Jon Henes Discusses C Street’s Law Firm Optimization Business

By Harvard Zhang

Leveraging his two-decade experience in Kirkland & Ellis’ elite restructuring group, Jon Henes, founder and CEO of C Street, said the legal industry is entering one of the most significant periods of change in its history and that law firms increasingly need advisors who understand both the practice of law and the business of building enduring institutions.

“Most advisors evaluate law firms from the outside. I spent more than 20 years as a senior partner at one of the world’s leading law firms, where I not only helped build a practice and advised clients, but also recruited talent, evaluated partners and participated in the governance of the New York office,” Henes said in an interview with Octus. “That experience impacts both the advice we give and the way we work with clients. We don’t parachute in with a report; we become an extension of the leadership team.”

C Street, which will celebrate its five-year anniversary in September, offers a comprehensive suite of services for law firms, including compensation consulting, business development, leadership and governance advisory, succession planning, talent acquisition, and strategic communications. “The challenges facing law firms today are deeply interconnected. Looking at any one issue in isolation misses the bigger picture,” Henes said.

C Street currently serves six of the top 30 law firms in varying capacities. While engagements differ based on client needs, the company generally works under long-term monthly advisory arrangements and success fees rather than traditional project-based engagements.

“The legal industry is evolving rapidly as firms confront artificial intelligence, accelerating partner mobility, increasing competitive pressure and the growing importance of institutional platforms,” Henes said. “The firms that will lead the next generation of Big Law won’t simply recruit the best lawyers. They will approach talent acquisition the way great companies approach strategic acquisitions. Every lateral hire should strengthen the firm’s institutional platform, fit the firm’s culture, collaborate across practices and make the institution stronger over the long term.”

The law firm optimization offering complements C Street’s strategic communications service for corporate clients. C street, whose name is a play on and tribute to Bruce Springsteen, the C-suite and Henes’ wife’s favorite beach, Sea Street, has become a leader in the communications world, having advised on major restructuring and crisis situations, including Saks, First Brands, David’s Bridal, WeWork and BlockFi, among others.

The Bankruptcy Quarterly

The latest edition of the Bankruptcy Quarterly is out. This edition, which reviews the second quarter of 2026, covers developments in bankruptcy law over the last three months and data-based insights into companies that filed for chapter 11 or confirmed a chapter 11 plan during the quarter. Highlights include the innovative use of chapter 15 in New Fortress Energy, a watershed DIP rollup ruling in Del Monte from New Jersey’s Judge Michael Kaplan and the U.S.’ first weed restructuring. Read the Bankruptcy Quarterly HERE.

US Bankruptcy Law 101

Our legal team published another installment of U.S. Bankruptcy Law 101, an Octus series focused on discussing fundamental U.S. bankruptcy law topics and issues. This edition examines exit or post-emergence financing in chapter 11 reorganization cases. Read the Bankruptcy 101 series HERE.

Cable One

The telecommunications and broadband provider informed prospective new-money providers that it will not proceed with its proposed exchange offer for Mega Broadband, or MBI, lenders. Following resistance from an ad hoc group of MBI lenders representing over 65% of the loans who signed a Milbank and Lazard-advised cooperation agreement, CABO is instead pre-marketing a second-out facility and exploring plans to ringfence MBI as an unrestricted subsidiary. Cable One Inc. also disclosed preliminary financial results for the quarter ended June 30, with expected revenues between $346 million and $352 million. The company anticipates capital expenditures ranging from $72 million to $76 million and projects a decrease in adjusted EBITDA compared to the first quarter of 2026. Octus’ coverage of the Cable One is HERE.

Planview

The TPG Capital and TA Associates-backed software company is working with Greenhill as financial advisor as it struggles to refinance over $1 billion in 2027 maturities. The company was unable to address its December 2027 maturity wall in the private credit market earlier this year, while an ad hoc group of lenders has sought counsel from Gibson Dunn. The capital structure continues to face pressure following high financial leverage and an AI-driven software selloff that saw secondary prices slide significantly before recovering to 86. S&P Global Ratings recently revised Planview’s credit outlook to negative, citing concerns over the company’s escalating inability to refinance its term loan and 2027 revolving credit facility. Octus’ coverage of the Planview is HERE.

Catalyze

The EnCap and Actis-backed renewable energy company is working with Latham & Watkins and Alvarez & Marsal as it engages in negotiations with its creditors about a path forward as it experiences distress and liquidity pressure. The solar industry has faced significant headwinds in recent years, especially because of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that phased out commercial tax incentives, which affects solar installation volumes. Catalyze is seeking to raise new financing at the project level to develop and operate its assets, potentially in the form of new equity. The company recently defaulted on a facility provided by lender Atlas SP Partners, which installed an independent director at the project level, who recently engaged Paul Weiss as legal advisor. Octus’ coverage of the Catalyze is HERE.

