
William W. Kannel
Member / Chair, Bankruptcy & Restructuring Practice
+1.617.348.1665
Bill is a nationally recognized bankruptcy attorney with extensive experience in corporate and municipal reorganizations and debt restructurings both in and out of court. He represents creditors and debtors across a wide range of industries throughout the country in all phases of distressed debt negotiations, bankruptcy litigation, and distressed asset acquisitions. Bill is also recognized as one of the leading attorneys in the nation for his work representing bond trustees and bondholders in Chapter 9 bankruptcies and other governmental and municipal insolvencies.
Bill is the chair of the firm's Bankruptcy & Restructuring Practice. His practice focuses primarily on commercial law and litigation, workouts, and corporate and municipal restructurings. Bill has represented various institutional lenders, indenture trustees, bondholders, and other creditors, debtors, and trustees in all manner of insolvency proceedings in courts throughout the United States.
His industry experience encompasses municipalities, airlines, hospitals and other health care facilities, retail, telecom, energy and clean tech, waste disposal, military housing, hotels, and educational institutions.
He has substantial experience in all phases of bankruptcy litigation, practice, and case management from both the debtor’s and creditor’s perspective, including relief from stay, adequate protection, valuation, preference, fraudulent transfer, subordination, competing plan, and appellate litigation. One of his specialty areas is in negotiating sales of troubled companies and assets, both in and out of bankruptcy. His practice also includes addressing bankruptcy and documentation issues in securitizations, receivable sales, bond transactions, and structured financings generally.
Bill is active in the American College of Bankruptcy, American Bankruptcy Institute and the Turnaround Management Association and frequently lectures and writes on insolvency issues in front of these groups and numerous other bar, trade, and industry groups, including the National Federation of Municipal Analysts and its constituent societies and the Municipal Bond Buyers Conference. He served as an editor-in-chief of the American Bankruptcy Institute Health Care Insolvency Manual and served as co-chair of the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Health Care Insolvency Section.
Education
- Boston University School of Law (JD)
- Wesleyan University (BA)
Experience
- Representation of ad-hoc sewer and water revenue bondholders in Chapter 9 of Detroit, Michigan proceedings in the United States Bankruptcy Court for Eastern District of Michigan.
- Representation of ad-hoc group of second lien bondholders in Chapter 11 of Caesars Entertainment Corp. in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Illinois.
- Representation of indenture trustee for first lien bondholders in Chapter 11 bankruptcy of Molycorp, Inc. et. al. in United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
- Representation of numerous institutional holders of municipal bond debt of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and related entities.
- Representation of indenture trustees in numerous Chapter 9 hospital district cases including Atoka Medical Center in the United States Bankruptcy Court for Eastern District of Oklahoma, Tulare Medical Center in the United States Bankruptcy Court for Eastern District of California and Palm Drive Health Care District in the United States Bankruptcy Court for Northern District of California.
- Representation of indenture trustee for lease revenue and special revenue debt in Chapter 9 of Stockton, California in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of California.
- Representation of indenture trustee in receivership of Scranton Parking Authority in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
- Representation of indenture trustee in receivership of Central Falls Detention Facility Corporation in Central Falls, Rhode Island.
- Representation of Synata Bio Inc. in the purchase of assets from Abengoa Bioenergy Biomass of Kansas, LLC pending in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Kansas.
- Representation of liquidity providers and bondholders in Chapter 9 of Jefferson County, Alabama in the United States Bankruptcy Court for Northern District of Alabama.
- Representation of indenture trustees and bondholders with respect to facility revenue bonds in the Chapter 11 bankruptcies of United Airlines, Inc., Northwest Airlines and Delta Airlines, Inc.
Recognition & Awards
- Legal 500 Hall of Fame Finance: Municipal Bankruptcy
- Recognized as a leading lawyer by The Legal 500 United States for Finance: Municipal Bankruptcy (2013-2020)
- Best Lawyers in America: Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Litigation – Bankruptcy (2006 – 2021)
- Chambers USA: Massachusetts – Bankruptcy/Restructuring (2005 – 2020)
- The International Who’s Who of Insolvency & Restructuring Lawyers (2015 – 2020)
- Included on the Massachusetts Super Lawyers: Bankruptcy: Business list (2005 – 2020)
- Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent
- Recognized as Lawdragon 500 Leading U.S. Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers 2020
- Part of team that worked on a matter that received the 2020 Non-Profit Turnaround of the Year Award by the Turnaround Management Association
Viewpoints
363 Sales as a Health Care M&A Tool, Part 2 – Pros and Cons for Buyers and Sellers
September 11, 2020 | Blog | By Deborah Daccord, William Kannel, Rachel Irving Pitts, David Chorney, Tim McKeon
As a refresher, a 363 Sale couples a flexible and fast process with ample liability protection for willing buyers. The primary benefit of a 363 Sale is that a buyer can acquire the debtor’s assets free and clear of virtually all liens, claims, and interests burdening the assets and the debtor. And when Section 363 is coupled with the “assumption and assignment” provisions of Section 365 of the Bankruptcy Code, a debtor is able to assign most contracts or leases that a buyer may wish to purchase, including contracts with ironclad anti-assignment language, provided that certain conditions are satisfied. When a target is experiencing severe financial distress, the benefit of acquiring assets “free and clear” is extraordinarily valuable.
363 Sales as a Health Care M&A Tool, Part 1 – Overview
July 28, 2020 | Blog | By Deborah Daccord, William Kannel, Rachel Irving Pitts, Tim McKeon, David Chorney
For those unfamiliar with 363 Sales, a 363 Sale couples a flexible and fast process with ample liability protection for willing buyers. The primary benefit to a 363 Sale is that a buyer can acquire the debtor’s assets free and clear of virtually all liens, claims and encumbrances burdening the assets and the debtor. When a target is experiencing severe financial distress, the benefit of acquiring assets “free and clear of all liens” is extraordinarily valuable.