Paul J Keenan Jr

Practice Areas

Paul Keenan is a partner with the Restructuring and Insolvency Practice Group based in the Firm's Miami office. His practice includes the representation of foreign and domestic corporate debtors and creditors in out-of-court restructurings, bankruptcy cases, receiverships, assignments for the benefit of creditors, distressed asset sales, corporate wind downs and UCC foreclosures. Paul has been recognized by Chambers & Partners in corporate restructurings every year since 2014.

Paul has been inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and a member of the International Insolvency Institute.

Practice Focus

Paul has substantial experience in cross-border restructurings and bankruptcies. He speaks Spanish and has significant experience living and working in Latin America and the Caribbean. He is a Fellow of INSOL International for having completed an intensive course in cross-border restructurings. Among other accomplishments in this area, Paul represented a leading Latin American airline in its successful out-of-court restructuring of USD 2.5 billion in debt and a Mexican satellite company in its restructuring of USD 420 million in debt through a prepackaged plan of reorganization in Delaware. Paul has significant experience with the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency (enacted as Chapter 15 under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code). He obtained official recognition in Colombia of a U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization case, and also official recognition in the United States of a Colombian restructuring proceeding. In each case, it was the first time that the courts of Colombia and the United States had recognized each other’s corporate restructuring proceedings.

Paul represents clients in courts across Florida and nationwide, including wide-ranging experience before the bankruptcy courts in Delaware. He is a past President of the Bankruptcy Bar Association for the Southern District of Florida. He also provides insolvency-related structuring advice and legal opinions in connection with complex financial transactions.

Before attending law school, Paul served as an officer in the United States Navy on active duty for seven years.

Professional Memberships

Board Member, Broward Navy Days, Inc., Board of Directors, 2014 - Present

Member, American Bankruptcy Institute (2003 - Present) (Membership Relationship Manager, International Committee, 2014-2015)

Member, American Bar Association (2003 - Present)

Member, INSOL International (2003 - Present) (Chair, Latin America Committee)

Bankruptcy Bar Association for the Southern District of Florida (President, 2009 - 2010)

Publications

"The Reinvention of Law Firms," La República, June 2020

Co-author, "A Close Look at the Different Forms of Exit Financing," Law360, April 2014

Co-author, "How To Reduce Or Eliminate The Need For Exit Financing," Law360, April 2014

Co-author, "Understanding Exit Financing," Law360, March 2014

Co-author, "The Latest In Exit Financing Structures," Law360, May 2011

Co-author, " Uncertainty for Prepackaged Bankruptcies in Mexico," Law360, February 2011