Aram Ordubegian

Partner and Financial Restructuring & Bankruptcy Practice Leader

Aram leads the firm’s Financial Restructuring & Bankruptcy practice.

Aram Ordubegian Portrait

Aram has broad-based reorganization and bankruptcy litigation and appellate experience in a wide area of insolvency matters, from various perspectives, including: representation of businesses and high net-worth individuals facing financial distress, purchasers of assets, individual and corporate creditors, creditors’ committees, trustees, and parties to out of court work-out transactions with debtors, before, during and after bankruptcies.

Aram has advised businesses in connection with debt restructuring, securitization, trust formation, acquisitions, divestitures, and wind-downs in connection with financially distressed assets, and has advised corporations, limited liability companies and partnerships on creditors’ rights, governance, and control issues.

Client Work

Individual & Corporate Debtors

Aram has represented a variety of high-income individuals, including business executives and insiders of insolvent corporations, real estate developers, physicians, and entertainment and sports industry members, in their pre-bankruptcy “workout” negotiations with creditors. Aram also assists individuals in their Chapter 11 reorganization cases when the “workout” process has failed. The following corporate debtors have recently been represented:

  • In re Hi-Five Industries, LLC, In re One South Lake Street, LLC, and Wild Game Ng, LLC – these consolidated Chapter 11 cases concern the reorganization of the Siena Hotel Casino & Spa located in Reno, Nevada. Representation included the operations of the businesses in Chapter 11, including post-petition financing and cash collateral matters, and the ultimate sale of the businesses at an auction.
  • In re S-King Estates, LLC – a Chapter 11 case pending in the District of Utah wherein the debtor owned a well-recognized 53-acre “ski-in / ski-out” property.  Representation included the successful confirmation of a “new equity” plan of reorganization and the restructuring of large secured creditor notes, trust deed, and personal guarantee.
  • In re Wall Street Mart, L.P. – a large real estate Chapter 11 reorganization concerning the debtor’s interest in several valuable ground leases. Representation includes a plan of reorganization and an adversary proceeding to avoid and recover as a fraudulent transfer a multimillion-dollar deed.
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Bankruptcy Litigation

Aram has bankruptcy litigation experience in a wide array of matters, including assumption and rejection battles for unexpired leases, executory contracts, personal services contracts, preference, and fraudulent transfer avoidance, and objection to discharge prosecution and defense work.

  • In re NGTV, Inc. – counsel to Chapter 11 and Chapter 7 trustee for Internet content and production company. Analyze and recovery various tangible and intangible assets and sell estate assets.
  • In re Amir-Jahed – lead trial counsel for trustee; obtained judgment at trial for avoidance and recovery of transfers of multimillion-dollar real property assets.
  • In re Victor Ortiz – lead trial and appellate counsel for professional boxer; obtained declaratory judgment and injunction rejecting and terminating personal services contract.
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Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors’ Committee Representation

Aram represented creditors’ committees from a variety of industries, including:

  • In re Scour, Inc. – music file-sharing company like Napster; instrumental in sale of business for ultimate 100% distribution to all unsecured creditors.
  • In re Jill Kelly Productions, Inc. – well-known adult movie production and distribution company; obtained reduction of secured lien on assets and sold movie titles at court auction to generate unexpected recovery for unsecured creditors; proposed and confirmed a plan of reorganization after prosecuting various litigation rights, including executory contract assumption and rejection matters.
  • In re InternetConnect, Inc., In re Flashcom, Inc., and In re Fastpoint Communications, Inc. – DSL companies for retail customers; aided in limiting scope and extent of secured liens and subsequent sale of businesses; lead counsel for recovery of avoidable insider and non-insider preference and fraudulent transfers.
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Secured Creditor Representation

Aram has substantial experience representing secured creditors, both senior and junior priority secured creditors, in liquidation and reorganization proceedings. He has represented a national bank in consumer bankruptcy cases to obtain relief from the automatic stay and in reorganization matters for the bank’s commercial leasing subsidiary to protect collateral and related rights. Also, Aram has represented a large regional construction lender with $18 million at stake in its dispute with various mechanics’ lien creditors stemming from a failed senior housing project now in an involuntary bankruptcy case as well as the senior secured creditor in an urban clothing and sports equipment retail business.

Insolvency Counseling, Distressed Transaction, & “Workouts”

Aram has represented potential debtors and creditors in all stages of pre-bankruptcy, out of court workout transactions, including aiding in the restructuring of corporate capital and debt structures. These engagements have included a large furniture manufacturer, a busy overnight-type courier service, a multistate franchise of fast-food restaurants, and various distressed real estate developers.

Bankruptcy Asset Acquisitions

Aram has represented asset purchasers, both “stalking horse” and over-bidders, to aid in their purchases of commercial and residential real estate, high-tech assets, corporate shells, and going concern assets from several bankruptcy courts across the country. This has included the documentation of the underlying transaction, participating in contested sale matters, and the presentation of alternative plans of reorganization to implement asset acquisition goals for clients.

