Weil represented Steward Health Care System (Steward), the country’s largest physician-owned hospital system, through its chapter 11 proceedings, which culminated in confirmation of its chapter 11 plan in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. 

Steward filed for chapter 11 on May 6, 2024, with $9.2 billion in liabilities, with the intent to sell all of its hospital operations. Weil guided Steward to successfully sell or transition nearly all of its hospitals (29 hospitals across 8 states) to new buyers and operators in over a dozen separate sale transactions with different buyers, many of which were consummated as part of a global settlement with Steward’s landlord, real estate investment trust Medical Properties Trust.

Following the completion of the sale process, Weil guided Steward in settlement negotiations with the unsecured creditors committee and Steward’s secured lenders resulting in a path to confirmation of the chapter 11 plan and a comprehensive settlement that provides for an orderly wind down of Steward’s estates.

The Weil team advised Steward as the plan faced more than 50 objections. Following two days of trial, which included witness testimony and oral arguments, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher M. Lopez approved Steward’s chapter 11 plan and denied pending motions to convert the cases to chapter 7. 

Judge Lopez lauded Weil and Steward’s independent directors and other advisors for their professionalism, skill, and good faith throughout these complex and unprecedented cases and credited the estate for its extraordinary efforts to save jobs, save hospitals and do everything within its power to maximize recovery for creditors.

The Weil team was led by Restructuring partners David J. Cohen, Jeffrey Saferstein, Cliff Carlson and Stephanie Morrison and associates Jason George, Loren Findlay, Austin Crabtree, Hillarie James, Angeline Leggiero, Kyle Ferrier, Sean Sheng, Josh Winograd, Jarred Barlow, Kara Hafermalz, Travis Boyd, Immer Chriswell, and Tyler Talton; Litigation partners David Lender, Rob Berezin, Ted Tsekerides and Jennifer Brooks Crozier, counsel Christine Calabrese and Corey Brady and associate Allie Rose; M&A partners Mariel Cruz and Naomi Munz and associates Tanja Koivistoinen; Ting Liu and Stephanie Peterson; Tax partner Stuart Goldring and associate Andrew Lawson;  Banking & Finance partners Justin D. Lee and Jessie Chiang; Employment Litigation partner Rebecca Sivitz; White Collar Defense, Regulatory and Investigations partner Daniel Stein and counsel Michael Taddei; Real Estate partner Nellie Camerik; and Executive Compensation and Benefits partner Paul Wessel and counsel Steven Margolis.