- Debtor’s counsel to a hospital in its Chapter 11 case, resulting in the sale of the debtor and resolution of a complex WARN Act class action through a plan settlement directly to the claimants.
- Counsel to acquirers of health care businesses and to sellers of hospitals.
- Counsel in numerous past and pending bankruptcy suits and investigations dealing with director and officer claims, avoidable transfers, Barton doctrine issues, and in the liquidation of a private equity fund.
- Debtor’s counsel to a manufacturing company in its financial restructuring and Chapter 11 case, resulting in the sale and survival of the debtor.
- Counsel to shopping center developers dealing with hundreds of millions of dollars of debt with numerous lenders and complex joint venture structures restructured out of court.
- Counsel to home builders dealing with hundreds of millions of dollars of debt with numerous lenders restructured out of court.
- Counsel to senior lenders in real estate workouts, foreclosures, and bankruptcies.
- Bankruptcy litigation counsel for a national company in parallel bankruptcy and district court litigation concerning bankruptcy plan confirmation and lender liability issues.
- Counsel to a Chapter 11 trustee in an investigation that led to bringing claims for breach of fiduciary duty and violations of bankruptcy disclosure requirements and confirming a plan that generated general unsecured creditors’ recovery of 47 percent of their claims.
- Counsel on several different commercial fraud cases dealing with more than $200 million in embezzled funds and Ponzi schemes.
Senior Counsel,
- Phone: +1 404 881 7285
- Email: grant.stein@alston.com
As a Fellow and vice president of the American College of Bankruptcy, Grant is trusted by his peers and clients alike to provide practical counsel for even the most complex bankruptcy matters. He has served as counsel on commercial fraud cases dealing with more than $200 million in embezzled funds and Ponzi schemes.
- Counsel on confidential internal investigations.
- Counsel dealing with RMBS issues.
- Counsel for a major unsecured creditor on the resolution of its $89 million claim and related litigation issues in a large national bankruptcy case.
- Bankruptcy counsel to a purchaser on the $379 million portion of a consortium bid in the acquisition of a portion of the assets of a bankruptcy estate in a large national bankruptcy case.
- Debtor’s counsel for a 400-store retail chain, which had more than $80 million in debt and operations in 10 states. Completed a sale of assets in less than two months under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code, with proceeds sufficient to pay the secured creditors in full. Distributions to unsecured creditors exceeded 45 cents on the dollar. Also handled the commercial real property lease assumption issues on more than 400 leases and the claims resolution process (addressing more than 3,500 claims) and preference litigation.
- Debtor’s counsel for a national advertising company with more than $140 million in debt and more than 7,000 nonresidential real property leases, which utilized Chapter 11 to repay all secured creditors and convert public bond debt to equity in a reorganized company.
- Debtor’s counsel in the Chapter 11 case of a manufacturer in which the debtor was sold as a going concern, with a complete return to secured creditors, with a plan subsequently confirmed.
- Lead bankruptcy counsel on a $9 billion private structured finance transaction.
- Counsel to national distributors in multimillion-dollar claims against, and settlements with, national retailers in their bankruptcy cases.
- Appellate counsel in obtaining the reversal of adverse determinations in complex cases before the Sixth and Eleventh Circuits.
- Counsel for contract parties in airline bankruptcy cases.
Grant Stein is a senior counsel with Alston & Bird’s Financial Restructuring & Reorganization Group. His diverse practice includes representing debtors, fiduciaries, secured and unsecured creditors, and asset purchasers in complex and difficult out-of-court debt restructurings, bankruptcy cases, and financial transactions throughout the U.S. and internationally. He regularly represents officers, directors, and other parties in insolvency-related litigation of all kinds. His restructuring experience includes health care, manufacturing, real estate, wholesale, retail, aviation, communications, technology, and intellectual property issues, and he has done substantial work in receiverships and assignments for the benefit of creditors.
Grant is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy. He has received numerous career accolades, including being named an AIRA Distinguished Fellow and receiving the 2017 David W. Pollard Award presented by the Atlanta Bar Association’s Bankruptcy Section. The lifetime achievement award recognizes a member of the Atlanta Bar who “best exemplifies the highest standards of professionalism and ethics in the bankruptcy practice.”
Grant served as law clerk to the Hon. W. Homer Drake, has written numerous articles, and regularly lectures around the country.
