2012 Faculty
Alane A. Becket
Alane A. Becket is an AV® rated attorney and managing partner of Becket & Lee LLP, a Malvern, Pennsylvania law firm specializing in the nationwide representation of creditors in bankruptcy matters. Becket & Lee is a Women's Business Enterprise, as certified by the Women's Business Enterprise National Council. The majority of the firm's clientele are consumer lenders and debt purchasers. Ms. Becket graduated from the Pennsylvania State University and Widener University School of Law, and was admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and New Jersey in 1992. Since that time, she has continually represented creditors and debt purchasers in commercial and bankruptcy matters. She is a member of the National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees (NACTT), the National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees, the National Association of Retail Collection Attorneys (NARCA), DBA International, and ACA International.
Martha G. Bronitsky
Martha G. Bronitsky is the Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Northern District of California, Oakland Division. She was appointed in June 1995. She oversees an office of 26 staff members and administers 8,300 cases. Prior to her appointment she was Vice-President/ Counsel at Home Savings of America where she oversaw all Northern California bankruptcy matters. She is also a former Deputy District Attorney for the County of San Mateo. Ms. Bronitsky graduated from UCLA with an undergraduate degree in political science and the University of Maryland School of Law. Ms. Bronitsky is a Past-President of the National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees, Past-President of the San Mateo County Women Lawyers Educational Foundation and Past-President of the San Mateo County Bar Association. She is very active in the Rotary Club of Foster City.
John F. Cannizzaro
John F. Cannizzaro began his law practice in Maryville, Ohio in 1980 and is senior partner of Cannizzaro, Bridges, Jillisky & Streng, LLC. He concentrates his practice in the area of consumer bankruptcy law. He currently serves as the Chairman of the ECF Rules Committee for the Southern District of Ohio. He frequently lectures nationally and locally on bankruptcy matters from the Debtor's perspective. He is a member of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA) and the Thomas F. Waldron American Bankruptcy Law Forum (ABLF).
D. Sims Crawford
D. Sims Crawford was appointed as the Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Northern District of Alabama, Southern Division in 2004, after serving as the Trustee's Staff Attorney for seven years. Before that, he was engaged in the private practice of law in Birmingham, Alabama. He earned his B.A. from the University of Alabama and his J.D. from Cumberland School of Law. He served as Chair for the Bankruptcy & Commercial Law Section of the Birmingham Bar Association in 2007 and served on the Board of the Birmingham Bar Foundation in 2008-09. Mr. Crawford is currently serving on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees (NACTT), as well as their Due Process Committee, STACS Committee, and Staff Symposium Committee. He is on the Advisory Board for Epiq Systems, Inc., is certified as a Professional in Human Resources (PHR), and is certified in Training and Development. Mr. Crawford is also a member of the American Bar Association.
Roger L. Efremsky
Roger L. Efremsky was appointed a bankruptcy judge for the Northern District of California on August 1, 2006. He maintains chambers in Oakland. Prior to his appointment, Judge Efremsky was a partner with the AV® rated law firm of Efremsky & Nagel representing corporate clients throughout California and served as advisory counsel to the Chapter 13 Standing Trustees for the Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose and Santa Rosa divisions of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California. He is a former chairman of the National Association of Chapter Thirteen Trustees' Creditor Auxiliary and has served on a number of professional committees at the State and local levels. Judge Efremsky has also testified on behalf of representative national creditors before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts regarding the role of the U.S. Trustee system. Judge Efremsky received his B.S. from Menlo College in 1978 and his J.D. from Santa Clara University School of Law in 1983. He was the recipient of a Rotary International Fellowship for the study of international law and politics at the University of Cape Town, Republic of South Africa.
