All Professionals
Overview
Luc Despins is a partner in the Corporate practice of Paul Hastings and is based in the firm’s New York office.
Mr. Despins is a bankruptcy practitioner with over 30 years of experience representing debtors and creditors in some of the most high profile and complex restructuring matters. He is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading financial restructuring lawyers and has been cited on numerous occasions for his role in major bankruptcies.
Accolades
- Best Lawyers: Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law, 2025
- The American Lawyer’s “Top 45 Under 45” [For all practice areas] (January 2003)
- The Best Lawyers in America 2008 (Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law)
- Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers
- Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers
- “IFLR1000, Highly Regarded”
- K&A Register: “Leading Bankruptcy and Financial Restructuring Lawyers and Financial Advisors in the United States”
- Lawdragon’s “Leading Dealmakers” and “Leading 500 Attorneys”
- The Legal 500 US: Corporate and Finance (Corporate Restructuring)
- Turnarounds and Workouts’ Special Report: (Top Ten) Outstanding Bankruptcy Lawyers 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, and 2006
Education
- Harvard Law School, LL.M., 1985 (Viscount Bennett Scholar)
- University of Ottawa, LL.B., 1982
- University of Ottawa, LL.L., 1981
Representations
- As counsel for the official committees of unsecured creditors in the following matters: FTX, The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and related entities, Molycorp, NewPage Corporation, Spansion, Inc., AbitibiBowater, Inc, Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc., Refco, Inc., Enron Corp., and Safety-Kleen Corporation.
- As counsel for the following debtors (either as part of an out-of-court restructuring or in chapter 11 cases): Chapter 11 Trustee of GT Advanced Technologies, Inc.; FairPoint Communications, Inc., Fruit of the Loom, Inc., Dictaphone Corporation, Safety Components International, Inc., Satmex, Inc. HomePlace Stores, Inc., Seven-Up/RC Bottling Company of Southern California, Inc., CIS Corporation, Zeta Consumer Products Corp., Ames Department Stores, Inc., Sun TV Inc., Wang Computers, and A.H. Robins.
- As chapter 11 trustee of Ho Wan Kwok.