Rebecca Blake Chaikin
Partner, Houston
Practice Areas
Experience
- Debtor Representation
- Distressed Asset Buyers & Sellers Representation
- Energy Workouts & Reorganizations
- Secured Creditor Representation
- Unsecured Creditor Representation
Biography
Rebecca Blake Chaikin is an attorney in the Bankruptcy, Restructuring, & Recovery section of Jackson Walker’s Houston office.
Rebecca’s extensive practice focuses on representing debtors and creditors across all aspects of complex corporate restructurings, including both in-court proceedings and out-of-court workouts. Rebecca has practiced in Texas, Delaware, New York, and Virginia bankruptcy courts.
Prior to Jackson Walker, Rebecca practiced as a restructuring partner at an international firm. Before attending law school, she was a restructuring paralegal at a large law firm in New York and a legislative assistant at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington, D.C.
Education
B.A., magna cum laude, Brandeis University
J.D., New York University School of Law
- New York University Law Review, Executive Editor
Bar Admissions
Texas
New York
Court Admissions
Texas State
New York State
U.S. District Court for the Eastern and Southern District of New York
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas
Lead Counsel
- Representing debtor LaForta – Gestão e Investimentos, Sociedade Unipessoal, Lda, a private limited liability company in its chapter 11 case. Rebecca worked closely with the Chief Restructuring Officer, David Weinhoffer of MACCO Restructuring Group, to successfully sell the debtor’s sole asset, La Muralla IV, a sixth-generation, ultra-deepwater semi-submersible drilling rig. The section 363 sale garnered the American Bankruptcy Institute’s 2023 Asset Sale of the Year award.
- Represented Denbury Resources Inc. and 17 of its affiliates in their prepackaged Chapter 11 cases. The Plano-based exploration company uniquely focuses on CO2-enhanced oil recovery and carbon capture. Denbury successfully completed its financial restructuring and emerged from Chapter 11 after eliminating $2.1 billion of bond debt.
- Represented JCPenney Company, Inc. and its affiliates in their prearranged Chapter 11 cases. The company substantially delivered its $4.9 billion in prepetition debt by consummating a sale of its operating business to certain mall operators and reorganizing its real estate assets into a holding company owned by certain prepetition lenders.
- Represented Jones Energy Inc. and its affiliates in their prepackaged Chapter 11 cases. The Austin-based company engaged in the exploration, development, production, and acquisition of oil and gas properties in the Anadarko Basin in Oklahoma and Texas that fully equitized over $1 billion in funded debt and preferred equity obligations. The Court confirmed the uncontested plan just three weeks after filing.
Co-Counsel and Conflicts Counsel
- Representing Cineworld Group plc and 104 of its debtor affiliates—the second-largest movie theater chain in the world, which includes the Regal Entertainment Group—in their chapter 11 cases to address over $5 billion in funded debt.
- Representing Sungard Availability Services, a global operator of colocation data and disaster recovery centers, in its chapter 11 restructuring of $424 million in liabilities; with a particular focus on assisting the company in winding down its remaining estate following successful sales of their key domestic businesses.
- Represented Altera Infrastructure L.P. and certain of its affiliates, a leading international midstream services provider to the oil and gas industry, in pre-arranged Chapter 11 cases, with a particular focus on litigation concerning the chapter 11 plan, which was confirmed and consummated in early 2023, and the company’s claims administration.
- Represented Avaya Holdings Corp. and its affiliates, a global communications company, in their prepackaged Chapter 11 cases. The plan of reorganization deleveraged Avaya’s debt by more than 75% after only approximately two months in chapter 11.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware
- Represented Destination Maternity Corporation, the largest national omni-channel maternity apparel retailer, and certain of its affiliates in their Chapter 11 cases and 363 sale of the intellectual property, e-commerce business, and other assets to Marquee Brands LLC.
- Represented Houston-based specialty retailer Charming Charlie Holdings Inc. and its affiliates in their prearranged Chapter 11 restructuring. The retailer entered into a restructuring support agreement with a majority of its term loan lenders and equity sponsors, which provided for a comprehensive financial and operational restructuring that significantly reduced the company’s funded debt obligations.
- Represented Energy Future Holdings Corp., the largest generator, distributor, and certified retail provider of electricity in Texas, and its affiliates in their Chapter 11 cases. With over $49 billion in liabilities and $36 billion in assets, the Chapter 11 case is the largest operating Chapter 11 case ever filed in Delaware and is one of the largest Chapter 11 cases filed in history.
- Represented Magnum Hunter Resources Corporation, an independent exploration and production company, and its subsidiaries in their prearranged Chapter 11 cases. The company completed a balance-sheet restructuring that de-leveraged substantially all of its $1 billion of pre-bankruptcy funded indebtedness and converted 100% of its post-filing debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing into equity pursuant to a debt-to-equity exchange.
- Represented Dex Media, Inc., a Texas-based international media and marketing company, and its affiliates in successfully completing their financial restructuring and emergence from Chapter 11.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York
- Represented Sungard AS Capital, Inc., a provider of availability and recovery services, and its affiliates in their prepackaged Chapter 11 cases. Confirmation was obtained in less than 19 hours, and the company emerged from Chapter 11 faster than any company in history—staying in Chapter 11 for less than 48 hours. The company had approximately $1.26 billion in funded debt at the commencement of its Chapter 11 cases and deleveraged by over $900 million upon emergence.
- Represented FullBeauty Brands Holdings Corp., an online plus-size apparel retailer, and its affiliates in their prepackaged Chapter 11 cases. The company, which had $1.27 billion in funded debt at the commencement of filing, emerged shortly after making history as the first to obtain confirmation of a prepackaged Chapter 11 plan in less than 24 hours.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
- Represented Penn Virginia Corporation, an independent oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, development, and production of oil, NGLs, and natural gas, and its affiliates in their prearranged Chapter 11 restructuring. The company filed with a support agreement with all of its secured debt and a supermajority of its unsecured debt regarding a transaction that will reduce the company’s long term debt from approximately $1.2 billion to approximately $128 million. In 2017, the Turnaround Management Association recognized the successful Penn Virginia restructuring with its “Mid-Size Company Transaction of the Year Award.”
- Represented Toys “R” Us, Inc. and certain subsidiaries in their Chapter 11 cases. Rebecca focused on obtaining approval of the domestic DIP financing.
Out of Court Workouts
- Representing an independent exploration and production company in its out-of-court deleveraging transaction and liability management efforts.
- Represented Sequa Corporation in its successful refinancing and out-of-court restructuring of approximately $1.9 billion of funded indebtedness. With its senior credit facilities fully refinanced, the company obtained a significant new money investment and over 90% of its unsecured notes were exchanged for new convertible preferred equity.
- Represented Midstates Petroleum Company, Inc., an independent exploration and production company, in a series of transactions to increase its liquidity. The transactions included a private offering of $625 million of senior secured second lien notes, an exchange of existing unsecured senior notes for approximately $504 million of senior secured third lien notes, and an amendment to its existing revolving credit facility to allow for the senior secured second lien notes issuance, the exchange transaction, and to provide additional covenant flexibility.
- The Best Lawyers in America (Woodward/White Inc.), Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law, 2024-2025
- Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch (Woodward/White Inc.), Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law, 2021, 2022
- “Conversation With Texas Bankruptcy Judges,” The Texas Lawbook CLE webcast (February 2023)
- “Privacy in Bankruptcy: Only You Can Prevent Harm by Sealing, Redacting, or Not Filing,” UT Law CLE’s Jay L. Westbrook Bankruptcy Conference (November 2022)
- Foundation for Education in Honduras, Treasurer, Junior Board, 2015-2022
- NYU School of Law Strategic Planning Committee, 2015-2016
August 15, 2024
Attorney News
‘The Best Lawyers in America’ Features 306 Jackson Walker Attorneys in 2025 Edition, Including 9 “Lawyers of the Year” and 75 “Ones to Watch”
The Best Lawyers in America has recognized 306 Jackson Walker attorneys across 81 specialty practice areas in its 2025 edition, including 9 Lawyers of the Year and 75 Ones to Watch. In this year’s guide, Jackson Walker saw the largest number of attorneys in the areas of Commercial Litigation (75 attorneys) and Real Estate Law (55 attorneys) and the addition of 27 attorneys as Best Lawyers.
August 17, 2023
Attorney News
‘The Best Lawyers in America’ Honors 287 Jackson Walker Attorneys in 2024 Edition, Including 12 “Lawyers of the Year” and 80 “Ones to Watch”
The Best Lawyers in America has recognized 287 Jackson Walker attorneys across 5 offices and 82 specialty practice areas in its 2024 edition, including 12 Lawyers of the Year and 80 Ones to Watch. In this year’s guide, Jackson Walker saw the largest number of attorneys in the areas of Commercial Litigation (66 attorneys) and Real Estate Law (60 attorneys) and the addition of 35 attorneys as Best Lawyers.
August 8, 2023
Mentions
A Guide to the Texas Legal Market, with Jackson Walker l Chambers Associate
Jonathan D. Neerman, Jesse S. Lotay, Rebecca Blake Chaikin, Clinton J. Kuykendall, and Miguel A. Ortiz provided insight on the much sought-after Texas legal market with Chambers Associate.
