Gerald M. Gordon
Gerald M. Gordon is a founding partner of the firm’s Business Restructuring & Bankruptcy Department. As one of the most influential and accomplished attorneys in Nevada, Mr. Gordon remains a prominent figure in the courtroom and business community. Throughout his years of legal service, the firm’s Business Restructuring & Bankruptcy Department has become synonymous with business restructuring and bankruptcy in the Southwest.
Mr. Gordon has been integrally involved in all aspects of the firm’s complex insolvency practice. Mr. Gordon and the Business Restructuring & Bankruptcy Department have acted as lead counsel, representing debtors, committees, trustees, and creditors on many significant representations.
Mr. Gordon has lectured extensively on both gaming and non-gaming related bankruptcy issues, including before the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges.
Representative Experience
- Bishop Gorman High School – Represented a family which had loaned approximately $30 million dollars to partially fund construction of a high school totaling $150,000,000. The school filed for Chapter 11 protection after the family received an arbitration award for the moneys loaned. After significant litigation and the filing of a plan of reorganization on behalf of the clients, the matter was resolved with payment in full of the family’s claim.
- Las Vegas Monorail (1) – Represented the Monorail in successfully restructuring $650 million of debt.
- Las Vegas Monorail (2) – As a result of the pandemic and the virtual closure of tourism in Las Vegas, the LV Monorail was forced to cease operations. The LV Monorail and the Las Vegas Visitors and Convention Authority entered into a purchase agreement for the monorail system. Represented the Las Vegas Monorail in a Chapter 11 proceedings to approve the sale and then confirm a plan of reorganization to pay creditors and wind-down the company.
- Paul Morabito Chapter 7 Case – Represents a family which obtained a state court judgment for fraud involving a purchase by the family of convenience stores in Reno, Nevada. The family and Morabito entered into a settlement agreement resolving the judgment but and defaulted under the agreement. Represented the family in commencing and successfully prosecuting an involuntary Chapter 7 case. In the case filed and successfully obtained an $85 million non-discharge judgment which was affirmed by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Proceedings are still pending.
- Superpumper Fraudulent Transfer Litigation. As the state court judgment was entered against Morabito he made a series of transfers of his properties to his brother and his then life-partner. On behalf of the Chapter 7 trustee for Morabito, commended and recovered an approximate $15 million judgment which was affirmed by the Nevada Supreme Court. Collection proceedings are being pursued in Orange County and Riverside County against the fraudulently transferred properties.
- Petters Bankruptcy Cases – Represented defendants in the bankruptcy cases involving more than $4 Billion of Ponzi scheme transactions. Successfully resolved the matter avoiding the initiation of adversary proceedings.
- Dynamic International Airways – Represent Dynamic in its successful restructuring in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of North Carolina.
- Chico Health – Successfully restructured a health imaging business in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California.
- Majestic Gaming – Represented the company’s principal in avoidance litigation and other actions brought in bankruptcy court in Delaware and prevailed before the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals resulting in a precedential decision regarding property of a bankruptcy estate.
- Mountain Shadows Resort – Represented Mountain Shadows Golf Club and the shuttered Mountain Shadows Resort in their Chapter 11 reorganizations in Arizona, successfully defeated early attempts by the secured creditor to dismiss the cases, for relief from the automatic stay to foreclosure, and to oppose interim financing, along with significant opposition from other creditors and parties ranging from dissenting homeowners to the township. Through extensive negotiations with creditors, the Business Restructuring and Bankruptcy Group successfully confirmed a plan of reorganization that paid all creditors in full, allowed equity to retain ownership, and obtained all necessary approvals for development, paving the way for the reorganized debtor to break ground on the revitalization of the Mountain Shadows Resort.
- Ahern Rentals – Represented Ahern Rentals in its successful Chapter 11 proceedings which allowed for the restructuring of more than $650 million in debt and the retention of ownership by the Ahern family.
- Jerry’s Nugget Casino – Represented Jerry’s Nugget in its ongoing Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding. A plan of reorganization was confirmed retaining existing ownership and providing for debt restructuring.
- Hooters Hotel & Casino – Represented the Company in its successful restructuring which resulted in the lender taking ownership of the property and payment in full of unsecured creditors.
- Riviera Hotel & Casino – Represented the Riviera Hotel & Casino in two Chapter 11 cases. The first in 1990 resulted in a reorganization of both the ownership and debt. The second in 2010 again resulted in the restructuring of approximately $200 million of debt into a combination of debt and equity, with unsecured creditors being paid in full.
- Herbst Gaming – Represented Herbst Gaming in Chapter 11 regarding the restructuring of more than $1.2 billion of debt, with unsecured creditors being paid in full.
- Swift Air – Represented the dip lender in this charter airline case in the US Bankruptcy Court in Arizona. Upon confirmation of a plan of reorganization, the dip lender assumed ownership of the reorganized debtor and Gordon Silver now represented the reorganized debtor.
- Sunworld International Airways – Represented the company as a debtor in Chapter 11.
- MaxJet Airlines – Represented the primary lessor of planes in this Chapter 11 case administered in Delaware.
- Mega-C Power Corp. – Represented the Chapter 11 trustee in successfully recovering for shareholders the value of the intellectual property of the debtor wrongfully transferred to a third party. The transactions occurred in Canada and required extensive extra-territorial services on the part of Gordon Silver.
- London Fog – Represented the lender in this Chapter 11 case for the manufacturer of London Fog clothing.
Distinctions
Mr. Gordon has been voted among the Best Lawyers® in Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights Law for 29 years and received the highest Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Rating for his ethics and legal ability.
Mountain States Super Lawyers®, 2007 – 2022
- AV® Certification Rating by Martindale-Hubbell®
- Best Lawyers® 1987 – 2022 for Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights, Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Las Vegas
Affiliations
- Nevada State Bar Association, Member
- Clark County Bar Association, Member
- University of Nevada of Las Vegas Foundation, Trustee
- Anti-Defamation League, Regional Board Member
- Congregation Ner Tamid, President
Bar Admissions
- Nevada, 1973
Education
- J.D., University of California, Los Angeles, 1973
- B.A., University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 1970
Court Admissions
- U.S. District Court, Nevada
- U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Nevada
- U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Arizona
- S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Mississippi
- U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Central District of California
- U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of California
- U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of California
- U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Delaware
- U.S. District, Western District of Missouri
- U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York
- U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Middle District of North Carolina
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
- U.S. Bankruptcy Appellate Panel, Ninth Circuit
- Nevada, 1973