Sean A. O'Neal

Sean A. O’Neal is a partner with Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP in New York, where his practice focuses on corporate governance, capital solutions and special situations, restructuring, bankruptcy and related litigation matters. He assists corporate debtors, creditors, investors, financial counterparties and other interested parties in bankruptcy-related transactions, out-of-court workouts and liability-management transactions. He also works with investors in purchasing assets from, or making investments in, distressed companies. Mr. O’Neal advises clients on creditors’ rights, debt instruments, prepackaged bankruptcies, loan-to-own strategies, debtor-in-possession financing, exit financing, chapter 11 rights offerings, forbearance arrangements and other matters. Outside of the office, he serves on the boards of directors of Brooklyn Community and Housing Services, the Brooklyn Children’s Museum and the Prospect Park Alliance. Mr. O’Neal has been listed in The American Lawyer as Dealmaker of the Year for 2025 and Litigator of the Week for 2024, in Turnarounds & Workouts as an “Outstanding Restructuring Lawyer,” in Law360 as a “Bankruptcy MVP” and in Chambers USA for Bankruptcy/Restructuring, among other accolades. He received his B.A. in 1991 from the Centenary College of Louisiana and his J.D. magna cum laude from Tulane Law School, where he was admitted to the Order of the Coif and served as editor-in-chief of the Tulane Law Review.