Find Lawyers

Donald A. Workman

Donald A. Workman is a partner in the Business Group and head of Baker Hostetler’s Bankruptcy & Creditors’ Rights practice in the Washington, D.C., office. He has been rated AV by Martindale-Hubbell for preeminence in his field and his ethical standards. Mr. Workman’s practice areas include business bankruptcy, creditors’ rights, debtor reorganizations, general insolvency, stockbroker liquidations and commercial litigation. He has experience in representing every constituency involved in major reorganizations and workouts, including creditor committees, secured creditors, debtors, trustees, DIP lenders and asset purchasers. He has represented numerous entities around the country in bankruptcy matters including airline bankruptcies, such as TWA, US Airways I and II, United, ATA, Aloha, Hawaiian Air, Delta, Northwest, Mesaba and Independence Air. He also served as a special counsel in the Adelphia bankruptcies as part of a coordinated defense of SEC matters. Mr. Workman also counsels entities and individuals in the specialized area of distressed debt arbitrage matters. His work on arbitrage matters has involved him in the largest bankruptcies ever filed. He has provided counsel to various constituencies in international insolvencies including Asian creditors in bankruptcy cases.

Mr. Workman co-authored a book for CEOs and CFOs titled, The Role of Creditors’ Committees in Chapter 11 Bankruptcies, a publication of the Thompson Companies. He has been quoted in major media outlets on various restructuring topics, including the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, Bloomberg Radio and BNA publications. He is also listed in the Cambridge Who’s Who of Professionals. He has frequently lectured and written articles on various Uniform Commercial Code, lender-related, bankruptcy, and creditors’ rights topics.

Mr. Workman was chair of the Uniform Commercial Code Review Committee of the Florida Bar Business Law Section and was the official reporter for the Report on Revisions to Article 8 on Investment Securities in Florida, 1995; chair and official reporter of the Report on Revisions to Article 5 on Letters of Credit in Florida, 1997; and on Revisions to Article 9 on Secured Transactions in Florida, 2000.

Mr. Workman is active in the District of Columbia Bar, in which he chaired the Bankruptcy Committee for two years. He is an active member of The Florida Bar Business Law Section, Executive Council, past chair of the Bankruptcy/UCC Committee and past co-chair of the section’s Judicial Liaison Committee; Hillborough County Bar Association; and served on the Board of Directors of the Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Bar Association.

Prior to entering law school, Mr. Workman served 10 years as an officer and procurement contracting officer in the U.S. Navy. During law school, he served as judicial intern to Chief Bankruptcy Judge Alexander L. Paskay and as judicial intern to the judges of Florida’s Twelfth Judicial Circuit.

Mr. Workman represents entities in all aspects of bankruptcy. Selective representations include the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in In re S-Tran Holdings, a point-to-point short haul trucking company; the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in In re Iten Chevrolet, a General Motors dealership; the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in In re Lanser Partners, a multibillion-dollar hedge fund bankruptcy involving a complex relationship with numerous related entities in an SEC receivership; Chair of the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in In re New Century, the largest sub-prime mortgage bankruptcy; Chair of the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in In re People’s Choice, another sub-prime mortgage lender; a group of distributors as petitioning creditors in the successful petition for involuntary bankruptcy of a supplier In re Blevins; a consortium of some of the nation’s major airports in In re US Airways and In re UAL Corp.; and a purchaser of assets in In re Safety-Kleen. Other significant cases include In re Trans World Airlines, Inc., representing approximately 15 airport authorities throughout the United States in asserting their unsecured and other claims in Chapter 11 cases pending in Delaware, and recovering nearly 100% of their claims; In re Old Naples Securities, Inc., counsel to the trustee in a Securities Investor Protection Act case to liquidate assets and administer claims of about $10 million; In re Vision Metals, Inc., representing debtors in large Chapter 11 Delaware filing of steel producer; In re Delta Airlines and In re Northwest Airlines, mega-cases pending in the Southern District of New York, representing approximately 35 airports in the cases. He also advises and counsels clients on bankruptcy alternatives and on strategies for reorganizing and resolving matters out of court.

Some of Mr. Workman’s more significant and recent lectures, articles and presentations include:

• Lecturer, “Fraud Affecting Your Clients: Protections When Insolvency, Bankruptcy or Restructuring Loom,” Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants 2009 Estate & Financial Planning Conference, December 2009
• Moderator, “The Investigation, Trial and Bankruptcy Implications of a White Collar Case: Navigating Around the Land Mines,” The Florida Bar, October 2008
• Moderator, “Surviving the Real Estate Correction and Capitalizing on Circumstances: What to Do with Extra Debt and Dirt,” The International Builders Home Show, February 2008
• Panelist, “Investing and Restructuring Opportunities in China,” The 2008 Global Distressed Investing Summit, January 2008
• Panelist, “China’s New Enterprise Bankruptcy Law—Will the World’s Largest Nation Become the Next Big Restructuring Playground?,” American Bankruptcy Institute, 2007
• Instructor and Judge, NITA Trial Training, 2006
• Lecturer, “Airline Bankruptcy Update,” Airports Council International, North America, 2005
• Chair and Moderator, “Claims Against Professionals in Bankruptcy,” District of Columbia Bar, 2005
• Lecturer, “Airline Bankruptcy Update,” Joint Airports Council International, North America and AAAE Meeting of Airport Directors, 2005
• Lecturer, “Initial Filings at the Beginning of a Chapter 11,” Annual American Bankruptcy Institute Nuts & Bolts, 2004
• Moderator, “Protecting Your Fees in Bankruptcy,” District of Columbia Bar, 2004
• Lecturer, “Airline Bankruptcy Update,” Airports Council International, North America, 2004
• Lecturer, “Airline Bankruptcy Update,” Airports Council International, North America, 2002
• Lecturer, “Airline and Rental Car Bankruptcies,” Airports Council International, North America, 2002
• Program chair, lecturer and author, “Florida’s Enactment of Revised Article 9 - Secured Transactions,” The Florida Bar, 2001
• Lecturer and co-author, “Beware of the Article 9 Changes,” The Ultimate Bankruptcy, Insolvency and UCC Seminar, The Florida Bar, 1999
• Lecturer and co-author, “Bankruptcy Practice & Procedure Seminar,” The Florida Bar Bankruptcy/Uniform Commercial Code Committee, 1999
• Lecturer and co-author, “Complying with the Fair Debt Collection Practices in Florida,” National Business Institute, 1999
• Lecturer and co-author, “Bankruptcy ABCs Accounting-Auditing and Business Development for CPAs,” 14th Annual Accounting, Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants, 1999
• Lecturer and co-author, “Successful Judgment Collections,” National Business Institute, 1998
• Co-author, “Bankruptcy—How that Magical Word May Impact Your Client and You,” General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Section, The Florida Bar, 1997
• Lecturer and co-author, “Bankruptcy—How that Magical Word May Impact Your Client and You,” The Florida Bar Business Law Section, 1997
• Lecturer and co-author, “Bankruptcy Practice and Procedure—An Update,” Florida Bar Business Law Section, 1996