Robert J. Keach, a shareholder at Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson, practices in the area of bankruptcy, reorganization and workouts.  Mr. Keach's practice focuses on the representation of various parties in workouts and bankruptcy cases, including debtors, creditors, creditors committees, lessors and third parties acquiring troubled companies and/or their assets.  Mr. Keach also serves as an estate fiduciary in chapter 11 cases.  Mr. Keach has appeared before, among others, the bankruptcy courts in the Districts of Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Delaware, the Northern District of California, the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the Eastern District of Virginia, and the Southern District of Ohio.  Mr. Keach has appeared as a panelist on national bankruptcy, lender liability and creditors’ rights programs, and is the author of several articles on bankruptcy and creditors' rights appearing in the ABI Law Review, Commercial Law Journal and ABI Journal, among other publications.  Mr. Keach is admitted to practice in Maine and Massachusetts.

Mr. Keach is the co-chair of Bernstein Shur’s Business Reorganization and Insolvency Practice Group, a former president of the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) and co-chair of the ABI’s Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11.  In those capacities, Bob contributed to the drafting of, and testified before the relevant House and Senate subcommittees regarding the passage of, the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019, and worked on its amendment via the CARES Act. 

Mr. Keach is currently an Adjunct Professor (Cross-Border Insolvency; Business Bankruptcy) at Boston College Law School.

Mr. Keach was co-counsel for the victorious petitioner in Mission Product Holdings, Inc. v. Tempnology LLC, 139 S.Ct. 1652 (2019).  Mr. Keach is the estate representative (and formerly, the chapter 11 trustee) in the cross-border railroad reorganization of Montreal Maine & Atlantic Railway, Ltd.  Mr. Keach is the fee examiner in the Intelsat S.A and Murray Energy Holdings chapter 11 cases, and the fee examiner for certain professionals retained by the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico.  Mr. Keach was also the fee examiner in In re AMR Corporation (the chapter 11 cases of American Airlines and its parent and certain affiliates), Exide Technologies, Mineral Park, and Relativity Media.  Mr. Keach has, inter alia, represented ad hoc committees in the Homebanc Mortgage, New Century TRS Holdings, and Nortel Networks cases in Delaware, as well as a public utilities commission in the FairPoint Communications case in the Southern District of New York, and parties in In re Sports Authority Holdings, Inc. (Delaware), In re Verso Corporation (Delaware), In re Heritage Home Group (Delaware), In re The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. (Delaware), and In re Toys R Us, Inc. (E.D. Va.).  Mr. Keach represents international private equity funds in distressed company acquisitions throughout the U.S.