William "Bill" Gordon, who helped Hercules Offshore navigate through two Chapter 11s and a liquidation in the four years he spent in-house at the Houston offshore services company, will now be able to parlay that experience as a partner at King & Spalding, which hired him to work out of its Houston office.

Gordon, who joined King & Spalding's trial and global disputes practice on Monday, left his job as associate general counsel and chief compliance officer at HERO Liquidating Trust last week. Prior to that, he held the same position at Hercules Offshore.

"Bill is skilled in guiding senior leaders and boards though challenging legal, regulatory and policy issues at all phases of the business lifecycle," Andy Bayman, a partner in Atlanta who heads King & Spalding's trial and global disputes practice group, said in a statement.

Bill Gordon

Gordon joined Hercules in 2014, after seven years in the international, regulatory and compliance group at Steptoe & Johnson LLP in Washington, D.C. In 2015, at the beginning of the last energy downturn, Hercules filed for bankruptcy and came out of it in about three months. But in the summer of 2016, the company again filed for Chapter 11, and by the end of that year, its assets were put into the HERO Liquidating Trust.

In his time at Hercules and HERO, Gordon oversaw a number of transactions, financings and M&A transactions including a $1.2 billion debt-equity swap, a $600 million restructuring support agreement, $200 million in global asset sales and numerous joint venture agreements. He also handled litigation and arbitration, and compliance issues.

Tracie Renfroe, managing partner of King & Spalding's Houston office and a co-head of the energy practice, said in a statement that Gordon's ability to address complex issues for multinational companies makes him a great resource for general counsel.

"Bill is known for adeptly navigating and negotiating corporate restructuring and financing matters and influencing major decisions with sound and strategic judgment," Renfroe said.

Gordon said he was attracted to King & Spalding in part because of its cross-functional practice groups. He has a background in litigation and compliance, and also picked up transactional and restructuring experience at Hercules.

He expects to do litigation, regulatory, enforcement and transactional work at King & Spalding.

And he said

"I'm looking to help GCs with their most difficult and critical needs," he said.

Further Reading:

Hercules Emerges Quickly From Oil-Bust Bankruptcy