Scott K. Charles

Education
- University of Pennsylvania, B.S. 1981, summa cum laude
- Harvard Law School, J.D. 1984, Phi Beta Kappa
Scott K. Charles
Scott K. Charles became partner in the Restructuring and Finance Department of Wachtell Lipton in 1991. Mr. Charles has focused on the areas of commercial transactions, distressed mergers and acquisitions and bankruptcy since he joined the firm in 1984, and he has represented many institutional lenders, creditors committees and distressed securities investors in various troubled debt situations.
Scott is routinely recognized as leading lawyer in his field. He is ranked in the Chambers Global and Chambers USA Guides to leading lawyers in Bankruptcy and Restructuring, and as a global leader in Restructuring and Insolvency in Who’s Who Legal. Scott was also recognized in the inaugural edition of the Lawdragon’s 500 leading lawyers in Bankruptcy and Restructuring.
Scott is an American College of Bankruptcy fellow. He frequently lectures at various seminars conducted by the Practising Law Institute, the Commercial Finance Association, Turnaround and Management Association and Continuing Legal Education. He has authored and co-authored several articles and outlines involving distressed mergers and acquisitions, prepackaged plans of reorganization, debtor-in-possession financing, the rights of secured and unsecured creditors both inside and outside of bankruptcy, and various aspects of the Chapter 11 process.
Scott received a B.S. summa cum laude in Economics from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania in 1981 and a J.D. from the Harvard Law School in 1984. He is a member of Beta Alpha Psi, Beta Gamma Sigma and Phi Beta Kappa.
Select Publications
- Cross-Border M&A - 2023 Checklist for Successful Acquisitions in the United States,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, January 7, 2023.
- Corporate Bankruptcy and Restructuring: 2021-2022,
in Columbia Law School’s Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets, February 15, 2022.
- Cross-Border M&A – 2022 Checklist for Successful Acquisitions in the United States,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, January 22, 2022.
- REIT M&A and Strategy in 2022,
January 3, 2022.
- REITs in 2021,
January 11, 2021; also available at Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance.
- Corporate Bankruptcy and Restructuring: 2018-2019,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, February 17, 2019.
- Prepayment Clauses In Bankruptcy,
in 15 Am. Bankr. Inst. L. Rev. 537 (2007).
- Cross-Border M&A -- 2018 Checklist for Successful Acquisitions in the United States,
in Columbia Law School’s Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets, January 10, 2018.
- Corporate Bankruptcy and Restructuring 2016/2017,
in Columbia Law School’s Blog on Corporations and the Financial Markets, January 20, 2017.
- Dealmaking in a Distressed Environment,
in The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, April 17, 2013.
- Recent Developments in Bankruptcy Code Section 363 Sales,
in The Review of Banking and Financial Services Vol. 26 No. 8, August 2010.
- Court Rules That Secured Creditors Need Not Be Allowed to Credit Bid in Sale of Collateral,
in Bank and Corporate Governance Law Reporter Volume 44 Number 4, June 2010.
- Second Circuit's Chrysler Opinion Reaffirms Flexible Standards Governing Section 363 Sales,
in The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, August 11, 2009.
- Buying Claims Against a Chapter 11 Debtor,
in The Americas Restructuring and Insolvency Guide 2008/2009 (Published by Morgan Stanley and PriceWaterhouseCoopers, 2008).