John K Lyons

Career

John K. Lyons represents major US and global corporations, committees, lenders and boards of directors in complex business reorganizations, acquisitions and divestitures, typically in distressed situations, in a broad variety of industries.

John has served as counsel in many significant business reorganizations, including as counsel for the official committee of unsecured creditors in the chapter 11 reorganization of American Airlines and merger with US Airways. This transaction was recognized in the Corporate & Commercial category in the Financial Times' 2013 US ''Innovative Lawyers'' report. He also has represented companies in numerous other high-profile chapter 11 cases across many business sectors.

John also represented club lenders Rabobank NA, Standard Chartered Bank and DBS Bank in the Pacific Andes/China Fishery chapter 11 cross border restructuring that was recently recognized in the Asia Legal Awards 2017 Finance Deal of the Year: Restructuring and Insolvency and one of the Deals of the Year in the Asia Business Law Journal.

In 2017, John also represented Katy Industries, Inc. (M&A Advisor/Distressed M&A Deal of the Year (Over $50MM to $100MM)) and Rupari Food Services, Inc. (M&A Advisor/Consumer Staples Deal of the Year ($10MM to $100MM) in connection with their successful chapter 11 sale efforts.

In 2019, John was appointed to the State Universities Retirement System Board of Trustees (SURS). SURS administers retirement plans for employees and retirees that work or have worked in the Illinois higher education system, including the state universities and community colleges, serving more than 232,000 beneficiaries and managing over US$19 billion in assets. In November 2023, Governor Pritzker appointed John to serve as chairman of the URS board. In March 2024, John was appointed to the Board of Directors of INTERSECT Illinois that works with the Governor’s Office and top Illinois policymakers and business leaders to attract businesses to move to, and investments to be made in, the State of Illinois.