Mark C. Ellenberg
Mark C. Ellenberg advises debtors and creditors in complex financial restructuring, workout, and bankruptcy matters. He is representing Morgan Stanley with respect to its claims against Lehman. He has represented LyondellBasell, Northwest Airlines, Geneva Steel, and Zenith Laboratories, Inc. in their chapter 11 reorganization cases. In the Enron chapter 11 case, Mark was special counsel to the debtors for issues related to forward contracts, swaps, and other trading contracts. He regularly advised Bear Stearns on bankruptcy issues relating to trading contracts and derivatives, and actively participated in the preparations for a possible bankruptcy filing by that company in March 2008. Mark represented XL Capital, a global insurance company, with respect to the successful termination of an $80 billion guaranty of credit default swap and other liabilities of monoline insurance company SCA (now known as Syncora). Mark is a graduate of Cornell University, where he received a B.S. degree in 1972. He received his J.D. degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1975 and served as Research Editor of the Georgetown Law Journal. Following law school, Mark served as law clerk for The Honorable Thomas A. Flannery, Judge, United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
Kristopher M. Hansen
Kristopher M. Hansen is the Co-Chair of Stroock's Financial Restructuring Group. Mr. Hansen is recognized by peers and independent publications as one of the best restructuring lawyers in the United States. Known as a consummate tactical dealmaker with an expansive market knowledge, he also is considered to be a brilliant litigation strategist and one of the nation's top distressed mergers and acquisitions lawyers. vThroughout his career, Mr. Hansen has counseled clients in hundreds of cases through proceedings in bankruptcy and appellate courts across the country. He also lectures regularly on restructuring topics at local and national conferences. Mr. Hansen graduated from Fordham University in 1992 with a B.S. in Finance and from Fordham Law School in 1995. He is admitted to practice in the state of New York, the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second and Third Circuits and the United States Supreme Court.
Reginald W. Jackson
Reginald W. Jackson is partner in the Columbus office of the law firm of Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP. He has practiced for 31 years in the corporate restructuring, workout and bankruptcy areas with emphasis in representing secured creditors, creditors' committees and debtors in Chapter 11 reorganization proceedings and workouts. He is
a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, having been inducted as a member of its twelfth class in 2001. Mr. Jackson is a former president of the American Bankruptcy Institute; former president of the Ohio State Bar Foundation; former member of the Board of Governors of the Ohio State Bar Association. He is a member of the Columbus Bar Association, where he has served on the Board of Governors and for which he served as the Chairman of its Bankruptcy Committee for 1990-92. Mr. Jackson has been named one of America's Top Bankruptcy Lawyers by Black Enterprise Magazine. He is the former Chairman of the American Bar Association's Conference of Minority Partners in Corporate/Majority Law Firms. Mr. Jackson is a graduate of Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Douglas B. Jacobs
Douglas B. Jacobs has practiced law since 1978 concentrating on business, real estate and collection issues with an emphasis during the past 20 years on Small Business and Consumer Bankruptcy. He practices in Chico, California in the firm of Jacobs, Anderson, Potter & Chaplin, LLP. Doug is a member of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, the Sacramento Valley Bankruptcy Forum and the Bankruptcy Law Network. He has spoken on consumer bankruptcy topics for the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, the Sacramento Valley Bankruptcy Forum, the Southeastern Bankruptcy Law Institute, and The Central California Bankruptcy Institute. Since 1988, Doug has taught Constitutional Law and Debtor/Creditor-Bankruptcy Law for Cal Northern School of Law in Chico, California, where he also serves as Dean of Students.
Margaret A. Mahoney
Margaret A. Mahoney is the Chief Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of Alabama. She has served in Mobile, Alabama since December 1993. She has also been a bankruptcy judge in the District of Minnesota and the Southern District of Texas. From 1989 to 1993, Judge Mahoney was a partner in Weil, Gotshal & Manges working in the Houston and Dallas offices. She graduated from the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minnesota with Phi Beta Kappa honors. She graduated with honors from the University of Minnesota Law School. Judge Mahoney is a member of the American College of Bankruptcy, is an Editor of Collier on Bankruptcy, was Editor in Chief of the American Bankruptcy Law Journal, and is a frequent speaker at continuing legal education programs. She also is an Adjunct Professor at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama.
Jeffrey W. Morris
Jeffrey W. Morris has been teaching at the University of Dayton School of Law since 1981 while remaining active in the area of bankruptcy law as of counsel to Porter, Wright, Morris & Arthur. He is a member of the National Bankruptcy Conference, an elite group of lawyers, judges, and professors that addresses significant issues of bankruptcy, policy, and law. Professor Morris has twice testified before Congressional committees on behalf of the group. A founding member of the American Bankruptcy Law Forum, he is also a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and has served as chair of the American Association of Law Schools Section on Commercial and Related Consumer Law. From 1999 to 2008 he served as the Reporter to the Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules. Professor Morris was the Southeastern Bankruptcy Law Institute Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law at Georgia State University College of Law in 2008. He also regularly lectures throughout the country to lawyers and judges on matters of bankruptcy and commercial law.
