White & Case Joins Laracy Gall for Insolvency ‘Storm’
February 16, 2008, Bloomberg

As widely reported, global law firm White & Case LLP has formed an alliance with Hong Kong-based dispute resolution firm Laracy Gall, in preparation for the large number of expected corporate insolvency and restructuring filings in the near future.

"It's a perfect storm," John Hartley, head of the Firm's Asia Bank Finance and Restructuring Practice. "There's a large amount of refinancing coming up, and capital is retreating with banks retracting lending and private equity and distressed opportunities funds facing redemptions."

The alliance will give both firms an advantage when working with debtors and creditors. "You have competing interests among the creditor groups depending on which level you are at, offshore or onshore," Hartley said. "Add to that the fact that lenders often sold down their positions in these transactions to funds and other lenders using derivatives, and untangling these structures becomes a real challenge."