Sydney J. Darling, Esq.

Sydney focuses primarily on commercial bankruptcy matters, representing a variety of constituencies. She has experience representing debtors, secured and unsecured creditors, chapter 11 trustees, liquidating trustees, creditors’ committees, asset purchasers, property owners/landlords and other interested parties in bankruptcy cases. Her practicality, resourcefulness, problem-solving and interpersonal skills contribute to her effective advocacy and enable her to propose thoughtful and creative solutions to her clients. 

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Additionally, Sydney has a wide array of experience, in both litigation and transactional matters in the areas of business and commercial law, financial services and restructuring, risk management, insolvency and real estate and has represented lenders, distressed debt investors and other creditors in connection with the disposition of nonperforming loans and assets outside of bankruptcy, including prosecuting real estate, Article 9 and tax sale foreclosures. 

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Her litigation experience also includes a variety of business and commercial actions, including prosecuting and defending Consumer Fraud Act claims, fraudulent transfer actions, judgment collection matters, breach of contract actions, lender liability claims, construction law matters, and emergent proceedings seeking temporary restraints and injunctions. She has represented numerous clients at the trial and appellate levels of state, federal and bankruptcy courts in New Jersey and New York, including the Third Circuit Court of Appeals and New Jersey Appellate Division.

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Complementing her litigation practice, Sydney has experience representing property owners, developers and landlords in a wide range of commercial and real estate transactions, counseling parties in connection with the acquisition, disposition, and improvement of real property, preparing non-consolidation opinion letters, and negotiating and drafting various forms of real estate and construction contracts.

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After graduating law school, Sydney served a clerkship with the Honorable Raymond T. Lyons (Ret.), United States Bankruptcy Judge, District of New Jersey. She is a 2009 graduate of Rutgers University School of Law-Newark, where she served as Articles Editor of the Women’s Rights Law Reporter. While attending law school and for several years prior, she worked in advertising as an agency account executive.

 

Education

• Rutgers University School of Law, J.D., 2009

• Marist College

       B.A., 2002

 

Bar Admissions

• New Jersey

• New York

 

Court Admissions

• U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey

• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York

• U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York

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Recognitions

• Best Lawyers in America (2021)

• Selected to Super Lawyers: 2021 – 2022

• Selected to Rising Stars: 2016 – 2020

• Emerging Leader Award, Turnaround Management Association (2019)

• Future Leader Award, New Jersey Bankruptcy Lawyers Foundation and Federal Bankruptcy Bar Association of New Jersey (2018)

 

Affiliations

• International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC)

• Turnaround Management Association (TMA)

• New Jersey State Bar Association

• Essex County Bar Association

Articles

• Down the Pipe: No Easy Out for Cannabis-Based Businesses in Distress , October 2018

• You Have the Right to Remain Silent, Sometimes: A Primer on the Scope of the Fifth Amendment in Bankruptcy Proceedings , Summer 2018

• Appellate Division Again Warns Car Dealers: Beware of Inconsistent Legal Terms in Documents, June 2016

 

Speaking Engagements  & Activities

• Speaker, “Rising Tide: Mass Tort Bankruptcies,” TMA Mid-Atlantic Regional Symposium, June 2022

• Speaker, "Single Asset Real Estate in Bankruptcy," Inaugural NJSBA Bankruptcy and Restructuring Forum, 11/18/2021

• Panelist, "COVID-19 Defenses to Litigation," 23rd Annual William H. Gindin Bankruptcy Bench Bar Conference, April 2021

• Panel Coordinator/Co-Moderator, "Landlord Issues in Bankruptcy," 22nd Annual William H. Gindin Bankruptcy Bench Bar Conference, April 2020

• Panelist, Advanced  Collection  Practices  and  Bankruptcy  Implications:  A  Series,”  N.J.  State Bar Association (January 2020)

• Panelist, "Advanced Collection Practices and Bankruptcy Implications: A Series," N.J. State Bar Association , January 2020

• Panelist, "Mock Confirmation Hearing – Confirming A Plan Containing Third Party Releases," 21st Annual William H. Gindin Bankruptcy Bench Bar Conference, April 2019

• Panelist, "Mock Trial – Contested Cash Collateral and DIP Financing," 20th Annual William H. Gindin Bankruptcy Bench Bar Conference, March 2018

• Moderator, “Bankruptcy Basics for the Matrimonial Lawyer,” Essex County Bar Association CLE Extravaganza (December 2015)  

• Presenter, “Hot Topic: In re Ashley River Consulting, LLC, et al., 2015 Bankr. LEXIS 3819, 2015 WL 6848113, No. 14‐13406 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. Nov. 6, 2015),” New Jersey Bankruptcy Inn of Court, New Brunswick, NJ (December 2015

• Moderator, “From Pinstriped Suits to Robes – Newly Minted Judges Talk About Transitioning From the Bar to the Bench,” 2015 TMA Mid‐Atlantic Regional Symposium (June 2015)

• Presenter, “Bankruptcy 101−Common Issues, Risks, and Defense for Dealing with Corporate Bankruptcy,” Connell Foley LLP Continuing Legal Education Course (April 2015)

 

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* The Super Lawyers list is published by Thomson Reuters; its selection methodology is here. The Best Lawyers in America® list is published by Best Lawyers®; its selection methodology is here. The AV Preeminent ratings are published by Martindale-Hubbell; its selection methodology is here. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.