Wendy M. Simkulak

Partner

  • Wendy M. Simkulak
  • Phone: +1 215 979 1547

    Wendy M. Simkulak - LinkedIn Import to Address Book

  • Duane Morris LLP
    30 South 17th Street
    Philadelphia, PA 19103-4196
    USA
  • Duane Morris LLP
    1540 Broadway
    New York, NY 10036-4086
    USA
  • Duane Morris LLP
    230 Park Avenue, Suite 1130
    New York, NY 10169-0079
    USA

Wendy M. Simkulak is co-chair of the firm’s Business Reorganization and Financial Restructuring Practice Group and chair of the group’s Insurance Rights division. She also serves as a team lead for the firm’s Insurance & Reinsurance industry group and is a member of the firm’s governing Partners Board. Ms. Simkulak practices in the areas of bankruptcy, corporate reorganization, creditors' rights, commercial finance, secured transactions and international commerce. She represents insurance companies, financial institutions, trade creditors, lessors, liquidating trustees and debtors in debt restructurings and in all aspects of a bankruptcy case. Ms. Simkulak has served as counsel to insurance companies providing prepetition and/or postpetition insurance coverage to debtors in complex chapter 11 cases. She has also represented lessors, mortgagees and assignees of non-residential leases in large chapter 11 cases. In addition to counseling clients regarding out-of-court restructurings, she has advised clients regarding structuring security arrangements and managing risks prior to and during the bankruptcy of a relationship party. Ms. Simkulak has represented debtors from the commencement of case through confirmation of a plan and liquidating trustees in various causes of action. She has represented commercial lenders and borrowers in secured lending, asset-based lending, leasing and other types of commercial transactions and assisted creditors in enforcement of remedies through commercial litigation in federal and state court.

Ms. Simkulak is listed in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business, 2016 through 2024 editions. In 2016, she was also elected as a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation in recognition of her support for the ideals and objectives of the American Bar Association. She has also been rated as "Highly Regarded" for Restructuring and Insolvency by IFLR1000. In 2012, Ms. Simkulak was named as a "Lawyer on the Fast Track" by The Legal Intelligencer, which is an award for being selected as one of the 35 future leaders of the Commonwealth's legal community. She has been selected eight times as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyers Rising Star by Law & Politics and Philadelphia magazines. Admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey, Ms. Simkulak is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. Ms. Simkulak is also a summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Muhlenberg College.

Ms. Simkulak previously served on the board of directors and chaired the board's governance committee for Clarifi, which is an organization focused on teaching lifelong financial literacy. She also previously served on the firm's Professional Standards Committee, which evaluates and presents candidates for elevation to partnership and the firm’s Hiring Committee, which hires and mentors summer associates.

Areas of Practice

  • Reorganization and Finance Law
  • Business Bankruptcy
  • Financing and Financial Restructuring Transactions
  • Finance
  • Commercial Finance
  • Creditors' Rights Advisory Services
  • Insurance and Reinsurance
  • International
  • Mediation

Representative Matters

  • Counsel to insurers in: 