David M. Neff
David M. Neff is a partner in the Chicago office of Perkins Coie, LLP, a national law firm of more than 750 attorneys. He is a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and a frequent speaker and author on bankruptcy topics. He is well known for his work in the hotel industry, where he has represented major parties in more than 75 hotel bankruptcy cases and restructurings, including those involving Innkeepers USA Trust, MSR Resort, Viceroy Anguilla, Four Seasons Nevis, Four Seasons San Francisco, Red Roof and River Road Hotel Partners, and RadLAX Gateway Hotel.
Neil P. Olack
Neil P. Olack is the United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern and Southern Districts of Mississippi. Prior to taking the bench, he practiced law for 25 years in the areas of bankruptcy, creditors' rights, and workouts. While in private practice, Judge Olack served on the board of directors of the American Bankruptcy Institute and on the advisory boards of the American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review and the Emory Bankruptcy Developments Journal. He was board certified in business bankruptcy law by the American Board of Certification and acted as a member of its board of directors. Judge Olack has considerable experience teaching bankruptcy, both as an adjunct law professor and an instructor in a masters of business administration program. He also taught at the Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University. Additionally, he has been a frequent lecturer on bankruptcy issues for professional and continuing legal education programs throughout the United States. Judge Olack is a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy. He served as the Fifth Circuit Governor for the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges.
Harley E. Riedel
Harley E. Riedel is a managing shareholder of Stichter, Riedel, Blain & Prosser, P.A. Riedel has served as lead counsel for debtors in possession or other key constituencies in many of the largest Chapter 11 cases ever filed in Florida. He regularly represents debtors, committees, creditors, buyers, and other parties in bankruptcy cases and out-of-court workouts. In 2007 Riedel received the highest award of the Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Bar Association for effectiveness and professionalism.
William T. Russell, Jr.
William T. Russell, Jr. is a partner at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP in the firm's Litigation Department. He represents clients in a wide variety of commercial disputes including banking litigation, bankruptcy and reorganization matters, securities litigation, and contractual and transactional disputes, and has tried cases in state and federal courts, as well as in arbitral proceedings. His clients include leading members of the financial services and manufacturing industries. Mr. Russell is a member of the American Law Institute, former Chair of the New York City Bar Association's Committee on Pro Bono and Legal Services and a current member of its delegation to the New York State Bar Association. He currently serves on the Disciplinary Committee for the First Judicial Department and was recently appointed by New York State Court of Appeals Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman to the Chief Judge's Attorney Emeritus Council.
Thomas F. Waldron
Thomas F. Waldron was appointed as a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of Ohio in 1985 and served as Chief Judge of that Bankruptcy Court and the first Chief Judge of the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Sixth Circuit. He retired after 22 years of judicial service in October 2007. He is a member of the American College of Bankruptcy and the American Board of Certification. He has contributed to various publications, including the American Bankruptcy Journal and is currently the Advisor for the National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees' Academy for Consumer Education — ConsiderChapter13.org. He has been a member of the adjunct faculty at the University of Cincinnati and the University of Dayton Law School.
Jack F. Williams
Jack F. Williams has been engaged in bankruptcy restructuring and business litigation matters for over 25 years. Professor Williams has investigated suspected domestic and international corruption, undertaken complex threat and risk assessments concerning infrastructure protection, and investigated asset transfers and concealments. He is a Professor at Georgia State University College of Law and the Middle East Institute in Atlanta. Professor Williams has taught courses to attorneys in the Office of Chief Counsel, Internal Revenue Service, United States Department of Justice, other professionals in the Office of the United States Trustee, and to bankruptcy judges as part of the U.S. Federal Judicial Center educational programming. He has testified before the United States House and Senate committees. Professor Williams has written eleven books, and over 200 articles. He currently serves as the Scholar in Residence for both the Association of Insolvency & Restructuring Advisors, as well as the American Bankruptcy Institute. Professor Williams is a frequent lecturer and has been quoted on television, radio and in the print media.
Michael G. Williamson
Michael G. Williamson was appointed to the bench on March 1, 2000. He sits as a bankruptcy judge in the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division. Judge Williamson graduated from Duke University in 1973 and from Georgetown University Law Center in 1976. He began his bankruptcy practice serving as a Chapter 7 panel trustee in 1977. Thereafter, in the following 23 years, he represented numerous Chapter 11 corporate debtors, creditors' committees, and trustees in bankruptcy cases pending throughout the state of Florida. Judge Williamson is past chair of the Committee on Creditors' Rights, Section of Litigation, American Bar Association; past chair of the Business Law Section of The Florida Bar and that section's Bankruptcy/UCC Committee; and a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy.