Overview

Clients rely on Scott J. Freedman to protect their financial interests and navigate complex insolvency matters with precision. He delivers practical, business-driven strategies that help clients minimize risk, recover value and position themselves for long-term stability.

Scott J. Freedman focuses his practice on bankruptcy, restructuring and creditors’ rights and civil litigation.  He represents trade creditors, Chapter 7 and 11 bankruptcy trustees, financial institutions, creditor committee members, distressed investors, asset purchasers, general contractors, debtors and other parties in interest in bankruptcy proceedings, out-of-court restructurings, and other insolvency matters nationwide.  He has also served as the court-appointed receiver over companies in significant matters.  Clients turn to Scott for his ability to quickly assess exposure, identify strategic options and execute plans that protect their commercial objectives in high-pressure situations.

Scott advises clients on the full range of creditor rights, including reclamation, setoff, recoupment and lien rights, administrative expense claims, environmental issues, section 363 asset sales, automatic stay disputes, cash collateral, debtor-in-possession financing, critical vendor agreements, executory contracts, section 105 injunctions, and plan confirmation.  He frequently handles contested matters and related litigation and has extensive experience prosecuting and defending preferential transfer, fraudulent conveyance, and other bankruptcy-related claims. His deep experience and track record in sophisticated restructuring work give clients confidence that their matters are being handled with skill, focus, and sound judgment.

Clients often bring Scott into matters early to mitigate exposure before a bankruptcy filing occurs. He works closely with stakeholders to understand their business goals, then develops tailored legal strategies that preserve leverage, reduce risk and drive results. His approach is pragmatic, strategic and informed by years of handling complex cases across industries and economic cycles. Clients rely on Scott’s guidance not only for his technical command of bankruptcy law, but also for his ability to deliver outcomes that protect their financial interests and strengthen their long-term positions.

Representative Experience

  • Represented The Dow Chemical Company and affiliates, CROWN Cork and Seal USA Inc., and other large trade creditors in connection with general unsecured and section 503(b)(9) claims, setoff and recoupment rights, environmental claims, critical vendor agreements, executory contract assumption and assignment, plan confirmation, preference and fraudulent conveyance defense, and other trade creditor issues arising from the Chapter 11 cases of AbitibiBowater, American Fibers & Yarns, American Airlines, Blackhawk Automotive, Cadence Innovation, Chemtura, Chrysler, Collins & Aikman, Enron, Foamex, General Motors, Global Crossing, The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, Lear, Lyondell Chemical Company, Meridian Automotive, MPM Silicones, NewPage, Plastech Engineered Products, Pliant, Reichhold, Smurfit-Stone Container, Solutia, TWA, United Airlines and Wellman, among others.
  • Represented The Dow Chemical Company in securing an opinion of first impression preventing the use of section 502(d) as a defense to the allowance and payment of section 503(b)(9) administrative expense claims.
  • Served as the court-appointed statutory receiver for affiliated construction companies with no assets in which the receivership estate pursued dozens of fraudulent transfer claims, recovered more than $3 million and made a sizeable distribution to unsecured claimants.
  • Represented CROWN Cork and Seal USA Inc. as a member of the Unsecured Creditors Committee in pursuing an $18 million prepetition claim and defending litigation regarding its $1 million section 503(b)(9) administrative claim. Also defended against claims brought by the Chapter 7 trustee against 22 defendants seeking $200 million in damages in the bankruptcy case of a large canned and frozen vegetables processor.
  • Represented a Chapter 7 trustee in prosecuting LBO-related fraudulent conveyance and other bankruptcy estate causes of action against the debtor’s former owners, generating a significant recovery for creditors.
  • Represented a Chapter 11 trustee for an indoor amusement park in pursuing, defending and resolving claims and litigation involving the debtor’s secured lender and former landlord, resulting in a significant return for the estate.
  • Represented a Chapter 7 trustee in prosecuting fraudulent conveyance, preferential transfer and other bankruptcy estate-related causes of action with respect to New Jersey bankruptcy cases filed by, among others, Calgo Garden Center Corp., Camp Harmony Inc., Demza Masonry, LLC, Fiber-Span Inc., Lam Cloud Management LLC, Medak Trucking LLC, Papa Sprout, Inc., Sterling Holdings and V & S Investments LLC.
  • Represented The Dow Chemical Company and affiliates and other trade creditor defendants in successfully defending preference and fraudulent conveyance adversary proceedings seeking to avoid and recover more than $100 million in the aggregate.
  • Represented a stalking horse bidder in purchasing multiple fast-food franchises from a Chapter 11 debtor through a section 363 asset sale.
  • Represented a distressed investor in successfully challenging a channeling injunction and bar order.
  • Represented a general contractor in favorably resolving a debtor-subcontractor’s construction delay, wrongful termination, trust fund and union contribution claims exceeding $5 million.
  • Represented a condominium association in securing the dismissal of a builder’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy case as a bad-faith filing.

