Patrick J Potter

Practice Areas

Patrick is a member of Dickinson Wright’s Restructuring and Insolvency Practice Group. He advises clients on complex deleveraging and restructuring strategies, with a particular focus on the commercial real estate, healthcare, and hospitality sectors, providing practical and innovative solutions tailored to each matter.

Patrick maintains a national and international restructuring practice, has appeared before dozens of U.S. bankruptcy judges, and has participated in more than 40 cross-border insolvency initiatives since 2014. As an INSOL International Fellow with more than three decades of experience representing creditors and other stakeholders, his practice is now primarily devoted to serving as lead counsel to debtors in complex restructurings. He is widely recognized for guiding financially distressed businesses through chapter 11 proceedings, preserving enterprise value, and saving thousands of jobs.

In addition to his domestic practice, Patrick has more than a decade of experience advising foreign governments on the development and implementation of modern insolvency laws and restructuring frameworks. He has conducted on-the-ground capacity-building initiatives in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Morocco, Egypt, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and the Republic of Georgia. Patrick regularly speaks, writes, and leads workshops in coordination with the World Bank Group, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Commercial Law Development Program, INSOL International, and other international organizations.

Professional Memberships

Co-Chair, ABI Real Estate Committee; International Insolvency Institute (III); International Association of Restructuring, Insolvency and Bankruptcy (INSOL International); INSOL MENA Advisory Council; American Bar Association, Section on Business Law; District of Columbia Bar Association, Bankruptcy Law Sections; Michigan Bar Association, Section on Bankruptcy Law; Virginia Bar Association, Section on Bankruptcy Law; American Bankruptcy Institute; Fellow, American Bar Foundation

Publications

Co-Author, “3 Chapter 15 Rulings in 4 Days Reinforce the Integrity of U.S. Chapter 15 Administration,” Dickinson Wright Client Alert, May 2026; Quoted, “Cross-Border Bankruptcies Get More Leeway With Delaware Ruling,” Bloomberg Law, April 2026; Co-Author, “3 Strikes Against Chapter 15: What the Geden and Siu-Fung Decisions Mean for Recognition Strategy,” Dickinson Wright Client Alert, March 2026; Author, “Assessing the "Logic and Limits" of Comparing European Union Preinsolvency Regimes to Chapter 11,” INSOL International, February 2026; Co-Author, “You Use It, You Pay for It: TRP Brands Reinforces Landlord Rights,” Dickinson Wright Client Alert, February 2026; Co-Author, “Colorado Bankruptcy Court Pushes Back on Chapter 11 Filings by Solvent Debtors,” Dickinson Wright Client Alert, January 2026; Co-Moderator, "Commercial Real Estate Economic Outlook," American Banking Institute, January 2026; “Key Features of Attractive Jurisdictions,” Panel Moderator, INSOL International and World Bank Group Legislative & Regulatory Colloquium, Hong Kong, March 18, 2025; “Hospitality Industry: A Deep Dive into Its Recovery and Lingering Distress,” Moderator, ABI Webinar, June 26, 2024; “Bankruptcy and Restructuring Proceedings in Focus – Expert Discourse,” Panel Moderator and Conference Planning Committee, INSOL International and Saudi Bankruptcy Commission, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 22, 2024; “Practical Solutions to Resolving Challenges Arising in Bankruptcy Going-Concern and Liquidation Sales,” INSOL International and Saudi Bankruptcy Commission, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, November 8, 2023; “U.S.–Kuwaiti Judicial Consultations,” U.S. Department of Commerce (Commercial Law Development Program), Washington, D.C., October 31–November 1, 2023; “Approaches to Promoting a More Efficient and Effective Restructuring Regime,” Workshop, INSOL International and Saudi Bankruptcy Commission, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, July 12, 2023; “First MENA Forum: Insolvency, Business Restructuring & Investment Promotion,” World Bank Group, INSOL International, and U.S. Department of Commerce (CLDP), Cairo, Egypt, June 19–20, 2023; “The U.S. Approach to More Efficient and Effective Restructuring Procedures,” Economic Development Board of Bahrain, Manama, Bahrain, January 12, 2023; “The Role of Courts in Successful Bankruptcy Procedures and the Protection of Economic Public Policy – Part II,” Commercial Law Development Program, Marrakech, Morocco, December 13–14, 2022; “The Role of Courts in Successful Bankruptcy Procedures and the Protection of Economic Public Policy – Part I,” Commercial Law Development Program, Casablanca, Morocco, November 29–30, 2022; “U.S. and MENA Insolvency Topics,” Presentations for Egyptian Ministry of Justice Delegation, World Bank Group, Washington, D.C., June 9 and 13, 2022; “Charting the Course: Navigating Hospitality Insolvencies,” Moderator, ABI Mid-Level Professional Development Program, November 9, 2021; “Bankruptcy Code Changes under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021,” Panelist, Strafford Webinar, April 7, 2021; “Understanding and Navigating Bankruptcy Exposure for Landlords during a Pandemic,” Pillsbury Webinar, September 17, 2020; “Real Assets Roundup – Real Estate,” Pillsbury Webinar, April 13, 2020.

Education

Awards