Todd Dressel, a partner in the firm’s Restructuring and Insolvency Practice Group, focuses his practice on corporate and municipal bankruptcy and restructuring matters.
He represents financial institutions, hedge funds, indenture trustees, institutional investors and other creditors, including official and ad hoc committees of creditors, in matters in and out of court. Todd advises his clients when a matter enters distress and throughout the bankruptcy process, including adequate protection/stay relief, the sale of assets, DIP financing and plan confirmation.
Todd also pursues and defends commercial claims in state and federal court, including foreclosure actions, breach of contract, fiduciary claims, general commercial litigation and bank defense matters. During his career, starting as a prosecutor in the Nevada Office of the Attorney General Special Prosecutions Unit, Todd has advocated for his clients throughout the judicial process, including federal and state jury trials, bankruptcy matters and circuit court arguments.
Todd’s representations cross a variety of industries, including agriculture, real estate, financial services and banking, telecommunications, technology, mining, construction, healthcare and transportation.
The judges of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California selected him to be a member of the court’s Bench-Bar Liaison Committee from 2012-2016 and he co-chaired the committee from 2014-2015. From 2010-2011, Todd chaired the Commercial Law and Bankruptcy Section of the Bar Association of San Francisco and co-chaired the section from 2009-2010.
Todd’s legal career began with a judicial clerkship for Judge Merlyn H. Hoyt of the Seventh Judicial District Court in Ely, Nevada. He then joined the Nevada Attorney General’s Office as a deputy AG in the Special Prosecutions Unit, where he received a Declaration of Excellence from Nevada Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa.
Experience
- Indenture Trustee in Chapter 9 bankruptcy of Palm Drive Healthcare District (N.D. Ca.).
- Bond holder in Chapter 9 bankruptcy of Mendocino Coast Health Care District.
- DIP Lender in Chapter 11 bankruptcy of senior care facilities (S.D. Tex.).
- Secured Creditor in multiple Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings of farming and other agricultural-related businesses.
- Agent bank in the liquidation of community develop corporation through assignment for the benefit of creditors.
- Secured creditors in judicial and non-judicial foreclosure proceedings, including the sale of collateral and appointment of receiver.
- Noteholders in connection with the Chapter 11 bankruptcy and sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team.
- Numerous out-of-court restructurings on behalf financial institutions, national banks, hedge funds and other creditors.
- California Western School of LawJD1996
- University of MinnesotaBAPolitical Science and Japanese language1992
Bench-Bar Liaison Committee – U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California
Bar Association of San Francisco, Commercial Law and Bankruptcy Section
- Presenter, Seminal LGBTQ+ Legal Cases: U.S. & UK, Webinar, June 24, 2020
- California
- Nevada
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Federal Claims
- U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
- U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
- U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada
Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America, Litigation – Bankruptcy, Woodward/White, Inc., 2024, 2025
Named to “Northern California Super Lawyers,” Bankruptcy: Business, Super Lawyers, Thomson Reuters, 2018-2024
- Author, Federal Regulators Update Policy on Commercial Real Estate Loan Accommodations and Workouts, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, July 12, 2023
- Author, Lenders Beware – Default Interest in California May Be Unlawful, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, October 28, 2022
- Co-author, "Equitable Mootness in the Municipal Bankruptcy Context," Law360, October 21, 2016
- Co-author, "Red or Black? Difficult Decisions Ahead for Atlantic City," Law360, June 23, 2016