    • Cases filed in 2024: In re BowFlex Inc.; In re Express, Inc.; In re The Roman Catholic Bishop of Sacramento; In re Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment Inc.
    • Cases filed in 2023: In re SVB Financial Group; In re WeWork Inc.; In re Rite Aid Corporation; In re Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.; In re The Roman Catholic Bishop of Oakland; In re Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Francisco; In re Roman Catholic Archbishop of Baltimore; In re Mallinckrodt plc; In re Yellow Corporation; In re Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust; In re IEH Auto Parts Holding, LLC  
    • Cases filed in 2022: In re Revlon, Inc.; In re Aearo Technologies LLC; In re BlockFi Inc.; In re Endo International plc; In re Cineworld Group plc; In re SAS AB; In re Madison Square Boys & Girls Club, Inc.; In re Clovis Oncology, Inc.
    • Cases filed in 2021: In re LTL Management LLC; In re Ferrellgas Partners, L.P.; In re Carlson Travel, Inc.; In re Basic Energy Services, Inc.; In re Grupo Posadas S.A.B. de C.V.; In re Boart Longyear Limited (chapter 15)
    • Cases filed in 2020: In re The Hertz Corp.; In re Boy Scouts of America and Delaware BSA, LLC; In re Borden Dairy Co.; In re Mallinckrodt plc; In re Grupo Aeroméxico, S.A.B. de C.V.; In re LATAM Airlines Group S.A.; In re Avianca Holdings S.A.; In re Neiman Marcus Group LTD LLC; In re Chesapeake Energy Co.; In re Frontier Communications Co.; In re Modell’s Sporting Goods, Inc.
    • Cases filed in 2019: In re Windstream Holdings, Inc.; In re PG&E Corp.; In re Payless Holdings LLC; In re Gymboree Group;  In re Perkins & Marie Callender’s, LLC; In re Barneys New York, Inc.; In re Center City Healthcare, LLC (Hahnemann); In re Insys Therapeutics, Inc.; In re Novum Pharma, LLC
    • Cases filed in 2018: In re Sears Holdings Corp.; In re The Weinstein Co. Holdings LLC; In re iHeartMedia, Inc.; In re Westmoreland Coal Co.; In re PES Holdings, LLC (Philadelphia Energy)
    • Cases filed in 2017: In re Westinghouse Electric Co., LLC; In re Toys "R" Us, Inc.; In re Payless Holdings LLC; In re Gymboree Corp.; In re GenOn Energy, Inc.; In re Bestwall, LLC
    • Cases filed in 2016: In re SunEdison, Inc.; In re Arch Coal, Inc.; In re Peabody Energy Corp.; In re Chaparral Energy, Inc.; In re Memorial Production Partners LP.; In re Forbes Energy Services Ltd.; In re Key Energy Services, Inc.; In re Basic Energy Services, Inc.; In re ITT Educational Services, Inc.
    • Cases filed in 2015 and before: In re Alpha Natural Resources, Inc.; In re Walter Energy, Inc.; In re Samson Resources Corp.; In re The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., Inc.; In re Energy Future Holdings Corp.; In re Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc.; In re Orchard Supply Hardware Stores Corp.; In re Hostess Brands, Inc.; In re Dynegy Holdings, LLC; In re AMR Corp. (American Airlines); In re Los Angeles Dodgers LLC; In re Perkins & Marie Callender's Inc.; In re Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc.; In re Texas Rangers Baseball Partners; In re Chrysler LLC; In re General Growth Properties, Inc.; In re Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.; In re Tribune Co.; In re Delphi Corp.; In re Delta Air Lines, Inc.
  • Counsel to insurers in In re Jefferson County, Alabama (chapter 9)

  • Counsel to insurers in In re The Aldo Group Inc.; In re Boart Longyear Limited; In re Hanjin Shipping Co., Ltd.; In re Hatteras Reinsurance Ltd. (chapter 15)

  • Counsel to financial institutions in In re Adelphia Communications Corp.

  • Counsel to creditors in In re Garces Restaurant Group, Inc.; In re Lear Corp.; In re Washington Mutual, Inc.; In re SemCrude, L.P.; In re Refco LLC; In re Enron Corp.

  • Counsel to lessors in In re Dots, LLC; In re Ashley Stewart Holdings, Inc.; In re Loehmann's Holdings, Inc.; In re Urban Brands, Inc.; In re Linens Holdings Co.; In re Wickes Holdings, LLC

  • Counsel to mortgagees and assignees of leases in In re Federal Mogul, Inc.; In re Heilig-Meyers, Inc.

  • Counsel to adversary proceeding defendant in In re RadioShack Corp.
  • Counsel to debtor in In re Bricolage Capital, LLC

  • Counsel to liquidating trustees in In re Durango Georgia Paper Co.; In re Trico Steel Co., LLC

  • Counsel to chapter 7 trustee in In re Image Masters, Inc.
  • Counsel to stalking horse bidder in In re Atlantic Medical Management Services, Inc.

Admissions

  • Pennsylvania
  • New York
  • New Jersey
  • Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
  • Supreme Court of New Jersey
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

Education

  • University of Pittsburgh School of Law, J.D., 2002
  • University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, M.P.I.A., 2002
  • Muhlenberg College, B.A., summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, 1998

Experience

  • Duane Morris LLP
    - Partner, 2011-present
    - Associate, 2002-2010
  • U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Washington, D.C.
    - Economist, 1998

Professional Activities

  • American Bar Association
    - American Bar Foundation Fellow
    - Business Law Section
    -- Co-Chair, Insurance Subcommittee, Business Bankruptcy Committee
    - International Law Section
    -- Former Co-Chair, Secured Transactions and International Insolvency Committee
    -- Former Vice Chair, Secured Transactions and International Insolvency Committee

