Patrick M. Birney co-chairs Robinson+Cole’s Bankruptcy + Reorganizations group and is a member of the firm’s Business Litigation group. Since 1998, Patrick has focused his practice on complex transactional, litigation, and advisory work involving the debtor-creditor relationship, including Chapter 11 cases, restructurings, workouts, pre-packaged Chapter 11 matters, commercial finance, creditors’ rights litigation, receiverships, and out-of-court restructurings. He has represented secured and unsecured creditors, trustees, debtors, official and ad hoc creditors’ committees, asset purchasers, fiduciaries, and other parties in Chapter 11 proceedings, adversary proceedings, state court receiverships, and out-of-court workouts.
Corporate Restructuring + Creditors’ Rights
Patrick’s restructuring practice includes representations across a wide range of industries and case types, including debtor-side restructurings, creditor committee representations, lender-side matters, asset acquisitions, and special situation engagements. His debtor-side work includes the Roman Catholic Diocese of Norwich and the jointly administered O.W. Bunker USA and O.W. Bunker, N.A. Chapter 11 cases, which received multiple M&A Advisor recognitions, including International Restructuring Deal of the Year and Energy Deal of the Year.
Patrick also served as part of the Robinson+Cole team representing the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the Chapter 11 cases of Mallinckrodt plc and its affiliated debtors in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The restructuring addressed complex issues involving opioid liabilities, governmental claims, pharmaceutical litigation, and enterprise-wide balance sheet restructuring. The bankruptcy court confirmed Mallinckrodt’s plan of reorganization in 2022, and the firm’s work on the matter was subsequently recognized by Global M&A Network at the Turnaround Atlas Awards.
Patrick’s asset purchaser representations include serving as counsel to the successful purchaser of Carla’s Pasta, a well-known traditional pasta manufacturer, for which Robinson+Cole received the Food & Beverage Restructuring Deal of the Year honor at the Turnaround Atlas Awards. He also represented the secured lender in the successful Chapter 11 restructurings of an international toy manufacturer, the world’s largest manufacturer and distributor of Halloween costumes, a large continuing care retirement community, and several insurance agencies. In addition, Patrick has represented the ad hoc committee of members in the restructuring of a private ski resort.
Patrick’s work also includes complex restructuring transactions outside of traditional Chapter 11 cases. In 2025, he led Robinson+Cole’s representation in the secured party sale of Gander Group to Stran Loyalty Solutions (NASDAQ: SWAG), a transaction recognized by Global M&A Network as “Out of Court Restructuring of the Year” at the 17th Annual Turnaround Atlas Awards.
Business Litigation
Patrick has broad experience handling commercial litigation matters in state and federal courts. He routinely represents businesses in contract disputes, fraudulent transfer litigation, fraud claims, civil theft matters, intercompany disputes, and contested debtor-creditor litigation. He has represented clients in the insurance, manufacturing, health care, distribution, logistics, shipping, energy, retail, construction, financial services, and food and beverage industries. Patrick also has substantial experience litigating commercial disputes arising in and around bankruptcy cases, receiverships, and distressed situations.
Connecticut Probate Judge
In 2022, Patrick was duly elected as a Connecticut Probate Judge for the District of Wallingford. Patrick’s experience as both a restructuring lawyer and probate judge provides a distinctive perspective on disputes involving estates, fiduciaries, creditors, beneficiaries, and other stakeholders with competing economic and personal interests. Patrick has authored published probate decisions, including In the Matter of Trelski, 39 Quinnipiac Probate Law Journal 285 (Conn. Prob. Ct. 2026); Estate of Kischkum, 39 Quinnipiac Probate Law Journal 97 (Conn. Prob. Ct. 2025); and In the Matter of Noble, 39 Quinnipiac Probate Law Journal 123 (Conn. Prob. Ct. 2024).
Thought Leadership, Publications + Speaking
Patrick is a frequent lecturer, moderator, and panelist on bankruptcy, restructuring, insolvency, commercial law, receiverships, and creditors’ rights. He was selected to moderate a Global M&A Network program on “Liability Management & Opportunistic Credit,” addressing balance sheet restructurings, maturity-extension transactions, amendment strategies, lender perspectives, and liability-management transactions occurring outside traditional Chapter 11 proceedings. He co-presented a Connecticut Bar Association program addressing Connecticut’s Uniform Commercial Real Estate Receivership Act and its relationship to state and federal receiverships and bankruptcy proceedings.
Patrick is a frequent author and contributor to national bankruptcy publications. His scholarship has been cited by numerous courts. Most notably, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit cited Patrick’s article, Toward Understanding Make-Whole Premiums in Bankruptcy, in In re Hertz Corporation, 120 F.4th 1181 (3d Cir. 2024), a significant decision addressing make-whole premiums in Chapter 11 cases. His published work has also been cited by courts in In re Dito, Inc., 2021 WL 510199 (Bankr. D.P.R. 2021); In re Reichgott, 2013 WL 5492532 (Bankr. N.D. Ohio 2013); and In re Kebe, 444 B.R. 871, 880 (Bankr. S.D. Ohio 2011).
Community + Public Service
Patrick is committed to pro bono service and community involvement. He has participated in Robinson+Cole’s Domestic Violence Restraining Order Program, which assists victims seeking restraining orders. He is co-founder and a member of the Board of Directors for G.R.O.W.E.R.S., Inc., which provides employment and educational opportunities for intellectually disabled clients, and previously served as Trustee and Corporate Secretary for Masonicare, Inc., Connecticut’s largest not-for-profit continuing care retirement community. He also previously served as president of the N.E.W. 34th Charitable Corp., an organization that supports civic and charitable causes in the New Haven area.
Patrick has also served in several public leadership roles. He previously served on the Connecticut Lottery Corporation’s Board of Directors, including as vice chairperson and chairperson of the board’s Finance Committee. He served as vice chairperson of the Wallingford Public Utilities Commission from March 2015 and December 2022, overseeing operations of the approximately $100 million Wallingford Electric Division, one of Connecticut’s municipal-owned electric utilities. He also previously served on the Wallingford Planning and Zoning Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals.
Recognition
Patrick has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America in Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law since 2017 and was named “Lawyer of the Year” in Hartford for that practice area in 2022. He was named to Global M&A Network’s Top 100 Restructuring Professionals “Distinction in Dealmaking” list and received a Tier 1 ranking in Legal 500’s 2026 Elite City Focus – New York Banking and Finance Guide. His work has also been recognized through multiple award-winning restructuring engagements, including O.W. Bunker, Mallinckrodt, Carla’s Pasta, and Gander Group.
