Law360 Profiles Bankruptcy MVP Ira Dizengoff
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In its profile of Akin Gump financial restructuring partner Ira Dizengoff, whom it selected as one of its bankruptcy MVPs, Law360 has featured some of Dizengoff’s professional highlights from the past year and also explored what first led him to a career in bankruptcy law.
Dizengoff described his biggest accomplishment as leading FirstEnergy Solutions Corp. to a victory over the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in a fight to control debtors’ prepetition power contracts. It is a case that could chart a course for other failing coal companies, the article notes, with Dizengoff’s work on the company’s restructuring strategy ensuring that plant workers in Ohio and Pennsylvania will keep their jobs during FirstEnergy Solutions’ ongoing bankruptcy and campaign for government assistance.
Other notable cases this year included Dizengoff’s representation of unsecured bondholders in the restructuring of offshore drilling contractor Seadrill Ltd., and of the unsecured creditors in the restructuring of iHeartMedia Inc. Dizengoff also represented 75 first-lien institutions in a deal with Avaya that included a settlement with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. and resulted in his clients taking home more than 90 percent of Avaya’s reorganized equity.
Dizengoff reflected on how he became a bankruptcy attorney, pointing to an externship he did with a federal judge while in law school. Pan Am had just filed for bankruptcy, he said, and he was hooked, fascinated by the convergence of law and business.
“I just wanted to do more and more,” Dizengoff explained. “As a lawyer, it was as close as you can get to getting to be a businessman without actually being a businessman, because your choices and actions have very real-life outcomes.”
Addressing what motivates him to help transform various moving parts into a cohesive, viable enterprise, Dizengoff said, “It’s terrific to be a part of, and the best part is being the architect behind it,” though he admitted that he is just “one small cog in a giant wheel” at Akin Gump — a team he considers to be the best in the game.
