Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP has announced that Mike Rupe has joined the firm as a partner and Head of Special Situations and Reorganizations, resident in the New York office.

"We are thrilled to welcome Mike to our firm," said Cadwalader managing partner Pat Quinn. "Mike's expertise and reputation both in financial restructuring and private credit make him the ideal leader of our growing special situations practice, fitting squarely into our strategic growth plan."

Rupe advises financial institutions in all aspects of in- and out-of-court workout, restructuring and reorganization matters, with an emphasis on advising ad hoc lender groups. Rupe last practiced at King & Spalding LLP, where he served as Head of Financial Restructuring.

"Mike has extensive experience working with, and unique knowledge of, private credit and other alternative lenders – the dominant constituency in significant restructurings," said Greg Petrick, chair of Cadwalader's Financial Restructuring Group and a member of the firm's Management Committee. "Adding Mike to our team positions Cadwalader to assist this important and growing constituency in the most complicated restructurings. We're delighted to have Mike join us and our creditor-focused practice."

Rupe has represented creditor groups in a number of high-profile chapter 11 cases and out-of-court restructurings, including those of CEC Entertainment, APC Automotive Technologies, Fairway Group Holdings, Gymboree Group and Payless Holdings, among others. Among his career highlights, Rupe led the team representing a cross-over lender group in the chapter 11 cases of Nine West Holdings, for which he was recognized by IFLR1000 as a finalist for "Lawyer of the Year: Restructuring and Insolvency."

"I could not be more excited to join Cadwalader and for the opportunity to help continue to grow the firm's restructuring practice as well as the firm's private credit practice," Rupe said. "Cadwalader's reputation as a premier finance firm, its culture of excellence, and the depth and breadth of its practices make the firm exceptionally well-positioned to successfully guide clients through periods of market disruption."

Rupe's arrival follows the recent expansion of the firm's private credit and special situations capabilities through the addition of partners Bevis Metcalfe and Matthew Smith in London. In the last 12 months, Cadwalader has also added partners Angela Batterson (Finance), Jon Brose (Tax), Kiran Kadekar (Corporate) and Helen Maher (Global Litigation) in New York and partners Michael Bergmann (Corporate), Peter Malyshev (Financial Services) and Mercedes Tunstall (Financial Services) in Washington, D.C.