Marla Eskin is a Delaware attorney with extensive experience advising businesses through periods of financial distress and organizational change. Based in Wilmington, she has practiced with Campbell & Levine since 2002, focusing on commercial bankruptcy, restructuring-related litigation, and business law. Marla Eskin’s work frequently involves representing institutional stakeholders, including asbestos settlement trusts and qualified settlement funds, where careful legal analysis and risk management are central to successful outcomes. Her background also includes mediation service with the Justice of the Peace Court, providing practical insight into dispute resolution and negotiated solutions. Through this combination of litigation, restructuring, and fiduciary experience, her professional profile aligns closely with the legal demands that arise in complex restructuring deals.
The Role of Counsel in Navigating Complex Restructuring Deals
In a financially volatile economic environment where companies are experiencing financial distress, operational challenges, or strategic transitions, corporate restructuring is an important process. Whether the business is pursuing Chapter 11 bankruptcy, an out-of-court workout, or a multi-jurisdictional financial reorganization, legal counsel is important to navigating complex restructuring deals to a successful conclusion. Counsels usually serve as risk mitigators, negotiators, and advocates, helping stakeholders to traverse complex financial, legal, and regulatory frameworks.
Before negotiations start, counsel must help the distressed entity assess its legal and financial position while developing a tailored restructuring strategy. Early-stage analysis often includes a thorough review of debt contracts, covenants, and priorities to identify obligations that could affect restructuring choices. Counsels also assess insolvency risks and potential fiduciary duties. They assist in evaluating jurisdictional complexities and cross-border legal issues as needed. It is also the counsel’s duty to help the organization determine the most efficient restructuring path, whether bankruptcy, liability management, or workout.
Counsels participate in legal due diligence and risk identification. They conduct a scanning process to identify contingent liabilities, such as pension obligations or employment disputes. They also assess regulatory compliance gaps that might adversely affect outcomes. Further, legal counsel helps their clients evaluate contractual terms involving suppliers, lessors, lenders, and customers. It allows counsel to identify potential obstacles before stakeholders actually discover them. When there is no in-depth legal insight at this stage, the restructuring company may face the risk of additional costs or unfavorable terms.
Further, much of a counsel’s value in complex restructuring transactions emerges during negotiations with creditors and other stakeholders. Experienced attorneys actively shape negotiation strategy, helping clients preserve value while advancing toward workable solutions. They engage directly with lenders, bondholders, and creditor committees to balance competing interests and reduce the risk of deadlock. By structuring liability management exercises, debt-for-equity swaps, refinancings, or moratorium arrangements, counsel guides clients through intricate, multi-party discussions and works to secure consensus among diverse creditor classes, particularly where sophisticated financial instruments are involved.
Legal documentation forms the foundation of any restructuring. Counsel ensures that every agreement accurately reflects negotiated outcomes. Attorneys draft, review, and execute restructuring agreements with precision, ensuring clarity, enforceability, and compliance with applicable law. They oversee contracts, forbearance agreements, debt-modification instruments, and security-interest assignments, while also confirming that internal governance requirements are properly satisfied. Careful execution at this stage prevents ambiguity, minimizes disputes, and protects the integrity of the transaction.
Counsel also ensures that restructuring actions comply with all relevant regulatory and legal frameworks, including bankruptcy and insolvency laws, corporate governance standards across jurisdictions, and applicable tax and securities regulations. Where restructurings involve asset transfers or strategic consolidations, counsel addresses competition and antitrust considerations. Ongoing compliance monitoring allows counsel to identify and mitigate legal risks early, safeguarding the restructuring from regulatory challenges or post-closing reversals.
Despite careful planning, restructuring processes can give rise to disputes among stakeholders. Counsel manages litigation risks by representing clients in conflicts between creditor classes, defending against claims alleging breaches of fiduciary duty, and addressing challenges related to asset valuation or avoidance actions. At the same time, attorneys coordinate closely with financial and operational advisors, serving as the central link between legal strategy and business execution. By aligning legal constraints with financial modeling and operational objectives, counsel helps ensure that restructuring outcomes are both legally sound and commercially viable.
About Marla Eskin
Marla Eskin is an accomplished attorney with Campbell & Levine in Wilmington, Delaware, where she concentrates on commercial bankruptcy and related litigation. She earned her law degree from Temple University and has served as counsel to multiple Section 524(g) Asbestos Settlement Trusts, as well as a trustee for the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, Inc. Qualified Settlement Fund. In addition to her practice, she volunteers as a mediator and maintains active membership in several state and national bar organizations.