Claudia Z. Springer
Claudia Springer heads up the Novo Advisors Philadelphia office, as well as the firm’s new Mediation practice. Claudia, a seasoned restructuring and bankruptcy attorney for over 42 years, represented all major constituents in restructuring and bankruptcy cases including debtors, major creditors, shareholders, boards of directors, creditors’ committees, landlords, buyers, plan sponsors, bondholders, guarantors and others. Prior to coming to Novo, Claudia was a partner at Reed Smith in their Philadelphia office and for several years was the managing partner of that office.
Her law practice included litigating and mediating many different types of disputes among various parties, including ones involving classes of creditors, debtors and creditors, shareholders, insurers and insureds. Her experience also involved negotiating and participating in mediations of various types of disputes, including those regarding the exercise of remedies, contracts, leases, product recalls and liability, and labor and employment. She also litigated numerous disputes in bankruptcy court. Her clients regularly relied upon her legal expertise as well as her keen business judgement.
Claudia practiced across industries, giving her wide-ranging subject-matter expertise. She has handled restructuring and bankruptcy cases involving hospitals, medical practices, long-term care facilities, pharmaceutical companies, heavy manufacturing businesses, steel producers, construction companies, chemical companies, hotels, restaurant chains, large retailers, and more. Recently, she acted in a mediation capacity for a large and insolvent estate that involved numerous creditors and businesses including over 20 banks.
In addition to being viewed by clients as a very experienced and skilled attorney, clients often noted that they also relied upon Claudia for her business acumen and advice. Claudia’s work at Novo melds her legal expertise and her business expertise, bringing a new synergy and level of support to our team on receiverships, assignments for the benefit of creditors, turnaround assignments and bankruptcy matters where Novo serves as chief restructuring officer and/or financial advisor.
This marriage of specialities — a unique combination of strong negotiation skills with proven legal expertise in the area of restructurings and bankruptcy law and in-depth business knowledge and experience — was excellent training for Claudia’s transition from “big law” to her role with Novo Advisors. Because business issues are the focus of most disputes, and because Novo is, for many, the business transformation partner of choice, with a deep bench in finance and valuation issues, clients now benefit from a new firepower that few mediators and financial advisors can offer.
Claudia has been lauded as one of America’s leading insolvency and corporate restructuring attorneys by Chambers and Partners USA: America’s Leading Business Lawyers every year since its initial publication in 2003. She was one of the youngest inductees in the American College of Bankruptcy, served on its Board for two terms and currently heads up one of its committees. In addition, Claudia has been recognized as one of the nation’s top restructuring and bankruptcy lawyers by America’s Best Lawyers and America’s Best Business Lawyers. She serves on several boards of nonprofit organizations and is a regular volunteer with Compass, an organization that offers strategic business advice and solutions to a variety of nonprofit organizations in the Philadelphia area. Over the course of her career, Claudia has authored numerous articles concerning bankruptcy and restructuring topics as well as mediation techniques and has participated in panel discussions on these topics. Most recently she co-authored an article published by the ABI advocating for the benefit of mediating disputes prior to litigation and she participated in a PBI CLE panel discussion regarding the merits of mediation in bankruptcy disputes.