Further strengthening its market-leading financial restructuring practice and continuing its strategic expansion in Texas, Paul Hastings LLP has added restructuring lawyer Charles Persons as a partner in Dallas. The firm has more than tripled its Texas headcount in the last year and expects to have more than 100 lawyers in the Lone Star State by Q1 2025, up from 25. He joins from Sidley Austin LLP.
Persons represents debtors and creditors in complex domestic and cross-border matters ranging from Chapter 11 cases and out-of-court reorganizations and financings to distressed acquisitions and debtor-in-possession financings, as well as diverse bankruptcy litigation matters, including appellate litigation. His practice also includes significant private equity borrower and company-side work.
“Charles is a strong addition to our preeminent restructuring group, as we expand the practice and our broader platform in Texas,” said firm Chair Frank Lopez. “His extensive restructuring experience, coupled with his private equity borrower and company-side work, will be valuable for existing and new clients across diverse industries as we continue to gain market share at the top of the market.”
Persons’ numerous high-profile representations include New Residential Investment Corp., in its bid for the mortgage-related businesses of Ditech Holding, and multiple out-of-court distressed oil and gas acquisitions. His multinational restructuring experience spans sectors ranging from retail and aviation to automobile and manufacturing, with considerable experience in the oil and gas industry and clients including Ares Management, Huron Consulting Group, K2 HealthVentures, MHR Fund Management, Mockingbird Credit Partners, Morgan Stanley Energy Partners, and Presidio Petroleum.
“I’m thrilled to join Paul Hastings and an exceptional team that has established itself as one of the world’s strongest restructuring groups,” said Persons. “I look forward to collaborating with the many talented lawyers across practices in Texas and beyond, and to helping the firm continue its growth trajectory while also introducing its leading global platform to my clients.”
Persons is the latest to join the powerhouse Paul Hastings financial restructuring platform, which has leaped to the top of the market by adding premier partners and teams, including:
an elite 43-lawyer group from Stroock led by practice co-chairs Kris Hansen and Jayme Goldstein;
a top-ranked 11-partner, 20-lawyer team of restructuring, private credit, and special situations lawyers from King & Spalding in New York, Chicago, and Houston;
restructuring and special situations partner David Hong from Kirkland & Ellis in New York;
London-based restructuring partners Will Needham and Helena Potts, who joined from KKR & Co., Inc. and the former Shearman & Sterling, respectively, as well as partners Jessica Ling and Tom McKay; and
Paris-based restructuring partner Caroline Texier.
The firm’s restructuring practice earned three “Deal of the Year” accolades at M&A Advisor’s 2024 Turnaround Awards and advised on five matters recognized by Turnarounds & Workouts as “Successful Restructurings of 2023.” Lawyers in the practice advise on many of the world’s most complex high-profile matters, including representing the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the Chapter 11 proceedings for FTX and WeWork, advising lenders in the $1.2 billion in-court restructuring of Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT), advising an ad hoc group of crossover lenders on the $8.8 billion in-court restructuring of Diamond Sports, and advising term lenders on the $4.3 billion out-of-court restructuring of Travelport.
In rapidly building a formidable Texas presence, Paul Hastings has attracted top-tier talent, including:
an elite eight-partner, 25-lawyer finance team from Vinson & Elkins LLP in Dallas and Houston;
the three-partner, seven-lawyer Chambers-ranked corporate team of David Elder, Chris Centrich, and Patrick Hurley from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP in Houston;
Chambers-ranked cybersecurity and litigation partner Michelle Reed, also from Akin, in Dallas;
trial and regulatory enforcement partner Manuel Berrelez from Vinson & Elkins and tax partner Alex Farr from McDermott Will & Emery, both in Dallas;
complex commercial litigator Paul Genender, chair of the firm’s Texas litigation practice and co-chair of the Dallas and Houston offices, from Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP.
