Creditor Remedies: Point/Counterpoint

Lynn Welter Sherman is a shareholder with Trenam Law in St. Petersburg, FL, and a member of its Bankruptcy and Creditors' Rights Practice Group.

She represents businesses, financial institutions, trustees, creditors, landlords, debtors, committees and other parties in bankruptcy, creditors’ rights and reorganization matters. She helps clients navigate all aspects of chapter 7 and 11 bankruptcies, out-of-court workouts, loan modifications and restructurings, foreclosures, collection and enforcement of judgments, enforcement of security interests and creditors’ rights litigation. She also acts as a mediator in bankruptcy matters.

Ms. Sherman is a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy and received the Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Bar Association’s Douglas P. McClurg Professionalism Award in 2022. She has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America for Bankruptcy & Creditor/Debtor Rights/Insolvency & Reorganization Law; Commercial Transactions/UCC Law; Litigation – Bankruptcy since 2008, and was named Lawyer of the Year for Bankruptcy & Creditor-Debtor Rights and Bankruptcy Litigation in 2020 and 2023, and she was listed in Florida Super Lawyers from 2011-22.

Yusuf Haidermota is a shareholder at Kass Shuler, P.A. in Tampa, Fla., where he is a member of the firm’s Litigation Group and focuses his practice on commercial, real estate and fair debt litigation.

An experienced litigator, his practice extends statewide in both state and federal courts, including the Middle and Southern Districts of Florida. Mr. Haidermota has successfully prosecuted and defended lawsuits involving creditors’ rights, breach of contract, real estate issues, commercial landlord/tenant matters, commercial collections and other business issues. He is a frequent speaker on the Florida Consumer Collection Protection Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

Prior to joining Kass Shuler, P.A. in 2011, Mr. Haidermota was an assistant state attorney for the Tenth Judicial Circuit, advocating on behalf of the people of the State of Florida. While a prosecutor, he tried more than 25 jury trials and numerous nonjury trials.

Mr. Haidermota is a member of the Tampa Bay American Inn of Court, Hillsborough County Diversity Committee, Trial Lawyers Section of the Florida Bar, Real Property, Probate and Trust Law section of the Hillsborough County Bar Association, and the American Legal and Financial Network.

Jeffrey S. Fraser is a partner at Albertelli Law in Lake Worth, Fla., and focuses his representation on secured creditors and ensuring that their interests are protected in chapters 7, 11 and 13. He handles contested litigation, including valuation hearings, adversary proceedings, sanction hearings, and any and all other disputed matters in bankruptcy court.

As partner over his firm’s national bankruptcy department, Mr. Fraser works closely with each state’s managing attorneys as it relates to training, legal strategy, and all facets of the firm’s bankruptcy practice. He is an active participant in the Southern District of Florida’s bankruptcy bar and was the 2019 chair of the Local Rule Committee and an inaugural member the district’s Lawyer Advisory Committee (LAC), serving as the committee’s chair in 2020 and 2021. Through these roles, he has worked closely with South Florida bankruptcy judges and lawyers in reviewing local practices and rules; participating as a panelist for various district programs; assisting with the drafting of the district’s Model Chapter 13 Plan and Mortgage Modification Mediation procedures and guidelines; and addressing other matters or concerns for the South Florida bankruptcy community.

Mr. Fraser is a past president of the Jamaican-American Bar Association and has helped the organization create mentorship relationships with local law students. He also served as a panelist at a commercial law seminar in Kingston, Jamaica, discussing the 2014 Jamaican Insolvency Act, and he has organized foreclosure and bankruptcy workshops, spoken on numerous CLE panels, and guest-appeared on South Florida radio.

Mr. Fraser was selected by Super Lawyers as one of its “Florida Rising Stars” for 2019, 2020 and 2021. In addition, he was named a 2017 Blackshear Fellow by the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges (NCBJ) and a 2020 ABI “40 Under 40” honoree, and he has published articles on consumer bankruptcy issues in the American Legal & Finance Network and Default Servicing News.

Mr. Fraser has the highest rating by Martindale-Hubbell. He received his B.A. in 2007 from the University of Miami and his J.D. in 2010 from the University of Miami School of Law.

Hon. Grace E. Robson is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Middle District of Florida in Orlando. She previously was a partner with Markowitz Ringel Trusty & Hartog, P.A.

Judge Robson is a Board Certified bankruptcy attorney with more than 20 years of experience representing corporate debtors, trade and institutional creditors, trustees, receivers and creditors’ committees.

Prior to taking the bench, she practiced corporate reorganization and bankruptcy, debtor-creditor relations and bankruptcy litigation. Judge Robson has been involved in all facets of reorganization-related representations, including pre-filing consultation, filing complex corporate bankruptcy cases, post-bankruptcy financing, asset purchase agreements as well as “routine” matters.

She is an active member of ABA, currently serving as a co-chair of the Secured Creditors Subcommittee of the Business Law Section, Business Bankruptcy Committee (and previously served as a co-chair of the Pro Bono Services Subcommittee). Prior to relocating to the Middle District of Florida, she served on the board of directors of the Bankruptcy Bar Association for the Southern District of Florida and was the Broward Chair of the Pro Bono Committee, the Broward Chair of the CARE Program Committee and chair of the Wellness Committee.

Judge Robson received her B.A. cum laude from the State University of New York at Albany in 1994 and her J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in 1997.