August 4, 2023
Mentions
The American Lawyer: Jackson Walker is Nation’s Top Local Counsel in Large Bankruptcies, as Bankruptcy and Restructuring Filings Rebound
The American Lawyer cited new research which named Jackson Walker’s Bankruptcy, Restructuring, & Recovery group as the top local debtor’s counsel in the nation so far this year.
February 7, 2023
Speaking Engagements
Rebecca Blake Chaikin to Join ‘The Texas Lawbook’ for a Conversation With Texas Bankruptcy Judges
On Tuesday, February 14, Rebecca Blake Chaikin will speak during a CLE webcast hosted by The Texas Lawbook discussing business bankruptcy trends, insights, and predictions for 2023. Fellow speakers will include Judge David Jones, Judge Christopher Lopez, Judge Marvin Isgur, and Porter Hedges attorney John Higgins.
April 21, 2022
Newsletters
JW Diversity & Inclusion Newsletter – April 2022
View Jackson Walker’s April 2022 Diversity & Inclusion Newsletter, Perspectives.
April 1, 2022
Attorney News
Rebecca Blake Chaikin Joins Jackson Walker’s Bankruptcy, Restructuring, & Recovery Practice in Houston
Jackson Walker is pleased to announce the addition of Rebecca Blake Chaikin as a partner in the Houston office’s Bankruptcy, Restructuring, & Recovery practice.
- “A Guide to the Texas Legal Market, with Jackson Walker,” Chambers Associate (August 2023)
- “Q&A with JW Bankruptcy Partner Rebecca Blake Chaikin,” The Texas Lawbook (April 2022)
- “Big Law Lateral Hiring is Heating Up With the Weather in Texas,” The American Lawyer (April 2022)
- “Jackson Walker Adds Bankruptcy Depth from Kirkland,” The Texas Lawbook (April 2022)
- “Jackson Walker Adds Kirkland Bankruptcy Pro In Houston,” Law360 (April 2022)
- “#046: Rebecca Blake Chaikin – Bankruptcy and Restructuring Attorney,” How I Lawyer Podcast with Jonah Perlin (December 2021)
Practice Experience
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas
Lead Counsel
- Representing debtor LaForta – Gestão e Investimentos, Sociedade Unipessoal, Lda, a private limited liability company in its chapter 11 case. Rebecca worked closely with the Chief Restructuring Officer, David Weinhoffer of MACCO Restructuring Group, to successfully sell the debtor’s sole asset, La Muralla IV, a sixth-generation, ultra-deepwater semi-submersible drilling rig. The section 363 sale garnered the American Bankruptcy Institute’s 2023 Asset Sale of the Year award.
- Represented Denbury Resources Inc. and 17 of its affiliates in their prepackaged Chapter 11 cases. The Plano-based exploration company uniquely focuses on CO2-enhanced oil recovery and carbon capture. Denbury successfully completed its financial restructuring and emerged from Chapter 11 after eliminating $2.1 billion of bond debt.
- Represented JCPenney Company, Inc. and its affiliates in their prearranged Chapter 11 cases. The company substantially delivered its $4.9 billion in prepetition debt by consummating a sale of its operating business to certain mall operators and reorganizing its real estate assets into a holding company owned by certain prepetition lenders.
- Represented Jones Energy Inc. and its affiliates in their prepackaged Chapter 11 cases. The Austin-based company engaged in the exploration, development, production, and acquisition of oil and gas properties in the Anadarko Basin in Oklahoma and Texas that fully equitized over $1 billion in funded debt and preferred equity obligations. The Court confirmed the uncontested plan just three weeks after filing.
Co-Counsel and Conflicts Counsel
- Representing Cineworld Group plc and 104 of its debtor affiliates—the second-largest movie theater chain in the world, which includes the Regal Entertainment Group—in their chapter 11 cases to address over $5 billion in funded debt.
- Representing Sungard Availability Services, a global operator of colocation data and disaster recovery centers, in its chapter 11 restructuring of $424 million in liabilities; with a particular focus on assisting the company in winding down its remaining estate following successful sales of their key domestic businesses.
- Represented Altera Infrastructure L.P. and certain of its affiliates, a leading international midstream services provider to the oil and gas industry, in pre-arranged Chapter 11 cases, with a particular focus on litigation concerning the chapter 11 plan, which was confirmed and consummated in early 2023, and the company’s claims administration.
- Represented Avaya Holdings Corp. and its affiliates, a global communications company, in their prepackaged Chapter 11 cases. The plan of reorganization deleveraged Avaya’s debt by more than 75% after only approximately two months in chapter 11.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware
- Represented Destination Maternity Corporation, the largest national omni-channel maternity apparel retailer, and certain of its affiliates in their Chapter 11 cases and 363 sale of the intellectual property, e-commerce business, and other assets to Marquee Brands LLC.
