Barry Z. Bazian

Barry Bazian is a partner in Goodwin’s Financial Restructuring group. Barry represents public and private companies, investors, secured and unsecured creditors, asset acquirers, landlords and other parties in out-of-court restructurings, chapter 11 bankruptcy and other insolvency proceedings, distressed transactions and insolvency-related litigation.

Barry regularly advises public and private company management and boards regarding contingency planning, distressed situations and transactions, fiduciary duties and risk mitigation strategies. Barry also has extensive experience structuring, negotiating and documenting a wide variety of transactions, including distressed asset acquisitions, royalty monetization transactions, structured financings, and “bankruptcy remote” transactions.

Barry writes frequently on bankruptcy and restructuring topics, and his articles have been published in the American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, the Norton Journal of Bankruptcy Law and Practice, Bloomberg’s Bankruptcy Law Reporter, among other publications.

In addition to his financial restructuring practice, Barry is devoted to pro bono work on behalf of the New England Innocence Project, where he reviews case files of convicted individuals seeking post-conviction exoneration.

Barry’s representative matters include representing major stakeholders in the following matters:

• ContraFect Corporation, representing a purchaser of substantially all intellectual property assets of ContraFect Corporation, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code
• Clarus Therapeutics, representing the specialty pharmaceutical company as debtor-in-possession in its Chapter 11 case and successful sale of its assets
• PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals, representing a purchaser of assets of PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code
• Proteus Digital Health, representing the developer of digital medicine technologies as debtor-in-possession in its Chapter 11 case and successful sale of its assets
• Gibson Brands, representing the iconic guitar manufacturer as debtor-in-possession in its successful restructuring of approximately $500 million of funded debt obligations through a Chapter 11 plan
• Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, representing the parent company and substantial creditor of a rare drug biopharmaceutical company in connection with the Chapter 11 restructuring of over $400 million of liabilities
• Sears Holdings Corporation, representing various vendors and landlords
• Toys R Us, representing various vendors and landlords
• The Rockport Company, representing the stalking horse successful purchaser of substantially all of the assets of The Rockport Company under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code
• East Orange General Hospital, representing the not-for-profit hospital as debtor-in-possession in its Chapter 11 case, resulting in its successful sale and the confirmation of a Chapter 11 plan*
• Official Committees of Unsecured Creditors in numerous Chapter 11 cases, including those of Novan, Noranda Aluminum, Gander Mountain, CST Industries, Unilife Corporation, Aquion Energy, Golden County Foods and Ultimate Nutrition*

*Denotes experience prior to joining Goodwin.

Prior to joining Goodwin, Barry was an associate in Lowenstein Sandler’s New York office. Previously, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Robert E. Grossman of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York. 

Barry has been selected for inclusion in The Legal 500 U.S. 2022. Barry has been recognized in Best Lawyers’ Ones to Watch lists for 2021 and 2022 in the category of Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law. In 2019, Goodwin was honored by the Turnaround Management Association for its work as counsel for client Gibson Brands, Inc. in its Chapter 11 restructuring, which was named Mid-Size Company Transaction of the Year. Barry was lead associate on the engagement. In 2019, Barry was selected to participate in the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges (NCBJ) Next Generation Program.

Barry has authored or co-authored a number of articles and other publications relating to bankruptcy, restructuring and insolvency, including:

• Co-Author, “Why Delaware ABCs Are No Longer As Easy As 1-2-3,” Law 360, October 25, 2023
• Author, “Parsing Picard: Assessing the Extraterritorial Reach of the Bankruptcy Code’s Avoidance and Recovery Provisions,” Norton Journal of Bankruptcy Law and Practice, Vol. 29, No. 2, April 2020
• Co-author, “Avoiding the Avoidable: The Uncertainty of Selling Avoidance Actions,” Norton Journal of Bankruptcy Law and Practice, Vol. 26, No. 6, December 2017
• Co-author, “Lender Liability Considerations” (Chapter 19), Reorganizing Failing Businesses, American Bar Association, 3d ed., 2017
• Co-author, “Another Highly Charged Court Decision That Electricity is a “Good” Entitled to Section 503(b)(9) Administrative Priority Status,” Business Credit, May 2017
• Co-author, “Creditors' Committee Members Are Protected by the Barton Doctrine,” Bloomberg BNA Bankruptcy Law Reporter, March 16, 2017
• Co-author, “A New Preference Defense?” Business Credit, January 2017
• Co-author, “Retail Bankruptcies Are Skyrocketing: Creditors, Protect Your Rights!” CRF News, Credit Research Foundation, 2017
• Co-author, “What Constitutes Sufficient Notification of a Security Interest to Cut Off Trade Creditors’ Setoff Rights?” CRF News, Credit Research Foundation, 4th Quarter 2016
• Co-author, “Court Ruling A Reprieve for Bankruptcy Reclamation Rights?” Business Credit, November/December 2016
• Co-author, “A Little More You Need to Know About the ‘Ordinary Course of Business’ and ‘New Value’ Preference Defenses,” The Credit and Financial Management Review, 3rd Quarter 2016
• Co-author, “The Benefits of Properly Documenting a Consignment Transaction and the Potential For Recovery By Creditors that Don’t!” CRF News, Credit Research Foundation, 2nd Quarter 2016
• Co-author, “Court’s Broad Power to Approve Appointment of Estate Professionals,” American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, March 2015
• Co-author, “Trustees Beware: Reviewing the Circuit Split on Bankruptcy Trustee Personal Liability,” 24 NACTT Quarterly No. 4, July/August/September 2012