James H.M. Sprayregen

James H.M. “Jamie” Sprayregen serves as Vice Chairman Global Strategy & Growth at Hilco Global. As a key advisor and strategic growth partner to CEO and founder Jeffrey Hecktman, he shares direct oversight of the firm’s rapidly expanding financial services platform with other key members of the executive leadership team.

Jamie is one of the most well-known and highly regarded dealmakers and thought leaders in the restructuring, corporate reorganization and M&A community. He founded Kirkland and Ellis’ worldwide Restructuring Group, building it from inception in 1990 to become the premier restructuring group in the world, and the only one ranked tier 1 in every major region globally. As a partner in the Chicago and New York offices of Kirkland & Ellis, he served on the law firm’s worldwide management committee from 2003-2006 and 2009-2019. He joined Goldman Sachs in 2006 and served as co-head of its Restructuring Group, advising clients in restructuring and distressed situations. He rejoined Kirkland three years later.

Chambers & Partners has praised Jamie for his “outstanding reputation for complex Chapter 11 cases” recently noting he is “a go-to for big issues” and a “bankruptcy guru.” In the 2022 edition of Chambers USA, sources described Jamie as “a rock star – the Mick Jagger of the bankruptcy bar.” Chambers said that clients it spoke to noted that he is “probably the best restructuring lawyer in the world” and is “a luminary in the field” of restructuring and insolvency.

Sources have also commented that he is “a premier restructuring expert” and “in a class of his own” with “unbelievable technical capabilities” and “deep experience he can draw upon.” He has been praised as a “great clients’ lawyer, admired for his unflustered ways” and for his ability “to take extraordinarily complex issues and make them understandable for boards and executive management teams.”

Prior editions of Chambers guides have described Jamie as “a world-class practice leader,” “one of the deans of the Bar,” and “a restructuring genius and one of the best strategists in the country” noting that clients look to him as someone who is “providing leadership and strategic guidance on the big issues.” Sources commended Jamie for his “incredible work ethic and skill” and for his ability to “bring a mastery of the law to practical application.” Clients are “impressed by his boundless energy to work on issues” and note that Jamie is “very good in complicated and difficult situations.”

In March 2010, Jamie was selected by The National Law Journal as one of “The Decade’s Most Influential Lawyers.” Jamie was named “Global Insolvency & Restructuring Lawyer of the Year” in 2013 by Who’s Who Legal Awards, receiving more votes from clients and peers than any other individual worldwide. In October 2013, Jamie was inducted into the Turnaround Management Association (TMA) Turnaround, Restructuring, and Distressed Investing Industry Hall of Fame.

From 2013-2015, Jamie was appointed to serve a two year term as the President of INSOL International, the world’s leading international insolvency association. Jamie is also an Adjunct Full Professor of Finance at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania where he teaches a combined Wharton/Penn Law course on “Corporate Restructuring.”

Jamie received his J.D., cum laude, from the University of Illinois College of Law and his B.A., cum laude, from the University of Michigan.