Philip Anker, chair of the firm's Bankruptcy and Creditors’ Rights Litigation Practice Group, is a leading bankruptcy litigator and advisor who has practiced for more than 35 years in the field. Among other honors, he has been inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy. Mr. Anker has been selected as one of the “Best Lawyers” in Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law in the Best Lawyers in America each year since 2005, with peers stating that he is “a first-class litigator who is tremendous in open court.” In the 2020 edition, Best Lawyers in America named him "Lawyer of the Year" in the area of Litigation - Bankruptcy. He is also listed in the 2013–2026 editions of the Best Lawyers in America in the area of Litigation - Bankruptcy; the 2012–2026 editions of Chambers USA Guide for his “excellent” Bankruptcy/Restructuring work, where clients describe him as “amazing in court,” “commercial, thoughtful and with a good command of the law” and “tough, tenacious, credible and incredibly effective”; the 2010–2026 editions of Benchmark Litigation, which has rated him as a “National Star” and “Top 10 Practitioner” for Bankruptcy Law and cites Mr. Anker's peers and clients as saying that he is “a superb lawyer, highly professional, and among the elite bankruptcy practitioners” and “super” and “an intellectual mind”; and in the 2020–2026 editions of Lawdragon where he is listed as among the 500 leading bankruptcy and restructuring lawyers in the country, especially for litigation.

Mr. Anker's bankruptcy and related litigation practice, as well as his work counselling and advising on bankruptcy and other insolvency matters, is wide-ranging. Among other subjects on which he has extensive experience, Mr. Anker has represented bondholders in litigation over their entitlement to hundreds of millions of dollars in make-whole premiums; private equity firms, financial institutions, investors and others in the defense of billions of dollars in fraudulent-transfer, fiduciary duty, alter ego and related claims; and insurers and former owners of companies facing massive mass-tort liability. Mr. Anker has played a leading role in some of the largest, most prominent bankruptcy-related litigation matters in recent years, including disputed plan confirmation and other highly contested matters, as well as adversary proceedings and other actions, arising out of the Adelphia, Archdiocese of Baltimore, Boston Generating, Boy Scouts, Energy Future Holdings, Enron, Global Crossing, Grupo Aeromexico, Idearc, Imerys, Intelsat, Lucky Bucks, Lyondell, Mallinckrodt, Momentive, Refco, Sears, SVB Financial Group, Tribune and Zachry Chapter 11 cases, as well as several consumer bankruptcy class actions. Among other prominent cases, Mr. Anker obtained the allowance and payment in full of nearly $600 million in make-whole claims asserted by noteholders in one of the largest Chapter 11 cases ever, completed the successful defense at trial of a multi-billion-dollar fraudulent transfer action, and successfully prosecuted, at trial and on appeal, claims for contempt arising out of an acquisition, also led by Mr. Anker, of substantially all of the assets of a leading data fusion company. Mr. Anker has argued and prevailed (in whole or in substantial part) in ten separate bankruptcy appeals in the US Courts of Appeals, including Holliday v. Credit Suisse Securities (USA), 2024 WL 4234886 (2d Cir. Sept. 19, 2024); LVNV Funding LLC v. Myers, 2023 WL 8047842 (9th Cir. Nov. 21, 2023); In re MPM Silicones, LLC, 874 F.3d 787 (2d Cir. 2017); Delaware Trust Co. v. Energy Future Intermediate Holding Co., 842 F.3d 249 (3d Cir. 2016); In re Tribune Co. Fraudulent Transfer Litigation, 818 F.3d 98 (2d Cir. 2016); Adelphia Recovery Trust v. Bank of America, No. 09-0039-CV, 379 F. App'x 10 (2d Cir. 2010), aff'g, 390 B.R. 80 (S.D.N.Y. 2008); Eastman Kodak Co. v. Wachovia Bank, N.A., 456 F.3d 1277 (11th Cir. 2006); MBNA America Bank, N.A. v. Hill, 436 F.3d 104 (2d Cir. 2006); Arruda v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 310 F.3d 13 (1st Cir. 2002); and AT&T Universal Card Servs. v. Mercer, 246 F.3d 391 (5th Cir. en banc 2001). Mr. Anker also successfully argued for the investment bank defendants in the New York Court of Appeals in Kirschner v. KPMG, et al., 15 N.Y. 3d 446, 938 N.E. 2d 941, 912 N.Y.S. 2d 508 (N.Y. Ct. App. 2010), which resulted in that court's seminal decision reinforcing the in pari delicto defense and the dismissal of $2 billion in claims against Mr. Anker’s clients.

Professional Activities

Mr. Anker is a member of the New York City Bar Association Bankruptcy Committee as well as the American Bankruptcy Institute. He is a periodic contributor on the Creditor Rights Coalition, a frequent speaker and panelist at bankruptcy law conferences, and an author of numerous articles on issues of bankruptcy and related law. Mr. Anker previously served as co-chair of the Debtor Practice Subcommittee of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Committee of the American Bar Association Section of Litigation.