Mette H. Kurth

Ms. Kurth is Special Counsel with the Finance and Bankruptcy Practice Group in Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP’s Los Angeles office.

Areas of Practice

Ms. Kurth has extensive experience representing parties involved in Chapter 11 cases, and she has broad ranging knowledge of the legal and business issues faced both by financially distressed businesses and those who interact with them. 

Ms. Kurth specializes in representing companies using Chapter 11 to reorganize or sell substantially all of their assets, acquirers of assets from insolvent companies, and creditors' committees.  She also regularly represents other parties in insolvency-related matters, such as individual creditors, indenture trustees, parties involved in bankruptcy-related litigation, and trustees appointed pursuant to the Bankruptcy Code or the Securities Investor Protection Act. She has represented parties in numerous industries, including retail, manufacturing and distribution, fitness, mortgage lending, healthcare, imports, farming operations, airlines, telecommunications, and multi-level marketing.

Education

• J.D., University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law, 1996, Order of the Coif, Chief Articles Editor, UCLA Law Review, Assistant Articles Editor, UCLA Women’s Law Journal
• B.A., Trinity University, 1990, cum laude, with University Honors, Phi Beta Kappa

Representative Matters

• Bodies in Motion - Currently representing the official creditors' committee in connection with the debtor's efforts to sell or reorganize its business. 
• US Bank National Association - Currently representing US Bank in its capacity as Indenture Trustee on behalf of holders of over $1.7 billion in principal amount of senior notes in connection with the Chapter 11 case filed by Adelphia Communications Corporation and in other representative capacities with respect to bond issuances in connection with the Chapter 11 case filed by Northwest Airlines Corporation. 
• Aris Industries, Inc. - Currently representing the official creditors' committee as co-counsel in connection with the Chapter 11 case of Aris Industries, Inc. and its co-debtor, Europe Craft Imports, Inc. (whose principal asset is the "Members Only" trademark).  
• The Walking Company - Successfully represented The Walking Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Big Dog Holdings, Inc., in its acquisition of substantially all the assets of Steve's Shoes, Inc. in a bankruptcy auction. 
• CoBank, ACB - Successfully represented CoBank, ACB in connection with the successful sale of the assets of RFB Cellular, Inc. and the confirmation of a Chapter 11 plan jointly proposed by CoBank, ACB and the debtor. 
• Steel Horse Automotive - Successfully represented this manufacturer and distributor of after-market automotive appearance accessories in conducting orderly sales of its three operating divisions. 
• World Bazaars, Inc. - Successfully represented this importer in liquidating assets totalling roughly $55 million and arranging for the orderly disposition of its 600,000 sq. ft. warehouse. 
• The Official Creditors Committee of The Walking Company - As co-counsel for the official committee, successfully represented the interests of unsecured creditors in opposing the debtor's proposed sale efforts and insider-sponsored plan, eventually securing the approval of Big Dog Holdings, Inc. as the highest and best bidder for the assets, as selected by the committee, over the objection of the debtor and an unsuccessful inside bidder. 
• Custom Food Products, Inc. - Successfully represented this publicly-traded debtor in all aspects of its Chapter 11 reorganization.

Honors

• Rising Star, Super Lawyers Southern California, 2008
• Which Lawyer?, Restructuring and Insolvency, Practical Law Company, 2007
• Southern California Rising Star, Los Angeles Magazine, 2005, 2006

Memberships

• Secretary, Los Angeles Bankruptcy Forum
• President, Southern California chapter of the Turnaround Management Association
• Board of Governors, Financial Lawyers Conference
• Member, American Bankruptcy Institute
• Member, International Federation of Insolvency Professionals (INSOL)
• Member, Business Law Section and International Law & Practice Section, American Bar Association,
• Member, Los Angeles County Bar Association
• Member, Business Law Section, State Bar of California

Articles

• Professionals Learn From 'Movitz' That Disclosure Rules Always Rule, July 20, 2005
• Ride-through Revisited (Again) - The Strategic Use of the Ride-through Doctrine in the Post -Catapult Era, July 18, 2005

In addition to the articles listed below, Ms. Kurth has authored numerous other articles relating to litigation and bankruptcy law, and she has been a contributing author for the Wiley Bankruptcy Update.  

