Lawyers from two of the most prestigious law firms in the country, Weil Gotshal and Kirkland & Ellis, were very busy in February, involved in a surge of bankruptcy filings. According to a report from Epiq Bankruptcy and the American Bankruptcy Institute, commercial Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings rose by 118% in February 2024 over February 2023 and by 77% over January 2024’s filings.
These two firms led the pack on these filings, handling major cases at the start and end of the month. Firstly, Cano Health, a Miami-based primary care provider, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection at the start of the month. Represented by Weil Gotshal, Cano listed $1.2 billion in assets and approximately $1.5 billion in liabilities in its filing. Weil had provided advice to Cano on corporate matters and shareholder activist issues before the company hit financial rough waters when it acted in a restructuring capacity. Weil received around $9 million from Cano in the 90 days before the filing, retaining a credit balance of around $4.2 million at the time of filing, according to American Lawyer.
The month closed with Kirkland & Ellis filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for 241 companies under the joint administration of Thrasio Holdings, an Amazon third-party seller. Thrasio listed between $1 billion and $10 billion in assets and $500 million to $1 billion in liabilities.
In total, these two firms covered approximately 300 Chapter 11 filings in jointly administered bankruptcies in February. This represents a substantial share of the increased bankruptcy filing activity over the period.