Stephen B. Gerald

Companies of all sizes, from small, early-stage enterprises to those in the Fortune 500, rely on Steve Gerald's experience, insight, and pragmatism to navigate the myriad issues and complexities that arise when a business faces financial distress, both in and out of the bankruptcy process. For debtors, creditors, trustees, buyers, litigants, and other parties, Steve provides seasoned guidance to protect their interests, maximize their recoveries, and otherwise achieve their business goals.

For more than two decades, Steve has focused his practice on helping businesses protect against, prepare for, address, and mitigate the impacts and implications of financial distress, whether it be their own, or that of some other party with which they do business or otherwise encounter in a commercial setting. Always cognizant of his client’s bottom line and economic imperatives, he implements strategies designed to achieve his client’s goals efficiently and cost-effectively. Steve's immersive understanding of both the legal and practical challenges facing troubled companies and their creditors has not only served his clients well but has also made him a recognized and respected authority on such matters.

While Steve maintains an established and robust practice in Wilmington, Delaware, he works with clients in jurisdictions across the country, including Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, where Steve is also licensed to practice. Steve is experienced in a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, CPG, energy, transportation, technology, construction, and government contracting. Leveraging the perspectives he has gained from his extensive debtor-side work, Steve assists creditors with pre and post-bankruptcy risk management, claims maximization, the preservation or repair of ongoing business relationships, and asset protection and litigation, including preference and fraudulent conveyance actions.

Since 2022, Chambers USA has recognized Steve for his bankruptcy and restructuring acumen. He is also a Litigation Counsel of America Fellow, an invitation-only trial lawyer honorary society limited to 3500 members nationwide.

Representative Estate Engagements

• Counsel to a debtor that owned an apartment building in DC, achieving a successful sale in the District of Columbia.
• Counsel to a debtor that owned a real estate development project, seeking sale of the property in the District of Maryland, where the court ruled, as a matter of first impression, that Maryland mechanic’s liens are avoidable “statutory liens.”
• Co-Counsel to a multi-billion-dollar upstream oil and gas company in a successful reorganization in the District of Delaware.
• Special Litigation Counsel to the Chapter 7 Trustee to investigate causes of action in the District of Delaware.
• Co-Counsel to the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors/Liquidating Trustee in a matter involving a multi-billion-dollar retail company in the District of Delaware.
• Co-Counsel to the Chapter 7 Trustee in a matter involving a dry cleaning business in the District of Delaware.
• Creditors Committee counsel in a matter involving a lumber/transportation company in the District of Maryland.

Representative Creditor / Party-In-Interest Engagements

• Outside creditors’ rights counsel to a Fortune 500 publicly traded CPG company, assisting with risk management, claim maximization, ongoing business relations, asset protection, and litigation in numerous bankruptcy cases across the country.
• Outside creditors’ rights counsel to a Fortune 1000 publicly traded company with aerospace and industrial, defense and electronics, and Naval and power segments, assisting with risk management, claim maximization, ongoing business relations, and litigation in numerous bankruptcy cases across the country.
• Bankruptcy counsel to an international insurance company, advising on a coverage dispute in mass tort bankruptcy case pending in the District of Delaware.
• Co-Counsel to former shareholders against debtors in a multi-million-dollar litigation in the District of Delaware.
• Outside creditors rights counsel to various transportation/logistics companies in bankruptcy cases across the country.
• Counsel to landlords in various retail Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases, seeking various forms of relief and protection.
• Counsel to litigants seeking relief from the automatic stay and related relief.
• Prosecution and defense of hundreds of preference and fraudulent conveyance actions.