Ms. Debra I. Grassgreen

Bio

Debra I. Grassgreen is a senior partner in Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP’s San Francisco office and chairs the firm’s international insolvency practice. She is the immediate past president of the International Insolvency Institute (the first woman to be elected to that position), and she is widely regarded as a leading expert on cross-border restructuring matters, frequently speaking and writing on cross-border matters and others. Ms. Grassgreen has experience representing debtors, trustees and creditors’ committees in large and complex chapter 11 cases nationwide and internationally in the technology, media, telecommunications and life sciences industries, both in and out of court. Some of her more notable engagements include representing solar power manufacturer Solyndra, American Suzuki Motor Corp., Mesa Airlines and the creditors (including abuse survivors) in the Weinstein Co. chapter 11 case. In addition, she has represented high-profile individuals, including boxer Mike Tyson and singer Toni Braxton. Ms. Grassgreen is a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy and has held a variety of leadership positions in prestigious insolvency organizations, including the International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC) and the American College of Bankruptcy, having chaired its Insolvency Committee and served as its Ninth Circuit Regent. For the past 10 years, she has participated in the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law’s Working Group V and its expert group meetings as an NGO delegate. Ms. Grassgreen has been listed in the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journal as one of the “Top Bankruptcy Lawyers” in California and, for several years, as one of its “Top Women Lawyers.” In 2021, IWIRC selected her as its “Woman of the Year in Restructuring.” She also holds Chambers USA’s highest rank (Band 1) in Bankruptcy/Restructuring, and she is rated AV-Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell. In addition, she is listed in Who’s Who Legal: Thought Leaders—Global Elite and in Lawdragon as one of its 2022 and 2023 “500 Leading U.S. Bankruptcy & Restructuring Lawyers” and one of its 2020 “500 Leading Global Restructuring & Insolvency Lawyers,” and she has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America every year since 2001 for her work in both Bankruptcy and Creditor/Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law and Litigation - Bankruptcy. Ms. Grassgreen received her B.S.B.A. in 1988 from the University of Florida, where she also received her J.D. with honors, and she is admitted to practice in Florida and California.