Eric Walker

Eric maintains a national practice focused on financial restructuring, bankruptcy and litigation. He has represented virtually every major stakeholder in bankruptcy proceedings throughout the US. While Eric has a range of restructuring experience spanning multiple sectors, he has a particular understanding of high growth, technology driven businesses, including in the healthcare, life sciences, energy, finance, education and agriculture industries. Eric also has deep experience restructuring for-profit and not-for-profit organizations in the healthcare and senior living industries.

Eric is recognized as a leading bankruptcy practitioner by Chambers USA, Lawdragon, M&A Advisor, the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) and the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges. Clients describe Eric as “a brilliant restructuring lawyer” who “outmaneuvers the opposition every time.” Eric is a former member of the board of directors for the ABI and serves on the advisory board of the annual ABI Health Care Program. Eric is a thought leader and frequent writer and speaker on bankruptcy and corporate governance issues, including as a guest lecturer for the Startups and the Law class at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Eric’s representative matters include:

• Serving as counsel to an alternative energy company in out-of-court workout
• Serving as counsel to the Board of Directors of a public agtech business on fund raising and corporate governance issues
• Serving as counsel to a fintech business in out-of-court workout
• Acting as counsel for private equity sponsors in various distressed healthcare investments, such as:
  • An out-of-court restructuring for a behavioral health business*
  • A converted Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding involving a medical supply distribution business*
  • A Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act class action and breach of fiduciary duty adversary proceedings (as defense counsel) involving regional ambulance businesses*
• Serving as counsel to the official committee of unsecured creditors in senior living Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings across the US, such as:
  • Lutheran Life Communities – Two continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) and one skilled nursing facility (SNF) in Illinois and one CCRC in Indiana (Bankr. N.D. Ill.)
  • Clare Oaks – CCRC in Bartlett, Illinois (Bankr. N.D. Ill.)*
  • Henry Ford Village – CCRC in Dearborn, Michigan (Bankr. E.D. Mich.)*
  • Amsterdam House – CCRC in Port Washington, New York (Bankr. E.D.N.Y)
  • California-Nevada Methodist Homes – Two CCRCs in Northern California (Bankr. N.D. Cal.)*
  • The Prospect-Woodward Home – CCRC in Keene, New Hampshire (Bankr. D.N.H.)*
• Serving as counsel for several nonprofit senior living owners and operators in both in-court and out-of-court restructurings across the country
  • Lifespace Communities (Dallas, Texas)
  • Friendship Senior Options (Schaumburg, Illinois)
  • SantaFe HealthCare (Gainesville, Florida)
• Acting as counsel to the official committee of unsecured creditors in community hospital Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, such as:
  • Mercy Hospital (Bankr. N.D. Ill.)*
  • Watsonville Community Hospital (Bankr. N.D. Cal.)*
• Acting as counsel for an owner and operator of urgent care clinics in out-of-court restructuring and divestment strategies
• Acting as counsel for a private credit fund in workout negotiations for an owner and operator of urgent care clinics
• Acting as counsel to an investment group in negotiating a stalking horse bid, debtor-in-possession financing and plan sponsorship for a publicly traded healthcare company in Chapter 11*
• Serving as special litigation counsel for a medical diagnostic lab company in a Chapter 11 proceeding, and then successfully obtaining a preliminary injunction requiring the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to pay more than $5 million in Medicare reimbursements post-petition, notwithstanding a prepetition fraud suspension*
• Serving as counsel to a successful stalking horse bidder in In re Health Diagnostic Laboratory, which was named the 2016 Restructuring Deal of the Year (Under $100M) by M&A Advisor*

* Representation handled prior to joining Cooley