• The UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency Gains Momentum with its Incorporation into the United States Bankruptcy Code, INSOL World (Third Quarter 2005)
  
• List of Defendants Grows in Deepening Insolvency Cases: Advisors, Investment Bankers, and Lenders Are All at Risk, The Journal of Corporate Renewal (January 2005)
  
• First Among Equals? Maybe Not - The Search for "Critical Vendor" Status, Business Law Today (October 2004)
  
• Co-Author, Professor Elizabeth Warren's Article 9 Carve-Out Proposal: A Strategic Analysis, 30 UCC L.J. 3 (Summer 1997)
  
• An Unstoppable Mandate and an Immovable Policy: The Arbitration Act and the Bankruptcy Code Collide, 43 UCLA L. Rev. 999 (1996)

Bankruptcy & Restructuring Law Blog Articles

• "Supreme Court Resolves Split in Authorities With Respect to Priority Treatment of Unpaid Workers' Compensation Premiums", October 9, 2006
• "World Health Alternatives Upholds a Secured Creditor's Carve-Out Inuring Solely to the Benefit of General Unsecured Creditors", July 12, 2006
• "Internal Revenue Bulletin No. 2006-22 Sets Forth Procedures for Prompt Determination of Unpaid Tax Liabilities of a Bankruptcy Estate", July 5, 2006
• "Thickstun Brothers: Bankruptcy Court Lacks Jurisdiction to Determine Whether Debtor's Failure to Object to Claim is Preclusive in Related State Court Litigation", June 19, 2006
• "Asbestos Reform: The Senate Judiciary Committee Considers Proposed Amendments to the FAIR Act", June 12, 2006
• "California Court of Appeals Disagrees With Sherwood Partners and Holds That California Preference Laws Are Not Preempted by the Bankruptcy Code", June 2, 2006
• "Supreme Court Update: Katz Eviscerates Constitutional Sovereign Immunity in Federal Bankruptcy Proceedings", May 30, 2006
• "New Report Examines the Effect of BAPCPA", May 2, 2006
• "Crown Vantage: Leave Must Be Sought from Bankruptcy Court Before Initiating an Action Against a Bankruptcy Trustee in Another Forum", April 4, 2006
• "Metromedia: Party Failing to Seek a Stay Pending Appeal May Be Barred Under Principles of Equitable Mootness from Obtaining any Remedy With Respect to Impermissible Provisions of a Substantially Consummated Plan", March 28, 2006
• "IRS Fact Sheet Issued Regarding Responsibilities under BAPCPA", January 27, 2006
• "'In re Church': Unfulfilled Promises to Pay and Misrepresentations Distinguished", January 13, 2006
• "'In re Hollingsworth': Even Late-Filed Claims May Be Entitled to Distributions", Januayr 11, 2006
• "AOUSC Reports Record Number of Bankruptcy Filings", December 14, 2005
• "Ninth Circuit Holds that Bankruptcy Secion 364(e) Broadly Protects the Validity of Post-Petition Loans, Including Clauses Restricting the Use of Loan Proceeds", September 27, 2005
• "In Re Ramba: Contemporaneous Exchange for New Value Under 11 U.S.C. § 547(c)(1) Requires Creditor to Deliver a Direct Benefit", August 22, 2005
• "The Bankruptcy Act Adds New Chapter 15 to Govern Cross-Border Insolvency Cases", July 6, 2005
• "Professionals Beware: movitz v. Baker Extends Pillowtex to the Ninth Circuit", June 27, 2005

Speeches

• Ms. Kurth has spoken on numerous panels regarding insolvency-related topics, and she is the Program Chairman for the Southern California chapter of the Turnaround Management Association. In addition to the recent programs listed below, she has organized and delivered presentations to industry groups such as the California Society of CPAs, the Practicing Law Institute, the U.C.C. Institute, Corporate Revitalization Partners, and Chanin Partners. Ms. Kurth also served as one of the program co-chairmen for the 2004 California Bankruptcy Forum Conference.
• Webinar, "Structuring & Completing Distressed Transactions in California: What Investors and Lenders Need to Know," November 2006
• Los Angeles Bankruptcy Forum, Current Developments in Ethics & Professional Responsibility: How Does BAPCPA Affect You as Counsel, December 2005
• Beverly Hills Bar Association, Bankruptcy: That Arbitration Clause May Not Be As Ironclad As You Think!, November 2004
• American Bar Association - Telephonic CLE Program, First Among Equals? Maybe Not - The Search for "Critical Vendor" Status, October 2004
• California Society of CPAs (Economic Damages Section), Damage Issues in Deepening Insolvency Litigation, September 2004
• Los Angeles Bankruptcy Forum, Survey of the Ninth Circuit 2003: Highlights from the Bench, Bar, and Boardroom, March 2004
• Turnaround Management Association, When Vendors Attack: Trade Benefit Programs in the Aftermath of Kmart, January 2004
• Financial Lawyers Conference, Is It Malpractice to File Chapter 11 in Delaware? (A Discussion of the Differences in Case Law and Approach Among the More Popular Venues for Chapter 11 Filings), January 2003