  • Association of Insolvency & Restructuring Advisors
    - Conference Planning Committee, Annual Bankruptcy & Restructuring Conference
  • International Women's Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation
    - Founding Member and Former Officer, Greater Philadelphia Network
  • American Bankruptcy Institute
    - Completed American Bankruptcy Institute/St. John's Law School Bankruptcy Mediation Training Program (over 35 hours of bankruptcy mediation training), 2014
  • Turnaround Management Association
  • Multilaw

Honors and Awards

  • Listed in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business: 2016-2024

  • Rated as "Highly Regarded" for Restructuring and Insolvency by IFLR1000: 2018-2023

  • Elected as a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation: 2016

  • Named as a "Lawyer on the Fast Track" by The Legal Intelligencer, which is an award for being selected as one of the 35 future leaders of the Commonwealth's legal community: 2012
  • Listed in Pennsylvania Rising Stars: 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016

  • Cited among Top Bankruptcy Lawyers in the U.S. by The Deal based on number of active cases handled and/or total volume of debtor assets handled: each quarter from Q4 2011 through Q3 2016 (rankings of individual lawyers subsequently ceased)

No aspect of these rankings has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. Further information on methodologies is available via these links.

Selected Publications

  • Co-author, Third Circuit materials, "American College of Bankruptcy: 2007 Circuit Review and Best Practices Reports," LexisNexis, 2007
  • Co-author, "Examining Fraudulent Conveyances and Successor Liability," The Legal Intelligencer, February 11, 2005
  • Co-author, "Section 510(b) Does Not Apply After Notes Issued," The Legal Intelligencer, April 9, 2004
  • Co-author, "Right of First Refusal is Recognized in LLC Dispute," The Legal Intelligencer, January 30, 2004
  • Co-author, "Indemnifying Financial Adviser for Negligence Claim 'Reasonable'," The Legal Intelligencer, February 28, 2003
  • Co-author, "Claim Sounding In Breach of Contract May Not Be An Unsecured Claim," The Legal Intelligencer, November 7, 2003

Selected Speaking Engagements

  • Speaker, "Managing Risks Related to an Insured's Bankruptcy Case," July 10, 2024
  • Speaker, "Issues Related to an Insured's Bankruptcy Case," May 16, 2024
  • Speaker, "Issues Related to an Insured's Bankruptcy Case," November 10, 2022
  • Speaker, "Managing Risks of an Insured's Bankruptcy Case," August 17, 2022

  • Moderator, "Treatment of D&O Policies in Bankruptcy Cases: Recent Trends," AIRA 38th Annual Bankruptcy & Restructuring Conference, Cleveland, Ohio, June 10, 2022

  • Speaker, "Model Rule 8.4 and the Ethics of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion," May 12, 2022
  • Speaker, "Primer on US and Canadian Restructuring Proceedings – from the Insurer’s Perspective," October 21, 2021
  • Speaker, "COVID Waves, Bankruptcy Ripples," Risk Management Association – Risk Readiness Webinar Series, October 5, 2021
  • Speaker, "Treatment of D&O Policies in Bankruptcy Cases: Recent Trends," American Bar Association, Business Law Section Annual Meeting, September 22, 2021
  • Speaker, "Credit Risk: Bankruptcy", June 17, 2021
  • Speaker, "Bankruptcy for Underwriters including Recent Trends, 2021," May 4, 2021
  • Speaker, "Managing Risks of an Insured’s Bankruptcy Case," June 4, 2020
  • Speaker, "Managing Risks of an Insured’s Bankruptcy Case," May 15, 2020

  • Speaker, “Issues Related to an Insured's Bankruptcy Case,” January 14, 2020

  • Speaker, "Structuring Security Agreements and Managing Risks in an Insured's Bankruptcy Case," Risk Management Association, May 15, 2019

  • Speaker, "Bankruptcy Discussion - Creditors' Rights," Senior Workout Officers Round Table, Phoenix, Arizona, April 26, 2019

  • Speaker, "Structuring Security Agreements and Managing Risks of an Insured's Bankruptcy Case," March 8, 2019

  • Speaker, "Preparing for an Economic Downturn: Strategies for Evaluating and Managing Your Risk and Exposure from Origination through and after a Default," Risk Management Association, December 11, 2018

