Ostrow, Alec P.
Alec P. Ostrow concentrates his practice in bankruptcy, corporate reorganization, creditors’ rights and commercial litigation. Recognized as a New York Super Lawyer (selected by his peers as among the top 5 percent of lawyers in the state), Mr. Ostrow has served as lead counsel for many businesses that successfully reorganized in Chapter 11 or in out-of-court restructurings, as well as lead counsel for buyers and sellers, trustees, and officers and directors of distressed business in a wide range of industries, including telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, health care, insurance, real estate, reprographics, oil and gas, retail, steel manufacturing, home furnishings, construction, demolition, consumer products, and the record industry
He has also represented banks and insurance companies as creditors in major bankruptcy cases such as Lehman Brothers, Adelphia Communications and Enron, as well as foreign representatives in cross-border cases involving reinsurance and financial services.
As a trial lawyer in bankruptcy litigation, Mr. Ostrow has won multiple judgments recovering tens of millions of dollars, and has successfully defended individuals and institutions against clawback and other claims asserted by debtors, trustees and creditors’ committees.
A prolific author and frequent speaker on bankruptcy-related topics, Mr. Ostrow presents to numerous associations, including the American Bar Association and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He has also served as panelist for the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Judicial Conference of the Second Circuit and the National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees.
Mr. Ostrow is also a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and an adjunct professor at St. John’s University School of Law in the LL.M. in Bankruptcy program.
RELATED PRACTICES
CLIENT ENGAGEMENTS
Serves as the trustee’s special litigation counsel in the liquidation case of an individual investment advisor, investigating and prosecuting fraudulent transfer and alter ego claims
Represents a UK firm as a litigant in the cross-border case of a financial services company being liquidated in Luxembourg
Represents a construction industry firm in negotiating the restructuring of its financial and trade debts
Represents a commercial landlord in several pending and concluded retail reorganizations
Represented a major financial institution as a secured lender in a recently concluded restructuring of a construction industry firm
Represents individual and corporate, domestic and foreign, clawback defendants and potential defendants in cases pending in the Southern District of New York and the District of Connecticut
PUBLICATIONS:
Constitutionality of Core Jurisdiction," 68 Am. Bankr. L.J. 91 (1994)
"The Involuntary Chapter 11 Case: Why Don't We Do It in the Gap? (No One Will Be Watching Us), 5 J. Bankr. L. & Prac. 63 (1995)
"The Animal Farm of Administrative Insolvency," 11 Am. Bankr. Inst. L. Rev. 339 (2003)
"We Don't Need the Case Law to Turn the DIP's Attorney into a Court Informant," 27 Am. Bankr. Inst. J. 14 (May 2008)
"Nondisclosure as the Basis of Judicial Estoppel in Bankruptcy, or Estop Me if You Haven't Heard this Before," 2011 Norton Ann. Surv. Bankr. L. 123
"Inversion of Supremacy: L3Cs and Benefit Corporations," 34 Am. Bankr. Inst. J. 36 (March 2015)
"Situation Comity: Something Familiar, Something Peculiar; Nothing That's Formal, Nothing That's Normal, 2018 Norton Ann. Surv. Bankr. L. 345
"Has Chapter 15 Bestowed on the Bankruptcy Court a Roving Commission to Do Equity After a Foreign Proceeding Has Been Recognized?, 2019 Norton Ann. Surv. Bankr. L. 215
CONTACT
EDUCATION
New York University School of Law, J.D., 1980
Dartmouth College, A.B. magna cum laude, 1977
ADMISSIONS
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York
Southern District of New York
Eastern District of New York
Western District of New York
District of Connecticut
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
Partner, Salomon Green & Ostrow, P.C. (1986-2004)
Shareholder, Stevens & Lee, P.C. 2005-2010
LANGUAGES
Spanish and French
MEMBERSHIPS/PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
New York State Bar Association
American Bar Association
New York County Lawyers Association
Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy
Member, panel of mediators for the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York
American Bankruptcy Institute
Co-chair of the Real Estate Committee (2001-08)
Member, Advisory Committee for the New York City Bankruptcy Conference
Adjunct professor of law, St. John’s University School of Law (LL.M. in Bankruptcy Program)