Estopping the Madness: Personal-Injury Claims and Exemptions in Chapter 7 and 13 Cases

Dean R. Nelson, Jr. is an attorney with the Taunt Law Firm in Birmingham, Mich., where he focuses his practice on bankruptcy, civil litigation, real property and corporate law. He also represents panel chapter 7 trustees, individual debtors (consumer and business) and creditors in a variety of bankruptcy issues, including substantial litigation experience.

Mr. Nelson has been a speaker at ABI’s Central States Bankruptcy Workshop and Hon. Steven W. Rhodes Consumer Bankruptcy Conference, and the Detroit Consumer Bankruptcy Association Trial Skills Workshop. He also is a member of the chapter 7 subcommittee of the Local Rules Advisory Committee for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

Mr. Nelson received his B.A. with distinction from the University of Michigan in 2003 and his J.D. cum laude from Wayne State University in 2007. While in law school, he was on the board of directors of the Free Legal Aid Clinic, Inc., where he represented indigent residents of Detroit on family law-related matters before the Wayne County Circuit Court.

E. Philip Groben is an associate with Gensburg Calandriello & Kanter, P.C. in Chicago, where he focuses his practice on bankruptcy and commercial litigation. He represents a variety of clients in bankruptcy proceedings, including debtors, creditors, trustees and equity-holders. Mr. Groben has worked on complex chapter 11 restructurings, chapter 13 reorganizations and chapter 7 liquidations. He also has successfully defended favorable rulings on appeal to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Mr. Groben also has substantial commercial litigation experience in both state and federal courts. He has prosecuted and defended breach-of-contract and other commercial matters, brought foreclosure proceedings on behalf of secured lenders, negotiated favorable workouts with secured lenders, and enforced the rights of judgment creditors and debtors. He also has sued to set aside illegally obtained trust and will amendments, and has defended interest-holders in civil forfeiture matters.

As a co-chair of the Chicago Bar Association Young Lawyers Section Bankruptcy Committee, Mr. Groben organizes the group’s annual CLE seminar and monthly committee meetings, and presentations on a variety of topics, including nondischargeability and domestic-support issues. IN addition, he serves as vice chair for the Chicago Bar Association’s Asset Protection Committee and is a regular speaker to industry groups, including ABI.

Mr. Groben served as a judicial extern to Hon. Bruce W. Black of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois and as an extern with the Office of the U.S. Trustee for Region 11. Prior to starting his legal career, he worked with durable goods manufacturers to streamline global supply chains and reduce inventory costs.

Mr. Groben received his B.S. from Iowa State University in 2002 and his J.D. from the John Marshall Law School in Chicago in 2009.

Virginia E. George is a partner at Steinhilber Swanson, LLP in Oshkosh, Wis., and has served as a chapter 7 panel trustee in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Eastern District of Wisconsin (Milwaukee Division) since 1999. She has experience in all aspects of chapters 7 and 13, including consumer and business cases and all types of adversary proceedings and enforcement actions. She has also represented creditors, as well as debtors in chapter 11 and 12 cases.

For the past 25 years, Ms. George has concentrated over 95 percent of her practice in bankruptcy and insolvency matters, and has served as receiver in state and federal courts, having previously represented a national lender in its Special Assets Division. She is a past two-term board member of the Bankruptcy Insolvency and Creditor’s Rights Section of the State Bar of Wisconsin, and she is a regular presenter at conferences on various bankruptcy topics.

Ms. George received her J.D. from Marquette University Law School.

Hon. James W. Boyd was appointed in May 2014. Before his judicial service, he was a partner with the Traverse City law firm of Kuhn, Darling, Boyd and Quandt, PLC, where he practiced in the areas of bankruptcy law and commercial litigation. He is a past president of the National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees and a member of the State Bar of Michigan, the Federal Bar Association, and the American Bankruptcy Institute. Judge Boyd has extensive trustee and receivership experience in both Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 cases involving a wide variety of industries. He has also served as an operating and liquidating receiver under Michigan law for numerous entities.