Morgan Lewis bankruptcy leader jumps to Kasowitz spinoff firm
(Reuters) - Glenn Agre Bergman & Fuentes, a law firm created last year by former partners at New York firm Kasowitz Benson Torres, said Tuesday it has hired the head of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius' bankruptcy practice.
Kurt Mayr, who also previously led the financial restructuring practice at Bracewell, joins Glenn Agre after nearly three years at Morgan Lewis.
Seven Kasowitz partners left to start the small trial firm in early 2021, which focuses on bankruptcy, commercial litigation and white-collar work.
Glenn Agre currently has office space in New York and San Francisco. Mayr said he is based in Connecticut, where the firm will weigh if it needs physical office space.
The firm, which now has 25 lawyers, hired its first partner away from a competitor in January, luring Reid Skibell from New York firm Harris St. Laurent & Wechsler. Glenn Agre brought on former Katten Muchin Rosenman lawyer Stacy Tecklin last month to lead its newly formed distressed debt and claims trading practice.
Mayr has represented creditor groups in the debt restructurings of Native American casinos Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun, the firm said.
Mayr said a main driver for his move to the smaller firm is that conflicts in big law firms can become a "significant obstacle." Beyond that, he said he had worked in the past on large cases with Glenn Agre partner Andrew Glenn.
Glenn, head of the firm's bankruptcy, restructuring and distressed debt practice, in a statement said Mayr's hire "positions our firm ideally for the next restructuring cycle."
While timing can be hard to predict, Mayr said that may be early 2023.
A Morgan Lewis spokesperson said the firm wishes Mayr well, and said it has a 90-member bankruptcy, restructuring and insolvency practice.
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