Thomas Salerno
Stinson LLP
Thomas J. Salerno is a partner in the Restructuring group at Stinson LLP. A graduate of Notre Dame Law School, Mr. Salerno has represented parties in insolvency proceedings in 30 states and five countries. He has been involved in restructurings in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Switzerland and the Czech and Slovak Republics. In addition, Mr. Salerno taught Comparative International Insolvency at the University of Salzburg and Gray's Inn School of Law in London, and is an adjunct professor at the Sandra Day O'Connor School of Law at Arizona State University, teaching Bankruptcy Litigation and Advanced Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. In addition, he is a regular guest lecturer at the Eller MBA Program for the University of Arizona.
Mr. Salerno has extensive experience representing distressed companies, acquirers and creditors in financial restructurings and bankruptcy proceedings, pre- and post-bankruptcy workouts, and corporate recapitalizations. He has represented clients in diverse industries such as casinos, resort hotels, sports teams, real estate, high-tech manufacturing, electricity generation, agribusiness, construction, healthcare, airlines and franchised fast-food operations. Mr. Salerno has also served as an expert witness on U.S. insolvency law in litigation in Germany. Mr. Salerno represented Coyote Hockey LLC, owners of the Phoenix Coyotes of the National Hockey League (NHL), in historic bankruptcy proceedings that resulted in an unprecedented solution: the NHL purchasing one of its own teams for the first time in the league’s 90-year history.
He headed the U.S. delegation to the Czech Republic in advising the Czech Government in the historic revamping of its bankruptcy law, which took effect in January 2008. Mr. Salerno has also advised on revamping insolvency laws in the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica. He is a member of the UNCITRAL working group on its Insolvency Law Reform Project, completed in early 2007. Mr Salerno is a former board and Executive Committee member of the American Bankruptcy Institute; past director of the American Bankruptcy Board of Certification, Inc.; a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy Fellow; and a member of the Plan Issues Advisory Subcommittee for the ABI landmark Bankruptcy Review Commission. Mr. Salerno was part of the founding group for the Litigation Skills Symposium for the American Bankruptcy Institute bringing together Judges and experienced bankruptcy attorneys in a “learn by doing” symposium for bankruptcy litigation, with programs held in Miami, Atlanta, Dallas, New Orleans and San Diego.
Among his other publications are “Chapter 11 Cases Involving Professional Sports Franchises,” Collier Guide to Chapter 11: Key Topics and Selected Industries (LexisNexis, 2019); Executive Guide to Corporate Bankruptcy, Second Edition (Beard Publications); the two-volume Bankruptcy Litigation and Practice; A Practitioners' Guide, Fifth Edition (Aspen Law Publications), Pre-Bankruptcy Planning For The Commercial Reorganization: A Brief Guide For the CEO, CFO/COO. General Counsel and Tax Advisor (ABI 2020); and Acquisitions From Financially Distressed Companies: An Overview (ABI 2020).