Reported Cases

  • In re Wrightwood Guest Ranch, LLC, 896 F.3d 1109 (9th Cir. 2018); 585 B.R. 600 (C.D. Cal. 2018).

  • In re Imagine Fulfillment Services, LLC, 489 B.R. 136 (C.D. Cal. 2013).

  • In re S-King Estates, LLC, 2010 WL 4916577 (Bankr. Utah 2010).

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Previous Work

Prior to joining ArentFox Schiff in 2009, Aram was a partner at the “bankruptcy boutique” law firm of Weinstein, Weiss & Ordubegian, LLP of Los Angeles, California, where he practiced since 2000.  From 1996 to 2000, Mr. Ordubegian was an associate at the firm of Shapiro & Miles LLP (now Miles & Bauer LLP) of Costa Mesa, California, where he represented primarily secured creditors in bankruptcy cases.

Professional Affiliations

Mr. Ordubegian is involved in a variety of professional organizations on regional, state, and national levels.

American Bar Association
Litigation Section, Commercial and Business Litigation Committee
Co-Chair, Bankruptcy Subcommittee, December 2010 – December 2012

Litigation Section, Bankruptcy and Insolvency Committee
Chair, Twombly Task Force, September 2010 – September 2011
Chair, Appellate Subcommittee, November 2008 – September 2010
Editor-in-Chief, Bankruptcy Litigation JournalSeptember 2009 – September 2010; Associate Editor, May 2007 – August 2009
Member, 2000 - present

American Bankruptcy Institute
Member, 2005 – present

California Bankruptcy Journal
Editor, 2007 – present

Los Angeles Bankruptcy Forum
Board of Directors, September 2008 – September 2011
Member, 2000 – present

Los Angeles County Bar Association, Commercial Law & Bankruptcy Section
Bankruptcy Committee, 2001 – present
Barristers Executive Committee, elected member 2001 – 2003
Member, 1996 – present

Crescenta Valley Chamber of Commerce
Board of Directors, 2006 – 2015; President 2015

Crescenta Valley Town Council
Elected councilmember, 2016; Vice-President 2019-present

Personnel Commissioner, Glendale Unified School District
Member, 2016 – present, Chair 2017 and 2020.

Loyola Law School, Board of Governors
Member, 2015-present

Publications, Presentations & Recognitions

Aram has consistently been recognized by Chambers USA for Bankruptcy and Financial Restructuring, as well as Best Lawyers in America for Bankruptcy and Debtor Rights and The Legal 500 for corporate bankruptcy. He was also selected as one of the “20 Rising Stars Under 40” by the Armenian Bar Association.

Aram has consistently been recognized in the Southern California edition of Super Lawyers magazine in bankruptcy and financial restructuring since 2005. Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review named Aram its “Mover of the Week” in July 2009. The Wall Street Journal, the flagship publication of Dow Jones, also published a profile of Aram in the newspaper’s online “Bankruptcy Beat” that same week. In the profile, Aram discussed some of his more interesting cases (including his work representing a boxer in a dispute with Bob Arum’s Top Rank and Oscar de la Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions) and ArentFox Schiff’s bankruptcy practice on the west coast.

Mr. Ordubegian has spoken on numerous panels including:

  • TMA (Turnaround Managers Association) Annual Meeting, Short-Term Pain, Long-Term Gain in the Era of AI and Automation, Panelist, October 5, 2023, San Francisco, California.
  • American Bankruptcy Institute – Southwest Bankruptcy Conference 2023, Artificial Intelligence and its Impacts on Businesses and Legal Procedures, Panelist and co-author of materials, August 28, 2023, Santa Barbara, California.
  • AIRA (Association of Insolvency & Restructuring Advisors) – 39th Annual Bankruptcy & Restructuring Conference, Cannabis: The Highs and Lows of an Emerging Industry, Panelist and Co-Author of materials, June 9, 2023, Newport Beach, California

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In addition to the articles listed below, Mr. Ordubegian has authored and contributed to numerous other articles relating to commercial litigation and bankruptcy law.

  • California Bankruptcy Journal, “Restructuring Your Retail Footprint Under Subchapter V”, Co-Author with Christopher K.S. Wong, 2022, Volume 36, Number 1

  • California Bankruptcy Journal, Special Health Care Issue, Co-Editor with Ashley M. McDow, 2020, Volume 35, Number 3

  • The Bankruptcy Strategist, “Trustee Allowed to Reach Back 10 Years to Avoid a Fraudulent Transfer”, Co-author with Sevan Gorginian, January 2017, Volume 34, Number 3
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  • Industries
  • Bar & Court Admissions
    • California Bar
    • District of Columbia Bar
    • US Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit
    • US District Court, Central District of California
    • US Bankruptcy Courts, California
    • US District Court, California
  • Education
    Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, JD, American Jurisprudence Award for Advocacy; Moot Court Honors Program
    California State University, Northridge, BA, 1993

Awards

Awards

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