Stephen Lerner is chair of the Squire Sanders Restructuring & Insolvency Practice Group. He has an extensive national and cross-border restructuring practice in which he represents debtors, committees of unsecured creditors, secured and unsecured creditors, equity interest holders and acquirers of troubled businesses in Chapter 11 reorganization cases, Chapter 15 cases and out-of-court restructurings throughout the United States. Stephen has led the representation of clients in the Chapter 11 bankruptcies of AmFin Financial, Station Casinos, Chrysler, Enron and EaglePicher, among many others.

Stephen is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy for which he has served as the Regent for the 6th Circuit and currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors. He has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America since 1995. In addition, he was named Best Lawyers' 2013 Cincinnati Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law Lawyer of the Year and 2012 Cincinnati Bankruptcy Lawyer of the Year. Since 2004 Stephen has been placed in the highest echelon of Ohio’s bankruptcy and restructuring lawyers by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business and, in every year from 2009 to the present, Stephen was honored by Chambers as one of fewer than 15 bankruptcy and restructuring lawyers in the United States to receive a Star Individual ranking. Stephen is a perennial Ohio Super Lawyer and, in 2007, was honored as one of the top 10 overall Super Lawyers in the state of Ohio.

In addition to numerous bar associations, Stephen is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute, a founder of the board of the Tri-State Association for Corporate Renewal and a member of the Executive Committee of the Midwest Regional Bankruptcy Seminar. He frequently teaches and lectures throughout the United States on bankruptcy and restructuring issues. In April and October 2010 Stephen was a guest lecturer teaching on the acquisition of distressed companies in the Private Equity Finance Course at Harvard Business School. Stephen also was a guest lecturer at The University of Michigan Law School in March 2012 where he spoke on his experience as counsel for a dealer committee in the Chrysler Chapter 11 case. He is a regular speaker at the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, including in each of the last three years.

Stephen regularly contributes to bankruptcy and restructuring scholarship. Most recently, he co-authored “Not Every Promise is a Capital Commitment – Litigating Section 365(o) Claims by the FDIC” published in Pratt’s Journal of Bankruptcy Law (January 2013) which analyzes Squire Sanders’ precedent setting litigation victory for client AmFin Financial Corporation over the FDIC in a $700+ million dispute. Stephen also is the author of "Recent Bankruptcy and Financial Restructuring Law: Looking to 2013", a chapter of Bankruptcy and Financial Restructuring Law 2013 and co-author of “Practicing Chapter 11 Restructuring and Bankruptcy in a Struggling Economy,” the lead chapter of the 2012 edition of Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and Restructuring Strategies, each published by Aspatore Books as part of its Thought Leadership series. Stephen is a co-author with several Squire Sanders colleagues of "Pre-Bankruptcy Planning for the Commercial Reorganization – A Brief Guide for the CEO, CFO/COO, General Counsel and Tax Advisor" published by the American Bankruptcy Institute.

Representative Experience

• Recent Committee Engagements include: Chrysler (Ad Hoc Committee of Chrysler Affected Dealers), EnviroSolutions, Enron Corp., Mesaba Aviation, SHC, Inc. (Top-Flite), J. Peterman, Advanced Marketing Services (committee member), Phar-Mor (committee member) and F&M Distributors (committee member).
• Recent Debtor/Company Engagements include: AmFin Financial Corporation, British American Insurance Company Limited, British American Isle of Venice, Flat Out Crazy LLC (Flat Top Grill and Stir Crazy Restaurants), EaglePicher Holdings, WorldCom, Dominion Homes, Kenwood Towne Place, All American Semiconductor, WCI Steel, Lodestar Energy, Schulte Metal Finishing, Astro Container, Beechknoll Nursing Homes and Brendamour's, Inc.
• Recent Institutional Lender/Investor/Creditor Engagements include: General Motors, Lehman Brothers, RG Steel, Madoff Investment Securities, Penson Worldwide, The Groves in Lincoln, Bethlehem Steel Liquidation Trust, Fontainebleau Las Vegas, Calpine, Refco, DBSI, Inc., Omega Navigation Enterprises, Aleris International, Z Gallerie, American Home Mortgage, Ownit Mortgage Solutions, Crew Creative Advertising, The Durrant Group, Walker Wood Products, Tropicana Entertainment, Wornick, National Century Financial Enterprises, Harvey Electronics, Levitz Furniture, Chiquita Brands International, Casey Tool, Commercial Alloys Corporation, Ames Department Stores, Baldwin Piano and Organ, Adelphia Communications, Loewen Group, Carlton Cove, Furnas Farms, Gencor and PRS Insurance Group.
• Recent Board, Board Committee and Director Engagements include: Station Casinos, LTV, JER/Highland, Jameson and Elder-Beerman Stores.