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Rachel Biblo Block
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
Dallas, TX
Position (job title and firm): I am an associate in the financial restructuring department at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP.
Most interesting matter you've worked on? As a first-year associate at a law firm in Delaware, I represented debtors in the oil and gas industry in their chapter 11 cases. The debtors filed a plan and disclosure statement, but soon after, it became apparent that the market was not going in the right direction and the plan was not feasible. We engaged in difficult negotiations with the debtors’ constituents and finally agreed on the terms of a structured dismissal, which was approved right before the Supreme Court ruled in Czyzewski v. Jevic Holding Corp. This matter introduced me to the negotiation process that is essential to the successful reorganization of all chapter 11 debtors.
Role in IWIRC? I have been a proud member of IWIRC since 2014 (first in the Delaware Network and then in the Dallas-Fort Worth Network) and served as the Events Co-Chair for the Dallas-Fort Worth Network from January 2017 through December 2018.
Favorite IWIRC event you've attended? In 2016, I attended IWIRC at the Shore, at which I met so many amazing IWIRC members and watched my mentor present a wonderful CLE program.
What is one skill/hobby/interest most people may not know about you? I grew up in Wisconsin and am a huge fan of the Green Bay Packers. I own one share of the team.
Who is your role model? My grandmother is my role model because she showed me that women belong in the highest ranks of the legal field. She worked as a legal secretary, then graduated from NYU School of Law, served as a law clerk for a federal judge, and went on to be an administrative law judge.
What are you most looking forward to in DC? I am most looking forward to meeting and getting to know more IWIRC members and reconnecting with the IWIRC members in the Delaware Network.