Mr. Bentley, a litigator and bankruptcy lawyer, has more than 20 years of experience handling complex bankruptcy litigations and investigations on behalf of official creditors committees, creditor groups, debtors, trustees and examiners in bankruptcy courts, district courts and courts of appeal.
Representative Matters
- In the General Motors bankruptcy, Mr. Bentley recently represented the Official Creditors Committee in litigation over GM's aggregate asbestos liabilities, which were alleged to exceed $1 billion. The resulting settlement fixes GM's asbestos liabilities at an amount lower than its previously-reported reserve, the first time such a result has ever been achieved in bankruptcy.
- In the W.R. Grace bankruptcy, in which billions of dollars of asbestos claims were asserted, he has represented the Official Equity Committee for the past 10 years. The recently-confirmed plan of reorganization leaves the great majority of the equity in the hands of pre-petition shareholders, an unprecedented result in an asbestos-driven bankruptcy.
- In the Ambac insurance rehabilitation, Mr. Bentley recently represented holders of Las Vegas Monorail bonds in litigation challenging their treatment, as well as Ambac's $4 billion settlement of its credit default swap obligations. The litigation was settled on favorable terms, including cash payments by Ambac of obligations that would not have come due for 20 or more years.
- Mr. Bentley heads the firm's Madoff Task Force and represents defrauded investors in "clawback" litigation by Madoff’s trustee seeking the return of hundreds of millions of dollars of alleged fictitious profits.
- In the Bayou Group bankruptcy, he represented 70 former hedge fund investors in clawback litigation brought by Bayou's receiver. The resulting settlements resolved these claims at a net cost of less than one third of the amounts sought.
- In the Chrysler bankruptcy, he represented the Official Creditors Committee in its investigation of fraudulent transfer and breach of fiduciary duty claims totaling billions of dollars against Daimler AG arising out of its 2007 restructuring and sale of Chrysler.
- In the Adelphia Communications Corp. bankruptcy, he represented FrontierVision noteholders at a six-week trial of intercompany claims, including $850 million of claims asserted against FrontierVision. The subsequent global settlement paid FrontierVision's noteholders $430 million, or 130 percent of the par value of their notes.
- In the Adelphia Business Solutions (ABIZ) bankruptcy, he represented the Creditors Committee in litigation against ABIZ's corporate parent, Adelphia Communications Corp. After trial, he obtained a bankruptcy court ruling estimating ACC's $70 million in claims at less than $3 million, followed by a $200 million settlement of ABIZ's claims against ACC.
- In the WorldCom bankruptcy, he represented subordinated MCI bondholders in litigation opposing confirmation of WorldCom's initial plan of reorganization. After 3 1/2 months of intensive litigation, the eve-of-trial settlement paid $334 million to the bondholder class, increasing their recovery from zero to 44 percent.
- In the Enron bankruptcy, he represented a large creditor in litigation over its claims against the Debtors, resulting in an $875 million settlement.
- In the NorthWestern Corp. bankruptcy, he represented subordinated bondholders in litigation opposing confirmation of the Debtors' initial plan of reorganization. The resulting settlement was valued at $120 million, more than four times the value provided by the initial plan.
- In the SGL Carbon bankruptcy, he 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 ever obtained in a substantial chapter 11 case.
- In the Dow Corning bankruptcy, he 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.
- Mr. Bentley has frequently represented bankruptcy trustees in litigation arising out of pre-petition fraudulent conduct. In the M. Fabrikant & Sons bankruptcy, he obtained a pre-judgment injunction freezing all of the assets of Fabrikant's principals and affiliated companies. In the Sharp International bankruptcy, he led an investigation and prosecuted extensive litigation on behalf of Sharp, resulting in eventual recoveries of more than $20 million for the estate and its creditors.
- In the Vlasic Foods bankruptcy, he led an 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, he 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, he 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.
Mr. Bentley has been interviewed on ABC (Eyewitness News), CNBC (Street Signs) and National Public Radio about the Madoff litigation, and his observations on that subject have been quoted in numerous financial publications, including Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Times of London, Dow Jones Newswire, Reuters and Bloomberg. His publications include "Legal Battle Looms for Madoff Early Exiters" (The Deal, January 2009). His recent speaking engagements include presentations at conferences on asbestos issues in bankruptcy and on the Madoff fraud and other Ponzi schemes. In 2009, he chaired a Madoff litigation conference in New York City that was featured in a Fortune article entitled "Madoff 101: Total Immersion for Lawyers."
Mr. Bentley has repeatedly been selected for inclusion in New York Super Lawyers in the areas of bankruptcy/creditors' rights and business litigation, a designation that represents the top five percent of Manhattan lawyers by practice area. In addition, he was named in 2010 to the AVENUE Legal Elite list, comprised of New York City litigators who have received an AV-Preeminent Rating from Martindale-Hubbell.