Peter Acton is an associate in the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP and is based in the Firm’s Boston office. As a member of the Firm’s Trial Department, Peter has a broad range of experience in resolving commercial disputes. In addition to representing clients in federal and state courts as part of his general commercial litigation practice, Peter has substantial experience representing creditors in bankruptcy and insolvency-related disputes.
Peter has represented and advised clients ranging from Fortune 50 companies to smaller Massachusetts-based companies, as well as lenders, financial institutions, trustees, special servicers, and individuals in complex reorganizations and lawsuits. For example, Peter has represented secured and unsecured creditors and contractual counterparties in Chapter 11 cases throughout the country, including In re Dana Corp., In re EaglePicher Industries, Inc., In re Enron Corp., In re Loral Space & Communications Ltd., In re Sandy Bay, LLC, In re Texas Commercial Energy, Inc. and In re Tecstar, Inc.
His recent engagements include:
- Represent equipment lessee in multi-million dollar fraud counterclaim against lessor
- Represent Fortune 50 company in action to recover equipment from distressed supplier refusing to return equipment necessary to fulfill government contract
- Represent trustees, master and special servicers in mortgage-backed securitizations in recovering indebtedness both in and out of court
- Part of arbitration team that obtained over $100 million award in partnership dissolution dispute
- Represent unsecured and under-secured creditors in numerous bankruptcy matters and preference litigation
- Represent plaintiff-purchaser in multi-million dollar fraud in the inducement/accounting manipulation claim against defendant-seller
- Advise clients on Uniform Commercial Code Article 2 rights and remedies
- Obtained $500,000 recovery, the maximum recovery allowable under state law, for wrongly-convicted person in pro bono representation
While in law school, Peter was a Notes & Articles editor on the Fordham Urban Law Journal and was selected as the Honorable Milton Pollack Fellow. As the Honorable Milton Pollack Fellow, he reported to the then-Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Michael B. Mukasey.
Prior to attending law school, Peter worked as an Account Executive at Ogilvy & Mather in New York.
While at Villanova, Peter was the president of the student body and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Alpha Theta, the National English Honor Society, and Who’s Who Among College Students.
Peter is a member of the Steering Committee of the Bankruptcy Section of the Boston Bar Association and the co-chair of its Membership Committee. He is also a regular lecturer for Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education and the BBA on bankruptcy and civil litigation. Peter recently co-authored an article entitled Gaining the Government’s Support in Bankruptcy Cases, which was published in the American Bankruptcy Institute’s 2008 Northeast Bankruptcy Conference materials.
Peter is admitted to practice in Massachusetts.
Education
- Fordham University School of Law, J.D., 2002
- Villanova University, B.A. (magna cum laude), 1997
