Stephen Hessler

Practice Areas

STEPHEN HESSLER is the leader of Sidley’s global Restructuring group and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. In his more than two decades of experience, he has represented debtors, creditors, and investors in large and complex Chapter 11 cases, out-of-court restructurings, asset acquisitions, and related litigation. Steve has counseled clients across a broad range of industries, including telecommunications, travel, energy, gaming, real estate, financial institutions, and manufacturing. He led the company-side representation of some of the most significant Chapter 11 reorganizations in recent history, including Frontier Communications and Windstream Holdings, and represented the purchasers of Hertz Global Holdings in their Chapter 11 cases.

Steve is a frequent lecturer and author on various restructuring-related topics. He co-teaches Corporate Governance: Board and Director Roles in Critical Decisions at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. For nearly a decade, Steve co-taught a restructuring class at the University of Pennsylvania, most recently as an Adjunct Full Professor of Finance at the Wharton School, and received the Wharton Teaching Excellence Award in 2019, 2020, and 2021. He also co-founded the University of Pennsylvania Institute for Restructuring Studies, a multidisciplinary initiative intended to address topical restructuring issues and influence the public policy debate in a manner that has practical application for investors, practitioners, academics, and regulators.