Tamara Van Heel is a Partner in Wiggin and Dana’s Corporate Department and primarily focuses her practice on bankruptcy and financial restructuring matters. Tamara represents and advises debtors, creditors, equity security holders, committees, purchasers, trustees, and other parties in interest in bankruptcies, adversary proceedings, out-of-court workouts, and related transactions.

Tamara’s restructuring experience spans various industries and includes:

• the representation of an ad hoc group of noteholders, holding approximately US$2.7 billion of unsecured notes issued by Texas Competitive Electric Holdings Company, LLC, in the Chapter 11 proceedings of Energy Future Holdings Corp. in Delaware
• the representation of the Revel Hotel & Casino, a multi-billion-dollar casino resort located in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in connection with its Chapter 11 cases in New Jersey
• the representation of a liquidating trustee in adversary proceedings arising out of the Chapter 11 proceedings of various touring exhibitions companies in the Middle District of Florida
• the representation of a governmental creditor in the Chapter 11 proceedings of opioid manufacturers in Delaware and the Southern District of New York
• the representation of an insurance company in a multi-party settlement in the Chapter 11 proceedings of the general contractor involved in the pedestrian bridge collapse near Florida International University’s Sweetwater campus
• the representation of the official committee of unsecured creditors, and subsequently the liquidating trustee, in a Miami hospital’s Chapter 11 case in the Southern District of Florida
• the representation of a landlord creditor in the Delaware Chapter 11 cases of nationwide family and casual dining chains
• the representation of approximately 200 faculty and staff of a historic women’s college in Virginia after its board unexpectedly announced its closure
• the representation of one of Brazil’s largest telecommunication companies in its cross-border Chapter 15 proceedings in the United States.

In addition to her restructuring experience, Tamara’s experience includes the representation of secured lenders in foreclosure proceedings involving hotel construction developments in Miami Beach.

Before joining Wiggin and Dana, Tamara was an associate at a prominent international law firm, where she represented various stakeholders in complex corporate Chapter 11 proceedings and cross-border Chapter 15 proceedings.  Tamara also worked as a partner in a Coral Gables-based, boutique law firm where she represented clients in a variety of bankruptcy, restructuring, and related matters.

Tamara received her J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Florida Levin College of Law and her B.A. from Emory University.