August 12, 2010 - Arent Fox’s Mette Kurth, a partner in the firm’s bankruptcy practice in Los Angeles, was quoted by the Daily Journal, Southern California’s largest legal newspaper, in article on how Arent Fox client The Walking Company – a national retail chain that sells men's and women's comfort footwear and related accessories under the popular Birkenstock, ECCO, Dansko, and Merrell brands, among other -- successfully emerged from bankruptcy earlier this year.

‘Last fall, major national clothing and shoe retailer The Walking Company Holdings Inc. was under water and sinking fast. Wrestling with how to deal with scores of under performing stores, Anthony J. Wall, the Santa Barbara-based operation's general counsel and executive vice president, and his colleagues decided to go out on a limb and try to reorganize through Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The odds of a turnaround didn't look good: The corporation, which had $193 million in gross sales in 2009, also generated an $8.1 million operations loss that year. … The business also faced hurdles brought by the 2005 passage of the federal Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act …. Wall jumped into action, helping to spearhead a workout plan months before the company's Dec. 7 Chapter 11 filing… In addition, Wall helped secure concessions from the company's noteholders, who agreed, among other things, to extend debt maturity dates in exchange for a subordinated security interest in certain assets.

The company's reorganization plan was approved in April. It managed to repay its creditors' pre-petition claims and remain open, becoming one of only a handful of major retail corporations nationwide to restructure itself successfully and emerge from bankruptcy. … While Wall had some bankruptcy experience as general counsel - he had helped the company acquire other distressed businesses in the past - he said he had no experience with the debtor's side of things.

Mette H. Kurth, a Los Angeles-based Arent Fox partner who represented The Walking Company Holdings in the bankruptcy, said she was impressed with the brief time in which he got up to speed. Wall helped "prenegotiate" the new lease agreements and "did a lot of work on the front end" before the bankruptcy filing, Kurth said. He helped put the company "in a position to move very quickly and have decisions made on day one."

"A lot of managers are in deep denial, and don't engage in contingency planning before a full-blown crisis hits and they'll be out of money in two weeks," Kurth said. "Tony reached out and started planning early. He was very hands-on to the level I don't usually see in a general counsel."’