Overview
Rick Antonoff is a partner and member of Chapman’s Asset Securitization Department and Special Situations and Restructuring Group. He represents banks, financial institutions, direct lenders, alternative investment funds, private equity firms, asset managers, trade creditors, factors, and other parties as secured and unsecured creditors in bankruptcy proceedings and out-of-court workouts across many asset classes and industries including retail, real estate, energy, technology, maritime, art, telecommunications, media, aviation, and automobiles.
Rick appears in court proceedings throughout the United States. He represents foreign trustees in cross-border insolvency proceedings, buyers of distressed assets in and out of formal bankruptcy proceedings, and parties in intercreditor disputes and preference and fraudulent transfer litigation. Additionally, he counsels hedge providers under ISDA documentation in energy company bankruptcy cases. A significant part of Rick's practice involves providing bankruptcy-related legal opinions, including true sale, true lease, and non-consolidation opinions, for financing transactions. He also advises litigation funders on structuring and documenting transactions and navigating ethical and professional responsibility issues.
Rick is a member of the Bankruptcy and Corporate Reorganization Committee and the Structured Finance Committee of the New York City Bar Association, and Co-Chair of the Cross-Border Insolvency subcommittee. He has been selected multiple times as an observer to the United Nations Conference on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Insolvency Working Group. He regularly publishes topical articles, speaks at legal education seminars, and provides commentary for print and broadcast media.
Practice Focus
Memberships
New York City Bar Association
- Bankruptcy and Corporate Reorganization Committee, Member
- Structured Finance Committee, Member
- Cross-Border Insolvency Subcommittee, Co-Chair
Admitted
New York
U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
Education
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, J.D., cum laude, 1989
Binghamton University, B.A., 1981
Insights
Publications
- Co-Author, “Must Foreign Debtors Have U.S. Property to be Eligible for Relief Under Chapter 15?,” Pratt's Journal of Bankruptcy Law, September 2022
- Co-Author, “Protecting the Supply Chain: U.S. Government Studies the Role of Federal Agencies in Ocean Carrier Bankruptcies,” Pratt's Journal of Bankruptcy Law, October 2020
- Author, “Problems in the Code: Application of Pledged Special Revenues Under Section 922(d),” ABI Journal, December 2019
- Author, “The Curious Case of Extraterritoriality and Fraudulent Transfer Under the Bankruptcy Code,” New York Law Journal, June 2019
- Co-Author, “UNCITRAL’s Model Law on Recognition and Enforcement of Insolvency-Related Judgments – A Universalist Approach to Cross-Border Insolvency,” INSOL International Special Report, March 2019
- Co-Author, “A Powerful Tool for Tracing Foreign Assets in the U.S.,” Law360, March 2018
Presentations
- Co-Presenter, “Rendering Structured Finance Opinions of Counsel: Substantive Consolidation, Authority to File Bankruptcy, and More,” Strafford Webinar, April 2, 2024
- Panelist, “International Financing of FinTechs: Leveraging IP from Seed, to Growth and Beyond,” ABA Business Law Section Webinar, September 14, 2021
- Presenter, “Energy Swaps in Bankruptcy,” Lexis/Nexis Practical Guidance, May 11, 2021
- Co-Presenter, “Evaluating the Financial Health of an Entity,” Practicing Law Institute, November 25, 2019
- Co-Presenter, “How Creditors’ Rights Drive Restructuring Outcomes,” Practicing Law Institute, January 31, 2019
- Co-Presenter, “Litigation Funding in Bankruptcy,” Lexis/Nexis Webinar, January 16, 2019