- Represented Houston-based specialty retailer Charming Charlie Holdings Inc. and its affiliates in their prearranged Chapter 11 restructuring. The retailer entered into a restructuring support agreement with a majority of its term loan lenders and equity sponsors, which provided for a comprehensive financial and operational restructuring that significantly reduced the company’s funded debt obligations.
- Represented Energy Future Holdings Corp., the largest generator, distributor, and certified retail provider of electricity in Texas, and its affiliates in their Chapter 11 cases. With over $49 billion in liabilities and $36 billion in assets, the Chapter 11 case is the largest operating Chapter 11 case ever filed in Delaware and is one of the largest Chapter 11 cases filed in history.
- Represented Magnum Hunter Resources Corporation, an independent exploration and production company, and its subsidiaries in their prearranged Chapter 11 cases. The company completed a balance-sheet restructuring that de-leveraged substantially all of its $1 billion of pre-bankruptcy funded indebtedness and converted 100% of its post-filing debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing into equity pursuant to a debt-to-equity exchange.
- Represented Dex Media, Inc., a Texas-based international media and marketing company, and its affiliates in successfully completing their financial restructuring and emergence from Chapter 11.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York
- Represented Sungard AS Capital, Inc., a provider of availability and recovery services, and its affiliates in their prepackaged Chapter 11 cases. Confirmation was obtained in less than 19 hours, and the company emerged from Chapter 11 faster than any company in history—staying in Chapter 11 for less than 48 hours. The company had approximately $1.26 billion in funded debt at the commencement of its Chapter 11 cases and deleveraged by over $900 million upon emergence.
- Represented FullBeauty Brands Holdings Corp., an online plus-size apparel retailer, and its affiliates in their prepackaged Chapter 11 cases. The company, which had $1.27 billion in funded debt at the commencement of filing, emerged shortly after making history as the first to obtain confirmation of a prepackaged Chapter 11 plan in less than 24 hours.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
- Represented Penn Virginia Corporation, an independent oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, development, and production of oil, NGLs, and natural gas, and its affiliates in their prearranged Chapter 11 restructuring. The company filed with a support agreement with all of its secured debt and a supermajority of its unsecured debt regarding a transaction that will reduce the company’s long term debt from approximately $1.2 billion to approximately $128 million. In 2017, the Turnaround Management Association recognized the successful Penn Virginia restructuring with its “Mid-Size Company Transaction of the Year Award.”
- Represented Toys “R” Us, Inc. and certain subsidiaries in their Chapter 11 cases. Rebecca focused on obtaining approval of the domestic DIP financing.
Out of Court Workouts
- Representing an independent exploration and production company in its out-of-court deleveraging transaction and liability management efforts.
- Represented Sequa Corporation in its successful refinancing and out-of-court restructuring of approximately $1.9 billion of funded indebtedness. With its senior credit facilities fully refinanced, the company obtained a significant new money investment and over 90% of its unsecured notes were exchanged for new convertible preferred equity.
- Represented Midstates Petroleum Company, Inc., an independent exploration and production company, in a series of transactions to increase its liquidity. The transactions included a private offering of $625 million of senior secured second lien notes, an exchange of existing unsecured senior notes for approximately $504 million of senior secured third lien notes, and an amendment to its existing revolving credit facility to allow for the senior secured second lien notes issuance, the exchange transaction, and to provide additional covenant flexibility.
Recognition & Accolades
- The Best Lawyers in America (Woodward/White Inc.), Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law, 2024-2025
- Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch (Woodward/White Inc.), Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law, 2021, 2022
Publications & Speeches
- “Conversation With Texas Bankruptcy Judges,” The Texas Lawbook CLE webcast (February 2023)
- “Privacy in Bankruptcy: Only You Can Prevent Harm by Sealing, Redacting, or Not Filing,” UT Law CLE’s Jay L. Westbrook Bankruptcy Conference (November 2022)
Community Involvement
- Foundation for Education in Honduras, Treasurer, Junior Board, 2015-2022
- NYU School of Law Strategic Planning Committee, 2015-2016
In the News
- “A Guide to the Texas Legal Market, with Jackson Walker,” Chambers Associate (August 2023)
- “Q&A with JW Bankruptcy Partner Rebecca Blake Chaikin,” The Texas Lawbook (April 2022)
- “Big Law Lateral Hiring is Heating Up With the Weather in Texas,” The American Lawyer (April 2022)
- “Jackson Walker Adds Bankruptcy Depth from Kirkland,” The Texas Lawbook (April 2022)
- “Jackson Walker Adds Kirkland Bankruptcy Pro In Houston,” Law360 (April 2022)
- “#046: Rebecca Blake Chaikin – Bankruptcy and Restructuring Attorney,” How I Lawyer Podcast with Jonah Perlin (December 2021)