Speeches & Presentations

  • Panelist, 11th Annual Camden-Burlington County Bankruptcy Conference, 2005.
  • Panelist, Clean Energy Meets the Courtroom, 2013.

Professional Recognition

  • Selected to appear in Chambers USA–America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, as a Leader in his field, 2011–2015
  • Listed in SJ Magazine “Top Attorneys” in the area of Bankruptcy, 2014
  • New Jersey Law Journal Forty under Forty, 2011

No aspect of these rankings has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. Further information on methodologies is available via these links.

Representative Experience

  • Represented The Dow Chemical Company and affiliates, CROWN Cork and Seal USA Inc., and other large trade creditors in connection with general unsecured and section 503(b)(9) claims, setoff and recoupment rights, environmental claims, critical vendor agreements, executory contract assumption and assignment, plan confirmation, preference and fraudulent conveyance defense, and other trade creditor issues arising from the Chapter 11 cases of AbitibiBowater, American Fibers & Yarns, American Airlines, Blackhawk Automotive, Cadence Innovation, Chemtura, Chrysler, Collins & Aikman, Enron, Foamex, General Motors, Global Crossing, The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, Lear, Lyondell Chemical Company, Meridian Automotive, MPM Silicones, NewPage, Plastech Engineered Products, Pliant, Reichhold, Smurfit-Stone Container, Solutia, TWA, United Airlines and Wellman, among others.
  • Represented The Dow Chemical Company in securing an opinion of first impression preventing the use of section 502(d) as a defense to the allowance and payment of section 503(b)(9) administrative expense claims.
  • Served as the court-appointed statutory receiver for affiliated construction companies with no assets in which the receivership estate pursued dozens of fraudulent transfer claims, recovered more than $3 million and made a sizeable distribution to unsecured claimants.
  • Represented CROWN Cork and Seal USA Inc. as a member of the Unsecured Creditors Committee in pursuing an $18 million prepetition claim and defending litigation regarding its $1 million section 503(b)(9) administrative claim. Also defended against claims brought by the Chapter 7 trustee against 22 defendants seeking $200 million in damages in the bankruptcy case of a large canned and frozen vegetables processor.
  • Represented a Chapter 7 trustee in prosecuting LBO-related fraudulent conveyance and other bankruptcy estate causes of action against the debtor’s former owners, generating a significant recovery for creditors.
  • Represented a Chapter 11 trustee for an indoor amusement park in pursuing, defending and resolving claims and litigation involving the debtor’s secured lender and former landlord, resulting in a significant return for the estate.
  • Represented a Chapter 7 trustee in prosecuting fraudulent conveyance, preferential transfer and other bankruptcy estate-related causes of action with respect to New Jersey bankruptcy cases filed by, among others, Calgo Garden Center Corp., Camp Harmony Inc., Demza Masonry, LLC, Fiber-Span Inc., Lam Cloud Management LLC, Medak Trucking LLC, Papa Sprout, Inc., Sterling Holdings and V & S Investments LLC.
  • Represented The Dow Chemical Company and affiliates and other trade creditor defendants in successfully defending preference and fraudulent conveyance adversary proceedings seeking to avoid and recover more than $100 million in the aggregate.
  • Represented a stalking horse bidder in purchasing multiple fast-food franchises from a Chapter 11 debtor through a section 363 asset sale.
  • Represented a distressed investor in successfully challenging a channeling injunction and bar order.
  • Represented a general contractor in favorably resolving a debtor-subcontractor’s construction delay, wrongful termination, trust fund and union contribution claims exceeding $5 million.
  • Represented a condominium association in securing the dismissal of a builder’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy case as a bad-faith filing.

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