Sam J. Alberts

Sam J. Alberts is a Partner in Dentons’ Restructuring, Insolvency and Bankruptcy group, based in Washington, DC and Boston, focusing on Bankruptcy and Insolvency Law. He has more than 30 years of experience and has been ranked by Chambers USA since 2005.

Sam has extensive restructuring experience in the United States and abroad, and is well known for representing clients in high-value bankruptcy cases, investigations, workouts, litigation and sale transactions. He has particular experience involving distressed healthcare, distressed financial institutions, employment and pension matters, and cross-border situations. He has served as and represented trustees in bankruptcies, as well as creditors, debtors and other parties in interest, including governmental and quasi-governmental entities.

The Legal 500 has described him as “prompt, responsive, diligent and a tireless advocate for his clients,” “an outstanding litigator and skilled negotiator in bankruptcy matters,” and “well-known and respected by his peers in the bankruptcy bar and with the bench in key jurisdictions.”

His representative debtor and company-side matters include representing Curitec in a Chapter 11 case in Houston, Texas, focused on addressing suspension of Medicare benefits; representing Borrego Healthcare, a chain of federally qualified health centres in Southern California, with particular focus on employee benefits; representing Rayburn Country Electric Cooperative in resolving hundreds of millions of dollars in claims asserted by ERCOT in connection with Winter Storm Uri; representing Verity Health System in the second largest Chapter 11 hospital bankruptcy in American history; representing Astria Health in 13 related Chapter 11 cases; representing Nuo Therapeutics Inc. in its successful Chapter 11 reorganisation; and representing Mirant in one of the largest energy bankruptcy cases filed in the United States.

His committee work includes representing the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in Heywood Health System; leading the representation of the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in Alto Maipo, a multi-billion-dollar Chapter 11 case of a Chilean hydroelectric plant where unsecured creditors ultimately received a 100% distribution; serving as counsel to the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors and Plan Trustee in Hovensa LLC, where unsecured claims totalled more than US$2 billion and the case resulted in 100% distributions to unsecured creditors; representing the Official Committee of Retirees in The City of Detroit, Michigan, the largest municipal bankruptcy case in US history, protecting almost all pension benefits and continued health care benefits for approximately 23,500 retirees; and representing the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in The Clare at Water Tower, Middlebrook Pharmaceuticals, Doctors Community Healthcare Corporation, Greater Southeast Community Healthcare Corporation and MSCi, Inc.

His creditor and major party representations include advising a European international financial institution and the State Assets Management Agency of the Government of Uzbekistan on implementation of the new Law of Insolvency of the Republic of Uzbekistan; representing FTI as receiver for Pennsylvania-based healthcare facilities in the Chapter 11 cases of Prospect Medical Holdings, Inc.; representing the Massachusetts Nurses Association in the Steward Healthcare Chapter 11 cases; representing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) since the 2008 financial crisis, currently in respect of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, and previously in First NBC Bank, Washington Mutual Bank, K Bank, First Regional Bank, Corus Bank, Capital Bancorp and Image Master; leading the firm’s panel representation for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group on workouts across the globe, including the Juan Santamaria Airport, Costa Rica, which received IFC’s Award for Best Recovery for FY 2010; representing the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) individually in Black Press and on the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in Kodak’s Chapter 11, where the PBGC held a claim of more than US$1 billion that was preserved and protected; representing Wilmington Trust, NA on several indentures in US and cross-border matters including Toys R Us, Dominion Diamond and Calfrac; serving as Special Master to the United States Department of the Treasury on applications for suspensions to financially distressed multiemployer pension plans under the Multiemployer Retirement Act of 2014; and representing the Fiscal Agency and Financial Advisory Authority and the Government Development Bank for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in restructuring advice prior to the commencement of Title III and VI proceedings under PROMESA.

His recognitions include the Washington Business Journal’s Best Lawyers of Washington, DC list (2026); Thomson Reuters Stand-out Lawyer (2025); the Turnaround Management Association’s 2025 Turnaround/Transaction of the Year Award (Small Company) on behalf of Curitec, LLC, and 2025 Non-Profit Company Turnaround/Transaction of the Year Award on behalf of Heywood Healthcare; the M&A Advisor’s 2025 Restructuring of the Year Award (US$25 million to US$50 million) for work on behalf of Curitec, LLC; Chambers USA Ranked Band 2, District of Columbia, Bankruptcy/Restructuring (2005–present); Best Lawyers in America; The Legal 500 US (2015–2016, 2022–present); IFLR1000 Leading Lawyers, United States Regional (2022–present); The Deal Pipeline’s “Top Bankruptcy Lawyers” league table (2015–present); and The Washingtonian magazine’s Best Lawyers list (2011–present).

His practice areas include banking and finance, global compliance and investigations, energy, financial institutions, government and public services, infrastructure, life sciences and health care, litigation and dispute resolution, real estate, and restructuring, insolvency and bankruptcy. He holds a JD, with Honors, from George Washington University School of Law (1992) and a BA, cum laude, from New York University (1987).