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Paul J. Keenan Jr.

Partner at Baker McKenzie LLP

Paul J. Keenan Jr.'s profile photo
LocationMiamiFlorida, United States
Current rolePartnerBaker McKenzie LLP · since Apr 2020
Government service8yrsU.S. Navy

About

Paul Keenan is a partner with the Restructuring and Insolvency Practice Group based in the Firm's Miami office. His practice includes the representation of foreign and domestic corporate debtors and creditors in out-of-court restructurings, bankruptcy cases, receiverships, assignments for the benefit of creditors, distressed asset sales, corporate wind downs and UCC foreclosures. Paul has been recognized by Chambers & Partners in corporate restructurings every year since 2014.

Paul has been inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and a member of the International Insolvency Institute.

Roles

Apr 2020–Present
Current role

Partner

Baker McKenzie LLP

Miami, Florida

AttorneyBankruptcy AttorneyAttorney AdvisorBankruptcy

Paul has substantial experience in cross-border restructurings and bankruptcies. He speaks Spanish and has significant experience living and working in Latin America and the Caribbean. He is a Fellow of INSOL International for having completed an intensive course in cross-border restructurings. Among other accomplishments in this area, Paul represented a leading Latin American airline in its successful out-of-court restructuring of USD 2.5 billion in debt and a Mexican satellite company in its restructuring of USD 420 million in debt through a prepackaged plan of reorganization in Delaware. Paul has significant experience with the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency (enacted as Chapter 15 under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code). He obtained official recognition in Colombia of a U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization case, and also official recognition in the United States of a Colombian restructuring proceeding. In each case, it was the first time that the courts of Colombia and the United States had recognized each other’s corporate restructuring proceedings.

Paul represents clients in courts across Florida and nationwide, including wide-ranging experience before the bankruptcy courts in Delaware. He is a past President of the Bankruptcy Bar Association for the Southern District of Florida. He also provides insolvency-related structuring advice and legal opinions in connection with complex financial transactions.

Aug 2003–Apr 2020
Former role

Shareholder

Greenberg Traurig, LLP

Miami, Florida

Bankruptcy AttorneyBankruptcyLegal

Restructuring & Bankruptcy Department Head for the Miami Office

Feb 2002–Jan 2003
Former role

Associate

Tew Cardenas LLP

AttorneyBusiness Development
Jan 1990–Nov 1997
Former role

Officer, Active Duty

U.S. Navy

EngineeringMilitary / Defense

• USS Nassau (LHA-4) - Norfolk, VA - Main Propulsion Engineer, Officer of the Deck
• Surface Warfare Officers School - Newport, RI - Instructor
• US Embassy - Bogota, Colombia

Representative matters

Cross-Border

September 2025

-Represented a leading airline in Colombia in its out-of-court restructuring of USD 2.5 billion in debt through an exchange of USD 550 million in Senior Unsecured Notes due 2020 for Senior Secured Notes due 2023, a new USD 250 million stakeholder facility, USD 125 million in various forms of additional financings, and the renegotiation of numerous contracts, leases and financial agreements. -Represented a Mexican satellite company in its restructuring of more than USD 400 million in debt through a prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy case filed in Delaware. The prepackaged plan was financed through a USD 325 million high-yield offering and a USD 96 million rights offering, each of which was backstopped by the two largest bondholders, enabling the company to pay all of its creditors in full. -Represented the operator of the fare collection system for the public bus transportation system in Bogotá, Colombia in obtaining recognition in the United States under Chapter 15 of a Colombian restructuring proceeding involving USD 100 million in debt. -Represented the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of a seismic-data provider for the oil and gas industry in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case in the Southern District of Texas and led the team that obtained official recognition in Colombia of the Chapter 11 case under the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency. -Represented a large Caribbean telecommunications company in all aspects of its corporate reorganization and restructuring of USD 500 million in debt. -Represented the largest creditor (USD 20 million) in the bankruptcy case of an engineering and design company filed in Germany. -Represented bondholders and other creditors in various bankruptcy and litigation cases and out-court-restructurings in Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela and Argentina. -Represented US investors in the corporate restructuring of an Argentine charter airline.

