Focuses her practice on corporate restructurings, with an emphasis on official creditor committee and bondholder representations in large, complex chapter 11 cases.
Hiring Partner for the New York Office.

Sara Brauner represents official creditor committees, bondholders, noteholders, institutional investors, hedge funds and other interested parties in large-scale financial restructurings.

Sara has experience across an array of industries, including:

Retail
Oil & gas
Pharmaceuticals & life sciences
Media
Gaming & hospitality.

Sara is also the firm’s Hiring Partner for the New York Office and oversees student recruitment efforts and the summer associate program.

Representative Work

Alex Jones: Counsel to the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, on a pro bono basis, in the chapter 11 case of right-wing media personality Alex Jones, which was commenced following the entry of more than $1.5 billion in state court judgments against Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems, as a result of Jones’s defamatory comments regarding the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
Purdue Pharma: Counsel to the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the chapter 11 cases of Purdue Pharma and its affiliates, the privately held pharmaceutical company and maker of OxyContin, involving over a trillion dollars of asserted claims.
Mallinckrodt: Counsel to the Official Committee of Opioid Related Claimants in the chapter 11 cases of Mallinckrodt and its affiliates, an American-Irish pharmaceuticals company, involving hundreds of billions of dollars of asserted claims. Restructuring of the Year (The Deal)
Sears: Counsel to the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the chapter 11 cases of Sears and its affiliates, once the largest retailer in the world, involving $5.6 billion in liabilities; and, subsequently, counsel to the litigation trust board charged with prosecuting various estate claims in respect of prepetition conduct. Deal of the Year: Restructuring and Insolvency (IFLR1000)
HONX: Counsel to the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the chapter 11 case of Honx, a subsidiary of Hess Oil, that owned and operated a refinery in the U.S. Virgin Islands, involving hundreds of millions of dollars of potential asbestos liabilities.

Seadrill: Counsel to an ad hoc group of bondholders in Seadrill’s global restructuring of $17 billion in liabilities, the largest chapter 11 restructuring in the offshore drilling sector to date. Global Legal Award for Finance (The American Lawyer)
Momentive: Counsel to the equity sponsor in the chapter 11 cases of Momentive Performance Materials and its affiliates, a manufacturer of silicone and quartz products, involving $4.1 billion in liabilities; and, subsequently, counsel to the reorganized company in precedent-setting bankruptcy court and appellate litigation involving makewhole and cramdown interest rate issues. Industrial Manufacturing and Distribution Deal of the Year (The M&A Advisor)
TOUSA: Counsel to the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the chapter 11 cases of TOUSA and its affiliates, a developer/builder of residential homes in Florida; and, subsequently, counsel to the liquidation trust established following the effective date of TOUSA’s plan of liquidation to prosecute various estate causes of action and liquidate assets.
Icelandic Banks: Counsel to the worldwide bondholder group of three former Icelandic Banks (Kaupthing, Landsbanki and Glitnir), involving over $33 billion in liabilities. Global Legal Award (The American Lawyer)
Tribune: Counsel to the largest senior noteholder in the chapter 11 cases of Tribune Company and its affiliates, to date the largest bankruptcy in the history of the American media industry, involving $13 billion in liabilities; and, subsequently, counsel to the litigation trust established following the effective date of Tribune’s plan. Corporate Turnaround of the Year – Large Markets (Turnaround Atlas Awards)

Education
J.D., The George Washington University Law School, with honors, 2010
B.A., Tufts University, magna cum laude, 2005

Bar Admissions
New York

Recognitions

The Legal 500 US, Restructuring (including bankruptcy): corporate, 2023.
Turnarounds & Workouts, Outstanding Young Restructuring Lawyers, 2022.
The Deal, Top Women in Dealmaking, 2022.
Euromoney Legal Media Group for inclusion in its Expert Guides: Rising Stars, 2022.