Weil advised Luminar Technologies, Inc. (“Luminar”), a global technology company focused on LiDAR and photonics solutions – and the first company to build a LiDAR sensor for use in the roofline of vehicles – in its successful chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. The court confirmed Luminar’s chapter 11 plan on April 1, 2026, and the plan became effective on April 6, 2026 – less than four months after Luminar first commenced its chapter 11 cases. 

Luminar filed for chapter 11 on December 15, 2025, with the support of an ad hoc noteholder group consisting of a substantial majority of Luminar’s first- and second-lien noteholders, which consented to the use of cash collateral. The chapter 11 cases addressed more than $500 million in total liabilities and were commenced to implement value-maximizing sale transactions for Luminar’s two businesses on an expedited timeline.

The Weil team successfully completed two complex sale transactions: Luminar’s core LiDAR business and its equity interests in Luminar Semiconductors, Inc. (“LSI”), a non-debtor subsidiary which housed Luminar’s advanced technologies and services business segment. Notably, the LSI transaction – structured as an equity sale to keep that business out of chapter 11 – was supported by a prepetition stalking horse bid, while the LiDAR assets were separately marketed through a court-supervised auction process with Luminar securing a postpetition stalking horse bidder. The Weil team defeated a challenge to asset ownership that would have threatened the sale of the LiDAR assets and held a competitive auction process which raised the sale price by 50%. Both transactions closed in early February 2026.

Weil then negotiated a global settlement with the ad hoc noteholder group and the official committee of unsecured creditors, avoiding value-destructive litigation and paving the way for a chapter 11 plan of liquidation supported by key stakeholders. Additionally, Weil facilitated a cross-border strategy to wind down Luminar’s non-debtor foreign subsidiaries across multiple jurisdictions, including Germany, Sweden, India, Mexico, Israel and China.

At the confirmation hearing, the Weil team prevailed against objections from the United States Trustee on a developing legal issue related to third-party releases. Judge Lopez acknowledged the widespread support in favor of plan confirmation and praised the professionals’ efforts to maximize value. On the plan’s effective date of April 6, 2026, a liquidation trustee was appointed to oversee the plan’s implementation, which includes managing distributions and completing the winddown process.

The Weil team was led by Restructuring Department Co-Chair Ronit Berkovich together with Restructuring partners Jessica Liou and Stephanie Morrison and included Restructuring associates Austin Crabtree, Alex Langmo, Carlos Sardina, Tyler Talton, Kara Hafermalz, Resilda Karafili, Sean Lee and Katherine Berman; Securities Litigation partner Robert Stern and associate Amber Venturelli; Mergers & Acquisitions partners Gavin Westerman and Amanda Fenster, counsel Barrett Schitka and associates Stephanie Peterson and Leah Soloff; Capital Markets partner Merritt Johnson and counsel Stefan Tsourovakas; Banking & Finance partner Brendan Conley and associate Gabriel Milunas; Tax partners Alfonso Dulcey and Blake Bitter and associates Jonathan Vita and Sydnei Jones; and Governance, Securities & Reporting Co-Head Lyuba Goltser and partner Steven Bentsianov.