Richard M. Pachulski

LOS ANGELES - For nearly 40 years, Pachulski has represented debtors and creditors' committees in bankruptcy proceedings and in outof- court workouts. In addition, he has extensive experience in business reorganizations and in debtor-creditor litigation across numerous industries.

He and partner James I. Stang created the law firm in 1983 after leaving Sidley & Austin LLP. Today, the firm describes itself proudly as "the nation's leading corporate restructuring boutique."

Last month, Pachulski and Stang helped achieve a striking result on behalf of 82,000 people who claim they were sexually abused while Boy Scouts. Pachulski Stang is counsel for the tort claimants' committee in the Boy Scouts of America's massive bankruptcy case, and on July 29, the judge approved major parts of the latest proposed settlement, which would establish a $2.7 billion trust fund for abuse survivors.

In re: Boy Scouts of America, 20-bk- 10343 (Bankr. D. Del., filed Feb 18, 2020). Pachulski said he expects to see more and more bankruptcies in the future filed by entities accused of mass torts. In fact, his law firm currently represents thousands of women who claim they developed ovarian cancer from baby powder because of the talc mined by the debtor company. In re: Imerys Talc America Inc., 1:19-bk-10289 (Bankr. D. Del., filed Feb. 13, 2019).

Pachulski himself led the firm's representation of a different sort of mass victim a couple of years ago. He represented the official committee of unsecured creditors who invested with the Woodbridge companies, which turned out to be a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme. In re: Woodbridge Group of Companies LLC, 1:17-bk-12560 (Bankr. D. Del., filed Dec. 4, 2017).

Currently, he represents the debtor company in another case involving fraud. His client is Easterday Ranches Inc., which filed for bankruptcy only a couple of months after its owner, Cody Easterday, pleaded guilty to wire fraud for defrauding Tyson Foods Inc. and another company out of more than $244 million by charging them for the costs of buying and feeding hundreds of thousands of nonexistent cattle.

Pachulski obtained confirmation of the ranches' reorganization plan late last month. In re: Easterday Ranches Inc., 2:21-bk-00141 (Bankr., E.D. Wash., filed Feb. 1, 2021).