William H. Patrick, III

Practice Focus

Bankruptcy and Restructuring, Fraudulent Transfer and Specialized Bankruptcy Litigation

William H. Patrick, III is special counsel in the firm’s Litigation Section. He concentrates his practice in corporate bankruptcy, corporate workouts, and financial restructuring, representing debtors, committees, trustees, equity investors, and other parties in interest. Billy has played major roles in the restructuring of casinos, utility companies, restaurant and fast food chains, hotels, television broadcast companies, orthodontic management companies, and resolving claims arising from asbestos, breast implants, nuclear radiation, and other hazards through the bankruptcy process.

Billy served as co-counsel with Slate Dabney to Federal Guaranty Insurance Company, the insurer for $1.8 billion of County bonds, in the Chapter 9 bankruptcy case of Jefferson County, Ala. He was principal reorganization counsel in the bankruptcy cases of Communications Corporation of America (27 television stations in several states); OCA, Inc. (largest manager of orthodontic practices in the United States); Legends Gaming Company (owner and operator of two casinos and hotels in Bossier City, La. and Vicksburg, Miss.); Harrah’s Jazz Company (owner of the land-based casino in New Orleans) and its publicly-traded successor, Jazz Casino Company; and Clean Harbors Plaquemine, LLC (owner and former operator of hazardous waste injection well). He represented the official committee of unsecured creditors in the bankruptcy case of Seahawk Drilling Inc., a publicly-traded oil and gas drilling company, and represented Municipal Employees Retirement System of Louisiana and Firefighters Retirement System of Louisiana in the Chapter 11 cases of Commonwealth Investment Funds (Delaware). He represented Cajun Electric Power Cooperative in its $3 billion Chapter 11 filing, and he previously represented Cajun in its defense of an effort to reject its “all requirements “contract in the chapter 11 case of one of its member/customers, as well as serving as litigation counsel in a class-action suit against Cajun for recovery of $2 billion in alleged overpayments for wholesale electric power. He represented the chapter 11 trustee in the section 363 sale of 27 Popeyes in several states, a trustee in the sale under a plan of reorganization of seven nursing homes in Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Alabama, and represented Santa Fe Cattle Company in the section 363 sale of its chain of steakhouses.

Billy represented the holders of $230 million in secured bonds in the bankruptcy case of Entergy New Orleans, Inc., the owner of the public utility for New Orleans, La. He has also represented official creditors’ committees in the bankruptcy cases of Grand Palais Riverboat, Inc. (riverboat casino in New Orleans) and Hollywood Casino Shreveport (riverboat casino and hotel in Shreveport, La.), and several thousand Louisiana breast implant claimants in the Dow Corning bankruptcy case in Michigan. Billy was counsel for corporate governance issues and matters related to the Apollo/Parks Township settlement (nuclear exposure claims) in the mass tort asbestos case of The Babcock & Wilcox Company. He represented the Chapter 11 Trustee in liquidating the assets and distributing the proceeds to investors in Pooled Pension Fund Management Corporation, a Ponzi scheme. Additionally, Billy has represented debtors and creditors in reorganization cases involving nursing homes, hotels, apartment complexes, real estate developments, shopping centers, industrial contractors, and a variety of other gaming companies and retailers.

Education

J.D. from Paul M. Hebert Law Center, 1977

Representative Matters

Bankruptcy counsel to the official committee of unsecured creditors in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case of Alfred Miller Contracting Company, a nationwide contractor (Western District of Louisiana).
Workout counsel to numerous Sonic franchisees owning over 320 locations in multiple states.
Creditors Committee counsel in the Chapter 11 case of Falcon V LLC, an oil and gas company (Baton Rouge, La.) ($65 million of debt).
Creditors Committee counsel in the Chapter 11 case of PetroQquest Energy, Inc., a publicly traded oil and gas company (Houston, Tex.) ($240 million of debt).
Debtors Counsel in Chapter 11 cases of Knight Energy Holding Company and affiliates (Lafayette, La.) ($230 million of debt).
Creditors Committee counsel in the Louisiana Heart Hospital Chapter 11 case (New Orleans, La.) ($35 million of debt).
Creditors Committee counsel in Cochon Energy, an oil and gas company (Lafayette, La.) ($ 60 million of debt).
Creditors Committee Counsel in Acadiana Management Company hospital cases (Lafayette, La.) ($30 million of debt).
Creditors Committee co- counsel in Energy XXI, Ltd. a publicly traded oil and gas drilling company (Houston, Tex.) ($3.1 billion of debt).
Debtor’s co-counsel to Saratoga Resources, a publicly-traded independent oil and gas exploration and producer (Lafayette, La.) ($235 million of debt).
Counsel to debtor in possession lender in Palm Terrace nursing homes (Lafayette, La.).
Co-counsel to Financial Guaranty Insurance Company, insurer of $1.7 billion of municipal debt, in Jefferson County Chapter 9 bankruptcy case (Birmingham, Ala.)($3.2 billion of debt).
Creditor Committee counsel in Seahawk Drilling Inc., a publicly traded oil and gas drilling company, (Corpus Christi, Tex.) ($120 million of debt).
Work Out co-counsel to Cajun Electric Power Cooperative in renegotiation and restructuring of $3 billion loan guaranteed by Rural Electrification Administration.
Bankruptcy counsel to Chapter 11 Operating Trustee for Southern Healthcare Systems, Inc., which owned and operated numerous nursing homes in Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Alabama (Baton Rouge, La.) ($38 million of debt).
Bankruptcy counsel for $230 million of first lien bonds issued by Entergy New Orleans, Inc., utility company (New Orleans, La.) ($450 million of debt).
Debtor counsel to Clean Harbors Plaquemine, L.L.C., subsidiary of Clean Harbors, Inc., to obtain third-party injunction related to ownership and operation of hazardous waste injection well (Baton Rouge, La.).
Bankruptcy Counsel to Municipal Employees Retirement System of Louisiana and Firefighters Retirement System of Louisiana in Commonwealth Investment Funds (Delaware) ($80 million of debt).
Debtor counsel to Legends Gaming Company, which owned and operated “Diamond Jacks” hotels and casinos in Bossier City, La., and Vicksburg, Miss. (Shreveport, La.) ($230 million of debt).
Debtor counsel to Communications Corporation of America, owner of 27 television stations in Texas, Indiana, and Louisiana (Shreveport, La.) ($450 million of debt).
Debtor counsel to OCA, Inc., a publicly-traded international company that manages dental and orthodontic practices (New Orleans, La.) ($130 million of debt).
Bankruptcy counsel for the sellers of “Santa Fe Cattle Company” (Nashville, Tn.) and “Popeye’s” restaurants (Baton Rouge, La).
Creditors Committee counsel in Hollywood Casino, a hotel and riverboat casino in Shreveport, Louisiana (Shreveport, La.) ($185 million of debt).
Bankruptcy Counsel for intercompany corporate governance matters and issues related to the Apollo/Parks Township litigation (personal injury claims for nuclear exposure) to The Babcock & Wilcox Company, a subsidiary of McDermott, Inc.(New Orleans, La.).
Creditors Committee counsel in Grand Palais Riverboat, Inc., the owner of a riverboat casino in New Orleans, Louisiana (New Orleans, La.) ($100 million of debt).
Litigation counsel for Cajun Electric Power Cooperative, Inc., in a federal class action for alleged overpayments for wholesale electrical power (New Orleans, La.) ($2 billion).
Bankruptcy counsel for the “Spitzfaden” and Louisiana Dow Chemical Plaintiffs in Dow Corning Company, manufacturer of breast implants (Michigan) ($3 billion in debt).
Debtor counsel to Harrah’s Jazz Company and its successor, Jazz Casino Company, owner of the land-based casino in New Orleans (New Orleans, La.)(debt and equity in excess of $800 million).
Defended Cajun Electric Power Cooperative in attempted Section 365 rejection of 25 year “all requirements contract” for the sale of electric power to Washington – St. Tammany Electric Cooperative (New Orleans, La.) ($635 million).
Counsel for numerous parties in out of court and bankruptcy reorganizations of real estate developers, hotels, retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers, restaurants, and other businesses.