Partner 
Email:
ssouthard@klestadt.com
Tel: 212.972.3000
Dir: 212.679.5320
Fax: 212.972.2245
Cell: 917.607.7862
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Mr. Southard became a partner with the firm in 2006 after practicing exclusively in the areas of business bankruptcy, distressed asset transactions and complex commercial litigation. During his years of practice, he has counseled and represented debtors, trade creditors, official committees, lessors, lenders, and chapter 11 trustees in many prominent local and national bankruptcy cases and out-of-court restructurings. In addition, Mr. Southard has prosecuted and defended several complex preference and fraudulent conveyance actions, claims litigations, and discovery related disputes in state and federal courts. He has represented clients in many industries and varying sectors of the economy, including airline, automotive, carting and demolition, construction and building, chemicals and solvents, machine tooling, not-for-profit hospitals, nursing homes and home health care, not-for-profit family services, commercial real estate, legal and professional service firms, garment and textile, diamond and jewelry, graphic design, food services and restaurants. In these capacities, Mr. Southard has counseled clients in an even wider range of matters, essentially from formation to liquidation, including negotiation of complex financing arrangements and commercial leases, numerous and varying business acquisition agreements and joint venture relationships, settling and mediating commercial disputes and claims, and prosecuting and defending various litigations. Mr. Southard is also a trained meditator and serves as a registered mediator with the Bankruptcy Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.
Some of Mr. Southard's recent bankruptcy estate representations include:
- Lead counsel to the official committee of unsecured creditors in Lehr Construction Corp. (general contractor and construction management).
- Lead counsel to the official committee of unsecured creditors in M. Slavin & Sons, Ltd. (seafood wholesaler).
- Lead counsel to the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart (not-for-profit corporations in New York and Illinois) in connection with the chapter 11 case of Cabrini Medical Center (not-for-profit hospital) and related transactions.
- Counsel to the official committee of unsecured creditors in Dreier LLP (national law firm).
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Lead counsel to secured noteholders of R. Esmerian, Inc. and
Ralph Esmerian (major New York jeweler) who successfully filed involuntary bankruptcy petitions against the debtors.
- Lead counsel to official committee of unsecured creditors in the GoodTimes (a/k/a GT Brands, REFCO, and Gymtime) jointly administered chapter 11 cases. Continued to represent the plan administrator in the cases, including with respect to pursuit of nearly 150 adversary proceedings.
- Lead counsel to Mr. Klestadt, as chapter 7 trustee of Alliance Mortgage (mortgage originator) and its affiliated chapter 7 cases.
- Counsel to Coudert Brothers LLP (international law firm) in its chapter 11 liquidation.
- Counsel to Piquant LLP (d/b/a Air America Radio) in its chapter 11 liquidation sale and liquidation.
- Lead counsel to Maher & Lemmo, LLP (law firm) in its chapter 11 liquidation.
- Lead counsel to The Card Corp. (marina) in its sale under chapter 11 plan of reorganization.
- Counsel to Tender Loving Care Health Care Service, Inc., et al. (home health care) in their jointly administered sales and chapter 11 liqudiations.
Mr. Southard has represented several corporate creditors and parties-in-interest in a number of other national bankruptcy mega-cases. For instance, he previously represented a large bondholder in the Northwest Airlines chapter 11 case in the context of post-confirmation litigation over millions of dollars in disputed professional fees sought by estate professionals.
Mr. Southard is an active member of the American Bankruptcy Institute and has served as a liaison to the Business Law Section of the New York State Bar Association. He graduated from St. John's University and received his law degree from St. John's University School of Law. While in law school Mr. Southard served as both staff member and editor of the American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review. During law school, he also served as a legal intern with the Honorable Cornelius Blackshear, United States Bankruptcy Judge in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Mr. Southard is admitted to practice in the State of New York and the United States District and Bankruptcy Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. He is a registered mediator approved by the Bankruptcy Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.