  • Speaker, "Preparing for an Economic Downturn: Strategies for Evaluating and Managing Your Risk and Exposure from Origination through and after a Default," Small Business Banking Conference, American Banker and Risk Management Association, Nashville, Tennessee, November 29, 2018

  • Speaker, "Issues Related to an Insured's Bankruptcy Case," November 8, 2018

  • Speaker, "Third Party Releases and Exculpations," American Bar Association Section of Business Law Business Bankruptcy Committee Meeting at the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, San Antonio, Texas, October 29, 2018

  • Speaker, "Structuring Security Agreements and Managing Risks in an Insured's Bankruptcy Case," May 7, 2018

  • Speaker and Author, "Structuring Security Agreements and Managing Risks in an Insured's Bankruptcy Case," Risk Management Association, May 1, 2018

  • Speaker, "Negotiation Considerations," Association of Corporate Counsel, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, April 25, 2018

  • Speaker, "Structuring Security Agreements and Managing Risks in an Insured's Bankruptcy Case," March 22, 2018

  • Speaker and Author, "Bankruptcy Basics," Risk Management Association, November 14, 2017

  • Speaker and Author, "Structuring Security Agreements and Managing Risks in an Insured's Bankruptcy Case," Risk Management Association, May 31, 2017

  • Speaker, "Discharging 'Unknown' Claims," American Bar Association Business Law Section, January 25, 2017

  • Speaker and Author, "Structuring Security Agreements and Managing Risks in an Insured's Bankruptcy Case," January 11, 2017

  • Speaker, "Discharging 'Unknown' Claims," American Bar Association Business Law Section meeting at the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, October 27, 2016
  • Speaker and Author, "Structuring Security Agreements and Managing Risks in an Insured's Bankruptcy Case," Risk Management Association, May 24, 2016
  • Speaker and Author, "Structuring Security Agreements and Managing Risks in an Insured's Bankruptcy Case," Risk Management Association, May 19, 2015
  • Speaker and Co-author, "Bankruptcy Law: Managing Risks and Strategic Considerations," September 25, 2014
  • Speaker and Author, "Structuring Security Agreements and Managing Risks in an Insured's Bankruptcy Case," Risk Management Association, May 15, 2014
  • Speaker, "Jargony: Insurance Basics for Business Lawyers," American Bar Association, Business Law Section Spring Meeting, April 10, 2014
  • Speaker, "Anatomy of the Loan Cycle," November 7, 2013
  • Speaker and Co-author, "Structuring Security Agreements and Managing Risks in an Insured's Bankruptcy Case," Risk Management Association, May 2, 2013
  • Speaker, "Managing Risks of an Insured's Bankruptcy Case," May 1, 2013
  • Speaker and Co-author, "Recent Developments in Bankruptcy Law: Managing Risks and Strategic Considerations," April 18, 2013
  • Speaker and Co-author, "Managing Risks of an Insured's Bankruptcy Case," April 3, 2013
  • Speaker and Co-author, "Nuts and Bolts of Commercial Transactions," American Bar Association, Section of International Law, 2011 Fall Conference, Dublin, Ireland, October 14, 2011
  • Speaker, "Recent Trends in Business Bankruptcy Law Affecting Commercial Real Estate: Key Issues and Strategies for Weathering Extended Economic Uncertainty," August 17, 2011
  • Speaker and Co-author, "Managing Risks of an Insured's Bankruptcy Case," October 4, 2010
  • Speaker and Author, "The U.S. Bankruptcy Code and Cross-Border Insolvency," International Insolvency Conference II, Brussels, Belgium, May 16, 2009
  • Speaker and Co-author, "Selected Issues to Consider when a Commercial Tenant or Borrower files a Petition for Relief under the United States Bankruptcy Code," February 4, 2009

  • Speaker and Co-author, "Structuring Security Arrangements and Managing Risks in an Insured's Bankruptcy Case," January 13, 2009

  • Speaker and Co-author, "Structuring Security Arrangements and Managing Risks in an Insured's Bankruptcy Case," August 25, 2008

  • Speaker and Author, "The U.S. Bankruptcy Code," International Insolvency Conference, Barcelona, Spain, April 12, 2008

  • Speaker and Co-author, "Structuring Security Arrangements and Managing Risks in an Insured's Bankruptcy Case," July 25, 2007

  • Speaker and Co-author, "Bankruptcy and Related State Actions," Philadelphia Paralegal Association, October 6, 2006