Daniel H. Golden
Partner Emeritus
dgolden@akingump.com
Biography
- More than 40 years’ experience representing official and informal creditors committees and bondholders in sophisticated restructurings.
- Advised on some of the largest and most complex bankruptcies in U.S. history.
Danny Golden retired from the partnership in 2020. He was widely-regarded as one of the leading lawyers of the restructuring bar. In his more than forty years of practice, he represented creditors and bondholders committees in some of the largest and most complex restructurings in U.S. history.
Danny has a long track record of helping distressed and institutional investors to forge restructuring strategies to maximize value in bankruptcies and out-of-court restructurings. He is a skilled negotiator and savvy dealmaker, known for building consensus among divergent constituencies. Distressed investors relied on Danny time and time again as both a trusted advisor and a fierce advocate.
A smaller segment of his practice focused on representing distressed companies and acquirers of distressed assets.
Danny focused on restructuring matters including:
- Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings
- Out-of-court restructurings
- Distressed investments and asset acquisitions.
Danny was the partner-in-charge of Akin Gump’s New York office for fourteen years.
Representative Work
- Advised the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Nine West Holdings, Inc. in the company’s Chapter 11 proceedings. Akin Gump spearheaded the committee’s comprehensive investigation into potential claims relating to the 2014 leveraged buy-out of the company and certain related transactions. This case included lengthy negotiations and mediation over the creditors’ recoveries under the company’s plan. Following a contested confirmation trial, the creditors supported the company’s reorganization plan.
- Represented Apollo Global Management, LLC in its multipronged role in the Chapter 11 case of Lyondell Chemical Co. This was one of the largest bankruptcies in U.S. history, and ultimately, one of Apollo’s most successful investments. Danny led an Akin Gump team that structured an $8 billion debtor-in-possession financing - one of the largest ever in the midst of the financial crisis, when the capital markets were virtually frozen. He also represented Apollo as the largest backstopper of a $2.8 billion rights offering, providing Lyondell the necessary liquidity to exit Chapter 11; defended Apollo as one of the defendants in the $20 billion fraudulent conveyance litigation brought by the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors stemming from the leveraged buyout of Lyondell by Basell in 2008; and advised on the settlement of various intra-creditor disputes.
- Successfully advised Aurelius Capital Management, LP as the largest senior noteholder in Tribune Co., in one of the most contentious bankruptcies in recent history. Tribune Co., the owner of the Chicago Tribune and more than 20 television and radio stations, collapsed under the weight of $13 billion in debt and filed for bankruptcy less than a year after real estate investor Sam Zell took it private through a leveraged buyout. Four separate constituencies introduced four competing plans. Akin Gump vigorously advocated for the plan introduced by Aurelius (and certain other senior noteholders and indenture trustees). In addition to managing the competing plan process, Akin Gump led Aurelius through an investigation of the leveraged buyout.
- Led Akin Gump’s representation of the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Delta Air Lines, Inc., et al. in the company’s Chapter 11 proceedings. At the time of its filing, Delta was the third-largest airline in the U.S. Delta’s high-profile bankruptcy came amidst a wave of airline bankruptcies, triggered by a spike in fuel prices, growing competition from lower-cost carriers, and the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Akin Gump advised on complex labor and pension issues relating to the company’s 60,000 employees. It achieved significant cost savings through analysis and renegotiation of the terms of Delta’s aircraft leases and secured financings. This complex restructuring of the company’s 700-plus aircraft fleet continued beyond its emergence.
- Other seminal bankruptcies include Residential Capital LLC, Loral Space & Communications, Ltd. and WorldCom, Inc., among others.
EducationJ.D., The State University of New York at Buffalo Law School, 1977
B.A., University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1974
J.D., The State University of New York at Buffalo Law School, 1977
B.A., University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1974
Bar AdmissionsNew York
New York
Recognitions
- The National Law Journal, Finance Trailblazer, 2019.
- Legal 500 US, Restructuring (Including Bankruptcy): Corporate, 2015-2020.
- Chambers USA, Bankruptcy/Restructuring, 2009-2020.
- Chambers Global, Bankruptcy/Restructuring—USA Nationwide, 2009-2020.
- Honoree, Professor Lawrence P. King Award, Bankruptcy and Reorganization Group, UJA Federation of New York Lawyers Division, 2014.
- The Best Lawyers in America, Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency, 2011-2021.
- New York Metro Super Lawyers, 2006-2020.
- The Who’s Who Legal: Insolvency & Restructuring, 2014-2018.
- The Who’s Who Legal, Thought Leader: Restructuring, 2018.
Speeches and Publications
- “Tribune Company Bankruptcy Proceedings: A Case Study.”
- “American Bankruptcy Institute’s Mid-Level Professional Development Program: Deal Structures, Key Negotiating Points, Drafting Tips, and Relevant Law,” Institute for Energy Law, 2nd Mergers & Acquisitions Conference, April 14, 2015.