Fortna

Amid a near-term liquidity shortfall driven by a slowdown in higher-margin distribution demand, an ad hoc group of majority lenders to Fortna Group is working with Gibson Dunn and Centerview while a minority group has organized with law firm Hogan Lovells. Backed by private equity sponsor Thomas H. Lee Partners, the warehouse automation company is facing mounting performance and liquidity pressure. The company’s capital structure includes a $1.425 billion first lien term loan B due 2029, which has recently seen its average secondary market price fall sharply to 24.67. Octus’ coverage of Fortna Group Inc. is HERE.

Getty Images

Getty Images has engaged Simpson Thacher as counsel and Guggenheim Partners as investment banker, while an ad hoc creditor group has tapped Gibson Dunn. The photo archive business is navigating critical liquidity strains following the formal termination of its pending merger with Shutterstock on June 30. The company’s capital structure contains a $580 million term loan due 2030, which plummeted to 75 following the transaction’s collapse. Octus coverage of the Getty Images is HERE.

Serta Simmons Bedding

Judge Christopher Lopez ruled July 7 that lenders who participated in Serta Simmons Bedding’s 2020 uptier exchange breached the credit agreement’s ratable-sharing provision, awarding $261.13 million in damages to excluded lenders. The 48-page decision also awards the excluded lenders 9% prejudgment interest dating back to the June 22, 2020, closing of the transaction.

The ruling caps six years of litigation over the 2020 deal, in which Serta raised $200 million in new first-out superpriority debt and exchanged $1.2 billion in first and second lien term loans for about $875 million in second-out superpriority debt. To complete the transaction, Serta amended its 2016 first lien term loan agreement to allow additional debt and let the administrative agent enter a separate intercreditor agreement for the new loans, then executed a superpriority term loan agreement and an exchange agreement with the participating lenders.

Judge Lopez held a trial in March on whether the participating lenders breached the 2016 credit agreement. The excluded lenders are claiming more than $400 million of damages. Octus’ Serta Simmons Bedding coverage is HERE.

DISH DBS and DISH Wireless

Judge Christopher Lopez announced July 8 that he will not consider conditional approval of the DISH DBS and DISH Wireless debtors’ disclosure statement and plan solicitation, as the debtors requested. Instead, the court will take up conditional DS approval at a hearing on July 23, when it is already scheduled to consider DISH Wireless’ proposed $85 million DIP financing from parent EchoStar.

The debtors had asked the court to grant the plan solicitation motion on July 8 – allowing them to send the prepackaged plan to creditors for voting – and set a confirmation schedule that would have led to a confirmation hearing in the week of Aug. 31. However, Wireless creditors – including tower lessors Crown Castle, American Tower and SBA, which say they are respectively owed $3.5 billion, $2 billion and $193.6 million – argued that the debtors were trying to race to confirmation without giving claimants enough time to conduct discovery, defend their claims or challenge the $8.8 billion intercompany claim that bolsters the Wireless plan.

Judge Lopez suggested he was considering a case schedule leading to a confirmation hearing in September. The judge also scheduled a hearing on the debtors’ motion to estimate Wireless claims for voting purposes for Aug. 18. Octus’ EchoStar coverage is HERE.

Goldenpeaks Poland LLC

Ruling from the bench on July 6, Judge Alfredo Perez approved the GoldenPeaks Poland debtors’ $162.8 million DIP facility and bid procedures under which prepetition and DIP lender Brookfield Asset Management will act as stalking horse purchaser. The judge overruled objections from mezzanine lender Berenberg Alternative Assets and the official committee of unsecured creditors to both motions, although he increased the UCC’s investigation budget to $100,000 from $25,000.

The DIP facility includes $150.7 million in new money and a $12.1 million rollup of Brookfield’s bridge financing, with about $92 million of the funding being discretionary and allocated for specific construction costs. Judge Perez announced his ruling after a three-day trial. Octus’ Goldenpeaks coverage is HERE.

First Brands’ former auditor BDO USA asked an Ohio federal court to dismiss term/DIP lender Black Diamond’s negligence suit accusing the firm of failing to detect fraud at the auto parts company before its bankruptcy. BDO argues that Black Diamond “broke ranks ahead of all other creditors” by filing its suit, thereby improperly asserting claims that belong to the First Brands estate. Octus’ coverage of First Brands HERE.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a $310 million short-swing trading suit brought by Bed Bath & Beyond’s post-bankruptcy successor against Hudson Bay Capital. Judges Gerard Lynch, Guido Calabresi and Richard Sullivan found that the “blocker” provisions in the contracts governing the company’s derivatives limited Hudson Bay’s ability to own more than 9.99% of the retailer’s common stock and consequently bar the suit. Octus’ coverage of Bed Bath & Beyond is HERE.

Lions Gate Entertainment noteholders – the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Thebes Offshore – agreed to drop their suit challenging a liability management transaction that used a non-pro-rata bond swap to separate Lions Gate’s unprofitable Starz business from its studio business through a special purpose acquisition company. The excluded noteholders and defendants Starz Entertainment, SPAC sponsor Eagle Equity, notes trustee Deutsche Bank and favored noteholders reached an undisclosed settlement pursuant to which all claims are “discontinued with prejudice,” according to the filing. Octus’ coverage of Lion’s Gate is HERE.