Kyung S. Lee

Email: [email protected]

Tel.: (713) 714-5770 ext. 2

Since graduating from Duke Law School, Mr. Lee has spent the last 40 years carefully guiding clients through sensitive workout negotiations, and, when a bankruptcy filing has been required to reorganize a distressed company, he has litigated for his clients in bankruptcy courts to achieve their objectives. Mr. Lee has either first- or second-chaired a significant number of bankruptcy cases, whether on a negotiated or litigated basis, in a variety of industries.

In addition to his law degree, Mr. Lee also holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. With both a JD and an MBA, Mr. Lee has the background to understand his client's needs and become intimately familiar with the facts of a new matter with a minimal learning curve.

Mr. Lee has substantial experience in addressing insolvency-related issues, ranging from identifying liquidity crises, managing debtor-creditor relationships, formulating workout and Chapter 11 strategies, negotiating with creditor constituencies and implementing with senior management turnaround and reorganization plans.

As a member of the Business Bankruptcy Committee of the American Bar Association, Mr. Lee has been an active member of several subcommittees and task forces. He participated in the publication of the Model Asset Purchase Agreement for Bankruptcy Sales by the American Bar Association in 2016. Mr. Lee has also been a speaker at the Jay L. Westbrook Bankruptcy Conference on advanced bankruptcy topics ranging from “Marijuana and Bankruptcy: Just Say No! (2018) to “Recidivist Debtors: Chapter 22s of Oil and Gas Business Debtors. Why Is it Happening Now?” (2019).

Education:

  • Duke University Fuqua School of Business, M.B.A. (1999)
  • Duke University School of Law, J.D. (1984)
  • Duke University, Bachelor of Arts (1980)

Admissions:

  • Texas (1984)
  • New York (2009)
  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
  • U.S. District and Bankruptcy Courts:
  • Southern District of New York
  • Eastern District of New York
  • Southern District of Texas
  • Northern District of Texas
  • Western District of Texas
  • Eastern District of Texas

Representative Experience

Mr. Lee has experience representing parties in the following industries and cases. He enjoys and is facile with both motion and adversary proceeding practice and rules.

  • Airline (Continental Airlines, Northwest Airlines, New York Air, Frontier)
  • Oil and gas (Buttes Oil & Gas, Nicklos Oil & Gas, Wapiti Oil & Gas, Northstar Offshore, Pearl Resources, Davis Petroleum, Island Operating Company, Triple Five Energy)
  • Chemical and petroleum refining (Truth Chemical LLC, Dome Hydrocarbon, Haverhill Chemicals)
  • Maritime and shipping (Offshore Specialty Fabricators, Signet Maritime)
  • Nursing homes (Century Care, Senior Methodist Retirement System)
  • Healthcare facilities (Sadler Clinic, 12 Micro-Hospitals in Kansas City and Indianapolis, All Smiles)
  • Manufacturing and fabrication (Engy, Arsham, Koontz Wagner)
  • Real estate (HouTex)
  • Single asset real asset entities (Land Tejas Ltd., Scotia Pacific)
  • Chapter 11 debtors with assets in foreign countries (Erin Petroleum, Nobu Su)
  • Chapter 7 debtors with assets in China (Far East Energy Corporation)
  • Purchaser of assets from a chapter 11 or 7 debtor (Badlands Oil & Gas)
  • Chapter 7 trustees (Rodney D. Tow, Ronald J. Sommers)
  • Lenders to bankrupt entities either in chapter 11 or 7 (Encina Business Credit LLCAnchor Drilling USA, Shadow Tree CapitalHydrocarb Energy)
  • Litigated against chapter 7 trustees (Chapter 7 Trustee of Precision Airways)
  • Unsecured Creditors' Committee (Logix Communications, Kittyhawk Corporation, Millennium Pension Plan) Equity Committees (ATP Oil & Gas, U.S.Concrete)
  • Trustees of Liquidating Trusts (BPZ Resources)
  • Bet the company case advisory assignments (Honghua America LLC, Superbag)
  • High net worth illiquid individuals (Confidential)