Signal International Workers Get Pro Bono Help

It’s not often that bankruptcy lawyers who specialize in advising on big-ticket restructurings can apply their expertise in pro bono matters.

But when Signal International Inc., the marine services company, filed a Chapter 11 petition July 12 in Delaware, several firms negotiated a $20 million settlement on behalf of the more-than 200 Indian welders and pipefitters who said the company lured them to work in Mississippi with false promises of U.S. residency and then exploited them after Hurricane Katrina.

Those firms include Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, Latham & Watkins LLP, McDermott Will & Emery LLP and Skadden, Arps, Slate, ...