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Lorraine McGowen is a partner resident in the New York office of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe where she focuses on restructurings.
For over 30 years, Lorraine has advised leading financial institutions, syndicated lender groups, creditor committees and other parties from the U.S., Europe, Asia and Africa seeking to maximize their recovery or reduce their exposure. She has been the lead bankruptcy lawyer advising companies (including their boards) seeking to acquire financially distressed companies or assets. Lorraine interfaces with auditors, government regulators, investment bankers and others, and develops and implements mediation and litigation strategies, and negotiates reorganization plans and complex corporate and finance documents.
Recent notable engagements include representing multinational bank syndicates in connection with the restructuring of major toll roads, the acquisition of a $6 billion toll road by an Australian firm, representing financial institutions, municipalities and others in the global Lehman insolvency proceedings, representing a South African company in connection with its $3.4 billion acquisition of a mineral sands business, representing financial institutions in connection with the restructuring of Puerto Rico’s $72 billion indebtedness, and representing Toyota Motor Corporation and its subsidiaries and affiliates in connection with the restructuring of Takata Corporation (the maker of the defective airbags) in its bankruptcy proceedings in the US and Japan.
Lorraine is the chair of Orrick’s firmwide Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives and recently completed two terms of service on the firm’s 11-member Board of Directors. She previously chaired Orrick’s Restructuring Group. She is a frequent speaker and author on bankruptcy and insolvency matters and serves as an Editor of the Bloomberg Bankruptcy Treatise.
Lorraine is described by colleagues, clients and others as ”tireless,” “ubiquitous,” “driven, determined, dedicated and devoted” and “a multi-faceted, multi-dimensional, multi-successful person on so many levels.”
Among her awards, honors and activities, Lorraine was recognized as a Diversity Champion by the New York City Bar Association, as a 2017 Pipeline to Diversity Champion Award by Legal Outreach, and by Savoy Magazine as one of the Most Influential Black Lawyers. Lorraine is a fellow of the American Bar Foundation, and a member of the 2016 DirectWomen Board Institute. Lorraine is on the Board of Legal Advisers for Legal Outreach, a non-profit college-bound program for students in underserved neighborhoods in New York City, on the Board of the Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession, and on the Advisory Committee for the Vance Center for International Justice of the New York City Bar Association.