Domestic

September 2025

-Represented the court-appointed fiduciary for a commercial lending business in its Chapter 11 case filed in Florida. The company was a merchant cash advance provider that raised USD 287 million from 3,600 individual investors nationwide, which the Securities and Exchange Commission alleged was a sale of unregistered securities. To date, collections on the financial portfolio and bankruptcy litigation have allowed the bankruptcy estate to make a 40% return to investors. -Represented a steel manufacturing company with 900 employees and manufacturing facilities in five different states in the restructuring of USD 320 million in debt through a Chapter 11 plan of reorganization filed in Delaware. -Represented a nationwide provider of medical supplies and equipment with 1,700 employees and 300,000 customers nationwide in its Chapter 11 reorganization case filed in Delaware. Negotiated a USD 160 million claim by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) down to a structured USD 32 million settlement, enabling the company to sell substantially all its assets as a going concern and pay its creditors in full. -Represented a national retail furniture chain with 43 “big box” stores and more than USD 400 million in annual revenue in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case filed in Delaware. -Represented a distributor, seller and marketer of pharmaceutical products for urological disorders in the sale of its assets through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case filed in Delaware. -Represented a pharmaceutical development and manufacturing company in the sale of its assets through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case filed in Delaware. -Represented the debtor-in-possession lender for a manufacturer of men’s clothing in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case filed in the Southern District of New York. -Represented a private equity firm in securing the “stalking horse” position in a USD 60 million asset sale in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case of Arch Aluminum & Glass filed in Florida. -Represented an ad hoc committee of aircraft purchasers in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case filed in Delaware for a jet aircraft manufacturer. -Represented an ad hoc committee of off-track betting facilities in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case filed in Delaware for a national owner and operator of horse racetracks. -Represented a radiology company in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case filed in Florida. -Represented a nationwide underwriter of furniture warranties in its defense of an involuntary bankruptcy petition filed in Florida and subsequent asset sale. -Represented a national mortgage loan originator and servicer in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case in Arizona. -Represented a Chapter 11 trustee in the bankruptcy case filed in Florida for a regional flooring retail chain with over 60 stores in the southeastern United States. -Represented a South Florida automobile dealership in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case filed in California. -Represented the largest creditor in the receivership of a 500-unit condominium association in South Florida. -Represented a major cruise line in the negotiation, drafting and bankruptcy court approval of a debtor-in-possession financing facility to facilitate the restructuring of one of its crucial vendors in Florida.

Recognition

Honors

Band 2, Corporate Restructurings

Chambers USA Guide

January 2024

Listed

Lawdragon 500 Leading US Bankruptcy & Restructuring Lawyers

May 2024

2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024

Listed

Lawdragon 500 Leading Global Restructuring & Insolvency Lawyers

April 2020

Listed, Corporate Restructurings

Chambers USA Guide

September 2025

2014-present.

Listed, South Florida Legal Guide

Top Lawyer

May 2020

Publications & speeches

The Reinvention of Law Firms

La República

June 2020

A Close Look at the Different Forms of Exit Financing

Law360

April 2014

Co-author.

How To Reduce Or Eliminate The Need For Exit Financing

Law360

April 2014

Co-author

Understanding Exit Financing

Law360

March 2014

Co-author.

The Latest In Exit Financing Structures

Law360

May 2011

Co-author.

Uncertainty for Prepackaged Bankruptcies in Mexico

Law360

February 2011

Co-author.

Emerging Market Restructuring Series: Brazil

Debtwire

May 2021

Speaker.

Latin America Oil & Gas

LatinFinance Pandemic Crisis Response Series Webinar

December 2020

Speaker.

2021 Vision for the Energy Industry: Restructure and Insolvency

Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Mexico — Mexico

December 2020

Speaker.

Future of the Energy Sector: Restructuring Business in Mexico

British Chamber of Commerce

October 2020

Speaker

Latin American Cross Border Corporate Restructuring

Baker R&I Webinar Series — Webinar

September 2020

Speaker.