noteholders $430 million, or 130 percent of par value.
  
  
• In the Adelphia Business Solutions (ABIZ) bankruptcy, represented the Creditors Committee in litigation against ABIZ's corporate parent, Adelphia Communications Corp. After trial, obtained a bankruptcy court ruling estimating ACC's $70 million in claims at less than $3 million; that ruling was followed by a $200 million settlement of ABIZ's claims against ACC.
  
  
• In the WorldCom bankruptcy, represented subordinated MCI bondholders in litigation opposing confirmation of WorldCom's initial plan of reorganization. After 3 1/2 months of intensive litigation, obtained a $334 million settlement for the bondholder class, increasing their recovery from zero to 44 percent. 
  
  
• In the Enron bankruptcy, represented Southern California Edison in litigation over its claims against the Debtors, resulting in an $875 million settlement.
  
  
• In the NorthWestern Corp. bankruptcy, represented subordinated bondholders in litigation opposing confirmation of the Debtors' initial plan of reorganization. Obtained a settlement valued at $120 million, more than four times the value provided by the initial plan.
  
  
• In the SGL Carbon bankruptcy, represented the Creditors Committee in litigation resulting in a precedent-setting decision by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals dismissing SGL's chapter 11 petition on the ground that SGL had filed in bad faith, the first such ruling in a substantial chapter 11 case.
  
  
• In the Dow Corning bankruptcy, prosecuted a wide variety of litigation on behalf of the Tort Claimants Committee, including litigation that blocked Dow Corning's plan of reorganization and eventually resulted in the confirmation of a far more generous consensual plan.
  
  
• In the Sharp International bankruptcy, led investigation and prosecuted litigation on behalf of Sharp resulting in recoveries for the estate and its creditors in excess of $20 million.
  
  
• In the Vlasic Foods bankruptcy, led investigation on behalf of the Creditors Committee of fraudulent conveyance and other claims against Campbell Soup Co. arising out of its $550 million spin-off of Vlasic.
  
  
• In the Coram Healthcare bankruptcy, represented Independent Restructuring Advisor Harrison J. Goldin in his investigation of and report on alleged misconduct by Coram's CEO and principal lenders.
  
  
• In the Bruno's Inc. bankruptcy, was co-lead author of Examiner Harrison J. Goldin's report into potential fraudulent conveyance and other claims arising out of Bruno's $1.2 billion leveraged recapitalization.

J.D., cum laude, Columbia Law School, 1984

•    Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar

B.A., cum laude, Yale University, 1981

New York, 1985

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan
U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York

Listed in New York Super Lawyers, a special supplement to the New York Times, 2007 edition

Member, American Bar Association
Member, Association of the Bar of the City of New York