KathrynSutherland-Smith

Of Counsel

Sydney + 61.2.8272.0738 Melbourne + 61.3.9101.6800

Kathryn Sutherland-Smith is an experienced insolvency and restructuring lawyer who has practiced in Australia and in the United States. Kathryn strives to provide clients with innovative commercial solutions but is also adept working in contentious and litigious situations. Over the past decade, Kathryn has structured and implemented multibillion dollar global reorganizations through schemes of arrangement, external administrations, and proceedings under chapters 11 and 15 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. She also has handled complex insolvency litigation and represented debtors and creditors in an array of out-of-court restructuring matters, including distressed M&A deals, capital markets transactions, and refinancings.

Kathryn works with private credit institutions, ad hoc creditor groups, companies experiencing financial distress, and external administrators. Her experience covers an array of industries including energy and resources, aviation, transport and logistics, real estate, financial services, and digital assets.

Highlights of Kathryn's company-side experience prior to joining Jones Day include representing: Hertz in its US$19 billion global restructuring; Swissport, the world's leading provider of airport ground services and air cargo handling, on its €1.9 billion recapitalization; and Constellation, a Brazilian offshore drilling operator, in its US$1.5 billion cross-border restructurings.

Recent creditor-side representations include advising: an ad hoc group of bondholders holding more than US$630 million of unsecured bonds in the chapter 11 case of LATAM Airlines; a U.S. private credit fund in connection with the distressed acquisition of Australian corporate and superannuation trustee, Sargon Capital; and the unsecured committee of creditors in cryptocurrency platform Celsius Network's chapter 11 case.

Experience

  • WEG acquires industrial electric motors and generators business from Regal Rexnord CorporationJones Day is advising WEG S.A. in the $400 million acquisition of the industrial electric motors and generators business of Regal Rexnord Corporation.
  • Additional Publications

    • August 2022
      Two Sides of the Same Coin? Cryptoassets and Estate Property in Bankruptcy, American Bankruptcy Institute
    • December 2018
      A Trans-Pacific Tale of Carrots and Sticks: Lessons for Australia from the United States' Experience of the Ipso Facto Stay, Insolvency Law Journal
    • December 2016
      Evidentiary Challenges for the Insolvency Practitioner: the Use of Public Examination Transcripts at Trial, Insolvency Law Journal