Rosen saved the city of New York from financial ruin on at least two occasions.  In 1975 he helped avoid a New York City bankruptcy.  More recently, Rosen created the restructuring practice that the US would use as a guide throughout the 2008 mortgage crisis involving the $5 trillion debt of mortgage agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. 

The highest compliment

Rosen, Martin Lipton, Herbert Wachtell, and George Katz founded the M&A, bankruptcy, and restructuring firm in 1965, when Rosen was just 35.  Rosen graduated from NYU Law School in 1854.  He retired from the firm in 1997 but remained of counsel until his death. Gregory Milmore, a partner in the restructuring practice at Skadden Arps, said: ‘The highest compliment that can be paid to the restructuring world is, “That’s the way Len would have done it.”’ Source: Bloomberg