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In the News July 22, 2021Law360 | Ch. 11 Auction Nets $152M Buyer for Wardman Park HotelDavid Wender and Grant Stein are noted for representing Pacific Life Insurance Company in the bankruptcy and subsequent auction of the former Washington Marriott Wardman Park hotel before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.In the News July 22, 2021Law360 | Ch. 11 Auction Nets $152M Buyer for Wardman Park HotelDavid Wender and Grant Stein are noted for representing Pacific Life Insurance Company in the bankruptcy and subsequent auction of the former Washington Marriott Wardman Park hotel before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
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Press Release August 21, 2020Alston & Bird Earns Broad Recognition in 2021 Best Lawyers and Ones to WatchTwo hundred and nineteen Alston & Bird attorneys have been selected by their peers for inclusion in the 2021 edition of The Best Lawyers in America©, and 69 attorneys have been selected for the inaugural edition of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch.Press Release August 21, 2020Alston & Bird Earns Broad Recognition in 2021 Best Lawyers and Ones to WatchTwo hundred and nineteen Alston & Bird attorneys have been selected by their peers for inclusion in the 2021 edition of The Best Lawyers in America©, and 69 attorneys have been selected for the inaugural edition of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch.
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General Publications March 13, 2019“With WARN Act and Bankruptcy, Better Think Inside the Box,” Law360, March 13, 2019.What do you do when you find yourself in bankruptcy after generating over $20 million from a sale of assets with no secured creditor only to be faced with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act litigation where the plaintiffs are seeking administrative priority treatment for 100 percent of the alleged WARN Act claims (exceeding $16 million)?General Publications March 13, 2019“With WARN Act and Bankruptcy, Better Think Inside the Box,” Law360, March 13, 2019.What do you do when you find yourself in bankruptcy after generating over $20 million from a sale of assets with no secured creditor only to be faced with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act litigation where the plaintiffs are seeking administrative priority treatment for 100 percent of the alleged WARN Act claims (exceeding $16 million)?
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General Publications September 1, 2015“Bankruptcy Court Jurisdiction Raises Constitutional Questions with Economic Consequences,” ABL Advisor, September 1, 2015.The system of checks and balances, and separation of powers, has found a practical manifestation in a series of decisions of the Supreme Court that address the judicial authority of bankruptcy judges.General Publications September 1, 2015“Bankruptcy Court Jurisdiction Raises Constitutional Questions with Economic Consequences,” ABL Advisor, September 1, 2015.The system of checks and balances, and separation of powers, has found a practical manifestation in a series of decisions of the Supreme Court that address the judicial authority of bankruptcy judges.
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General Publications June 5, 2015“Wellness v. Sharif Raises a $920M Question,” Law360, June 5, 2015.In short, the Supreme Court held that a litigant in a bankruptcy court can consent — expressly or impliedly through waiver — to the bankruptcy court’s final adjudication of claims that the bankruptcy court otherwise lacks constitutional authority to finally decide.General Publications June 5, 2015“Wellness v. Sharif Raises a $920M Question,” Law360, June 5, 2015.In short, the Supreme Court held that a litigant in a bankruptcy court can consent — expressly or impliedly through waiver — to the bankruptcy court’s final adjudication of claims that the bankruptcy court otherwise lacks constitutional authority to finally decide.
Bar Admissions
- Georgia
Education
- University of Georgia (J.D., 1981)
- Emory University (B.B.A., 1978)
Memberships
- American College of Bankruptcy, Fellow, vice president (2016–2020); board of regents (2007–2011)
- Homer Drake, Jr., Georgia Bankruptcy American Inn of Court, Master of the Bench and Counselor of the Inn
- Association of Insolvency & Restructuring Advisors (AIRA), director and former chair and president
- Southeastern Bankruptcy Law Institute, director and former chair and president
Accolades
- Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, top practitioner, 1999-2019
- The Best Lawyers in America®, 1999-2021; Lawyer of the Year for “Litigation - Bankruptcy in Atlanta,” 2020
- Super Lawyers, 2004-2021
- AIRA Distinguished Fellow, 2021
- Lawdragon, “Leading U.S. Bankruptcy & Restructuring Lawyer,” 2020
- Atlanta Bar Association’s Bankruptcy Section - David W. Pollard Award, 2017