Armstrong Teasdale announced its intent to establish a physical presence in Wilmington, Delaware. This marks the firm’s seventh office opening in the past two and a half years. Armstrong Teasdale will initially welcome a team of four partners, with plans to expand in the market. Partners Shelley A. Kinsella, Jonathan M. Stemerman, Eric M. Sutty and Rafael X. Zahralddin join the firm, effective Jan. 4, 2021. In 2020, Armstrong Teasdale added more than 100 attorneys and staff professionals to its ranks across the country.
“Given the volume of filings in Delaware courts, this is a move we’ve considered for quite some time,” said Managing Partner David Braswell. “As we continue to widen our footprint and our firm’s recognition on the East Coast, I expect to enhance our representation in the matters we handle in Delaware, and I’m confident that our new team members will sensibly guide our clients across disciplines, especially corporate governance, bankruptcy and intellectual property.”
In the past two and a half years, the firm has added seven new offices across the country, with a pointed focus toward the East Coast. New additions since 2018 include Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; New York, New York; Boston, Massachusetts; Princeton, New Jersey; Salt Lake City, Utah; Edwardsville, Illinois; and now in Wilmington, Delaware.
“While our attorneys in the region have long practiced in Delaware, there is a significant advantage in having boots on the ground,” said Partner and Leader – Eastern U.S. Richard Scheff. “The aggressive growth we are experiencing on the East Coast is very energizing for me personally, and I think it sends a clear message about the firm and our culture. Through these opportunities, we have not only been able to better deliver on our mission of excellent client service, but also invest in putting our people first by providing them with the tools to succeed.”
“We are pleased to be able to leverage the firm’s national position to expand our client representations and add to our distinct experience relevant to the Delaware courts,” said Zahralddin. “In addition to our extensive knowledge of the courts’ written procedures, we have a deep understanding of the customs and practices acquired through years of intimate practice in Delaware. Expanding into the state positions Armstrong Teasdale to serve as lead counsel, co-counsel, or special counsel across a variety of matters before any of the Delaware courts and with the Delaware Secretary of State, especially the Delaware Division of Corporations for corporate and alternative entity formation, unclaimed property disputes, and Uniform Commercial Code filings.”
While the attorneys joining the firm in Delaware primarily focus on bankruptcy and financial restructuring, they have a wide range of experience across litigation, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and regulatory matters, cross-border issues and employment law.
Kinsella represents debtors, unsecured creditors’ committees, equity committees, class action claimants, Chapter 11 and 7 trustees, and secured and unsecured creditors in complex reorganization and liquidation cases. She has prosecuted and defended hundreds of bankruptcy avoidance and fraudulent conveyance actions, as well as managed the claims objection process for various debtor estates. She also has experience in defending involuntary bankruptcies and representing buyers of distressed companies. She is a Six Sigma Green Belt, which she uses whenever applicable to provide cost efficiencies for her clients.
Stemerman advises clients in a wide variety of complex litigation, transactional and insolvency matters. He concentrates his practice in the areas of corporate, commercial and bankruptcy litigation, as well as corporate transactions, workouts and restructurings. Stemerman has represented clients in numerous corporate and complex commercial litigation cases in Delaware and Pennsylvania. He frequently litigates matters in Delaware’s Court of Chancery, including actions involving breach of fiduciary duty, business divorce, receiverships, and books and records requests. Additionally, he represents both plaintiffs and defendants in breach of contract actions and other complex commercial disputes in state and federal courts. He also regularly serves as counsel to debtors, creditors and trustees in a wide variety of bankruptcy matters, and further represents startups and emerging companies in transactional matters, including entity formation, investment rounds and wind downs.
Sutty has experience representing companies from formation through dissolution and every step in between. He also advises companies in mergers and acquisitions, financial restructuring, commercial transactions, regulatory compliance, corporate bankruptcy, creditors’ rights and commercial litigation. He regularly represents committees, debtors, debtors-in-possession, secured lenders, unsecured creditors, and trustees in Chapter 11 proceedings, and also represents trustees in Chapter 7 proceedings and post-confirmation estates. Sutty also has extensive trial and appellate court experience in Delaware and at the federal level.
Zahralddin advises businesses in corporate and commercial litigation, insolvency, distressed M&A, compliance, corporate formation, corporate governance, commercial transactions, cyber law, regulatory actions and cross-border issues. He represents clients in all aspects of bankruptcy and restructuring, and has deep experience in international commercial law issues, including cross-border insolvency. He is a creditors’ rights lawyer and has represented multiple statutory official committees in Chapter 11 and individual creditors serving on committees. He has regularly appeared before all federal and state courts in Delaware, including Chancery Court. Additionally, he has worked for two decades with early-stage companies, venture capitalists and private venture funds as both a transactional lawyer and corporate litigator. He is a Six Sigma Green Belt, frequent lecturer and writer.
Armstrong Teasdale has begun actively searching for office space in Wilmington, Delaware.