Mr. Michael P. Cooley

Michael P. Cooley is a partner with Reed Smith LLP in Dallas and leads the firm’s Restructuring & Insolvency practice, where he guides middle-market companies and creditors through complex bankruptcy reorganizations, liquidations and distressed asset acquisitions. His broad practice includes engagements by debtors, lenders, landlords and committees, and his industry experience includes multifamily and commercial real estate; hospitals, assisted living, and managed-care clients; retail; and oil and gas. In addition to structuring and negotiating complex chapter 11 plans, Mr. Cooley has litigated numerous multi-day bankruptcy trials to verdict. He has taken a leading role in nearly all aspects of case administration; litigation strategy; and the design, formulation, and confirmation of complex (and sometimes unique) plans of reorganization. Mr. Cooley is Board Certified in Business Bankruptcy Law by the American Board of Certification and is the author of 26 original chapters on procedural rules governing bankruptcy litigation for the Bloomberg Law: Bankruptcy Treatise. He previously served as a member of Reed Smith’s Executive Committee. Mr. Cooley has been recognized for his efforts in connection with the Karnes City Pro Bono Immigration Project, a collaborative project that provides pro bono representation to Central American families seeking asylum while held in federal detention. In that capacity, he has represented multiple families in a variety of immigration court proceedings, including two contested trials that resulted in affirmative grants of asylum for his clients. Prior to attending law school, Mr. Cooley spent four years as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy, serving as a Naval Flight Officer with Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron Four (VQ-4). He is ranked in Chambers USA for Texas Bankruptcy/Restructuring (2023-25), and listed in The Best Lawyers in America for Bankruptcy and Creditor/Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law and Litigation – Bankruptcy (2018-25), and he is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell. Mr. Cooley received his B.A. in 1992 with special honors from the University of Texas, and his J.D. in 1999 with honors from the University of Texas School of Law.