Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP announced today that Charles R. Gibbs has joined the firm as a partner and Eric C. Seitz as special counsel in the Insolvency and Restructuring practice,along with Mark Lewis Patterson as special counsel in the Real Estate practice, expanding the team of attorneys in the Dallas office to nearly 40 since the office opened last year.

“We continue to build the Dallas office with top talent. Chuck is known as one of the premier restructuring lawyers in Texas and his presence will help spotlight Katten’s standing as a go-to law firm both here and abroad,” said Dallas managing partner Mark S. Solomon.

“Both Chuck and Eric bring a wealth of experience and keen insight regarding all facets of bankruptcy accompanied by a reputation for strategic and effective handling of complex financial restructurings in the energy, real estate and retail sectors, among others,” Solomon said.“Mark’s broad knowledge of trends and deep experience of handling sophisticated transactions in the real estate market further positions Katten as an industry leader in that space.”

With more than four decades of experience, Gibbs has advocated on behalf of his clients before bankruptcy judges in more than 50 jurisdictions and five US Courts of Appeals. He represents debtors,secured and unsecured creditors, unsecured creditor committees, banks and nonbank lenders, special servicers of commercial mortgage securitized trusts, and buyers of distressed assets.

Gibbs, who will work from Katten’s Dallas and Houston offices, advises clients on a wide range of issues involving complicated disputes and complex in and out-of-court restructurings including debt-to-equity conversions, contract rejection and renegotiation, asset sales, and employee incentive programs.He has counseled several private investment funds that provide rescue equity and reorganization services to troubled real estate syndications and ventures, and has acted as lead debtor’s counsel in several significant Chapter 11 proceedings.

“I’m excited to join such a highly regarded firm with a business-savvy approach to providing best-in-class services and delivering results clients want,” Gibbs said.

Seitz focuses his practice on financial restructuring matters,serving clients in a wide variety of industries and disciplines. With more than 10 years of experience, he is well versed in representing official and ad hoc committees, debtors and trustees in complex Chapter 11 cases. Secured lenders turn to Seitz for restructuring counsel in both in- and out-of-court workouts, as well as advice related to substantive consolidation and re-characterization issues raised in structured financings. Seitz also represents creditors in defense of Chapter 5 avoidance actions, and he has particular experience advising mortgage servicers in a variety of restructuring scenarios.

“Chuck’s and Eric’s arrival further strengthen Katten’s deep bench of attorneys offering proactive, practical legal advice to clients as stakeholders of distressed companies in volatile industries and guiding them toward reorganization strategies that maximize recovery,” said John Sieger, national head of Katten’s Insolvency and Restructuring practice. “Both Chuck and Eric are skilled and well versed in addressing issues that arise during bankruptcy proceedings having handled some of the most complicated restructurings, particularly in the oil and gas industries. We welcome them to our team.”

Patterson concentrates his practice on real estate and real estate finance, including commercial mortgage-backed securities servicing. He advises clients in all phases of commercial real estate transactions, including developers, lenders, servicers and investors in buying, financing, managing, operating and selling commercial and retail real estate projects.Additionally, Patterson provides transactional support for specially serviced matters moving into litigation and bankruptcy.His lending experience includes representation of major national banks and national private finance companies, and has involved numerous multiproperty, multistate commercial real estate loans, ranging in size from the low millions to more than $500 million.

All three attorneys join Katten from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP.

Katten is a full-service law firm with nearly 700 attorneys in locations across the United States and in London and Shanghai. Clients seeking sophisticated, high-value legal services turn to Katten for counsel locally, nationally and internationally. The firm’s core areas of practice include corporate, financial services, insolvency and restructuring, litigation, real estate, environmental and workplace safety, commercial finance, intellectual property, structured finance and securitization, and trusts and estates. Katten represents public and private companies in numerous industries, including a third of the Fortune 100, as well as a number of government and nonprofit organizations and individuals. For more information, visit www.kattenlaw.com.