Overview

Nathan draws on over two decades of insolvency and workout experience to provide practical and insightful advice to clients. He builds relationships to obtain favorable results in both transactional and litigation matters.

Nate is the chair of BFKN’s Bankruptcy & Creditor Rights Group. He has extensive experience in all aspects of business reorganizations, workouts, and bankruptcies, inside and outside of court restructurings. This includes the representation of creditors, suppliers, equipment lessors, lenders, landlords, OEMs, and asset purchasers in small to large, complex Chapter 11 cases.

Nate also counsels parties in business restructuring and liquidation situations outside of bankruptcy such as assignment for the benefit of creditors and forbearance agreements. He represents suppliers to bankrupt and other distressed entities, including counseling on and prosecuting 503(b)(9) claims, advising on post-petition credit, and defending preference claims. He also works with transactional lawyers on distressed deal structures and provides legal opinions that support secured financings.

Nate is distinguished among his peers, consistently recognized in the areas of Bankruptcy and Reorganization in the Illinois Super Lawyers publication and in the Commercial Bankruptcy and Workout Law categories in the Leading Lawyers publication, and receiving the Peer Review Rating – AV Preeminent, the highest peer rating standard by Martindale-Hubbell.

Nate is actively involved in volunteer and charity work. Locally, he served as co-chair of the Bankruptcy Court Liaison Committee and serves on the Volunteer Attorney Panel in the Northern District of Illinois. Outside the practice of law, Nate has worked with World Bicycle Relief for years to fundraise and raise awareness for its mission to provide large-scale, comprehensive bicycle distribution programs to aid poverty relief in developing countries around the world.

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Nate is an active runner, often racing all distances from 5ks to marathons. Combining charity work with running is a passion. Nate has used running to raise tens of thousands of dollars collectively for Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, Asha for Education, Doctors Without Borders, and World Bicycle Relief (WBR), most recently having run 3,000 miles in 2022 to support WBR.

Credentials

Admissions

  • State of Illinois
  • U.S. District Court -  Northern District of Illinois
  • U.S. District Court - Northern District of Illinois (Trial Bar)
  • U.S. District Court - Central District of Illinois
  • U.S. Court of Appeals - 7th Circuit
  • U.S. District Court - Northern District of Indiana
  • U.S. District Court - Eastern District of Michigan
  • U.S. District Court - Western District of Michigan

Education

  • University of Illinois College of Law, J.D., cum laude, 2000
  • Dartmouth College, B.A. History, 1997

Experience

Creditor & Contract Party Representation in Chapter 11

  • Protect creditor rights for Fortune 500 company for all chapter 7 and chapter 11 bankruptcies across the country, recently including Dean Foods, Purdue Pharma, and Armstrong Flooring.
  • Represented Sephora USA, Inc. in J.C. Penney’s chapter 11 bankruptcy cases, including pre-bankruptcy contract considerations, issues related to J.C. Penney’s treatment of the Sephora’s “store in store” agreement covering 600 locations nationally, negotiation of assumption and assignment, and payment of claims in full.
  • Represent LVMH and affiliated brands in connection with their supply agreements with national stores, including bankruptcy matters, including in large national cases such as the Neiman Marcus bankruptcy.
  • Represent VTG Rail, Inc., a transport company specializing in railcar sales and leasing services, in connection with its pre- and post-bankruptcy lessee disputes.
  • Represent several suppliers in Exide Technologies bankruptcy cases for supply agreement assumption issues, claims for goods supplied, and defending preference claims.

Motor Vehicle Dealer Bankruptcies

  • Regularly counsels automobile manufacturers and importers with respect to dealers that have filed for bankruptcy. Most recently Nate advised a manufacturer in a dealer chapter 11 bankruptcy in Florida. He negotiated with the debtor as part of its going-concern sale in bankruptcy, ensured a transition to a manufacturer-approved dealer, and obtained payment in full on all pre- and post-bankruptcy claims.
  • Represented an OEM in a contract dispute with a Korean entity that attempted to dissolve to avoid liability for defective batteries. The supplier filed bankruptcy in Korea and shortly before mandatory arbitration commenced, it filed a Chapter 15 petition with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and asked the court to enjoin the arbitration. Nathan led the BFKN team in successfully opposing the injunction after extensive briefing and oral argument.

Supplier Bankruptcy

  • Regularly serves as bankruptcy counsel for the leading supplier of driveline solutions to the global automotive industry, providing creditor rights counseling and recently negotiated a successful transition of its business from a key supplier to a buyer in the supplier’s chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Retail Bankruptcy

  • Regularly serves as landlord counsel in “mega” chapter 11 bankruptcies, recently including representation of landlords in Party City, Buyk, Pier 1, Chuck E. Cheese, Shilo Industries, Stein Mart, and GNC cases.

Preference & Avoidance Action Defense

  • Regularly represents national companies in defense of section 547 preference actions and section 548 avoidance actions in bankruptcies in jurisdictions across the country, recently including successful defense of a seven-figure preference complaint in the Dean Foods case.

Newsroom

News

Recognitions

  • Band Ranked, Chambers USA (2023-2024)
    • Bankruptcy/Restructuring
  • Best Lawyer, The Best Lawyers in America© (2021-2025)
    • Bankruptcy & Creditor Rights
    • Insolvency & Reorganization Law
    • Litigation - Bankruptcy
  • Super Lawyer, Illinois Super Lawyers (2016-2024) 
  • Leading Lawyers Network (2017-2023)
  • Top 100, Illinois Super Lawyers (2019)
  • Rising Stars, Illinois Super Lawyers (2009-2015)
  • Martindale Hubbell Peer Review Rating - AV Preeminent
  • bl_rugg2025
  • chambers_rugg_2024

Organizations

  • Member & Author, American Bankruptcy Institute
    • Central States Bankruptcy Workshop, Advisory Board
    • Mid-Level Professional Development Program (Chicago), Advisory Board
  • Member, Chicago Bar Association
    • Bankruptcy & Reorganization Committee, Vice-Chair
  • Member, Illinois State Bar Association
    • Commercial Banking, Collections & Bankruptcy Section
  • Member, Co-Chair, Northern District of Illinois Bankruptcy Court Liaison Committee (2010-2012)
  • Volunteer Attorney Panel - Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Illinois
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