Introduction to Chapter 7

Faiq M. Mihlar is co-managing member and partner at Heavner, Byers & Mihlar, LLC in Decatur, Ill., where he oversees the firm’s bankruptcy practice, representing creditors in all aspects of chapters 7, 11, 12 and 13 proceedings. He has more than 20 years of experience representing creditors in litigation and providing general counsel relating to banking and real estate matters, including assisting banks with large commercial transactions and providing litigation services. Additionally, Mr. Mihlar oversees the firm’s Missouri collection practice and represents creditors in residential mortgage foreclosure practice and ordinance violations/condemnation proceedings. His memberships include ABI and the Mortgage Bankers Association, National Association of Retail Collection Attorneys, Illinois State Bar Association, Missouri State Bar Association, Bankruptcy Association of Southern Illinois and Decatur Bar Association.

Mr. Mihlar is a frequent national speaker on bankruptcy, mortgage foreclosure and related topics for the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, IICLE, BASIL, ABI, ISBA, Lorman Education Services and Pincus Professional Education. He is licensed to practice in Illinois and Missouri, and in the federal courts for the Northern, Central and Southern Districts of Illinois and the Western District of Missouri.

Mr. Mihlar is a current member of the Chapter 13 Local Rules Subcommittee for the Southern District of Illinois and is chairman of the committee developing a Chapter 13 Model Plan for the Springfield Division, appointed by Hon. Mary Gorman of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of Illinois. He has served as member of the Northern District of Illinois Bankruptcy Court Liaison Committee and as co-chair of ABI’s Chicago Annual Consumer Bankruptcy Conference.

Mr. Mihlar was appointed to the Chapter 7 Committee of ABI’s Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy. He received his undergraduate degree from Southeast Missouri State University in 1993 and his J.D. from Southern Illinois University School of Law.

Richard A. Marshack is a founding member of Marshack Hays LLP in Irvine, Calif., and has been an attorney since 1982. He is a frequent lecturer and presenter of seminars on bankruptcy and commercial law issues. Additionally, he has authored more than 20 articles and materials relating to the practice of law.

Mr. Marshack has two practices: as an attorney and as a professional fiduciary. As an attorney, his focus is on commercial matters arising in bankruptcy proceedings, such as representing debtor/businesses and creditors/creditor committees in reorganization proceedings and representing bankruptcy trustees. As a professional fiduciary, he serves as a chapter 7 and 11 trustee, which he has done since 1985. He also has served as a receiver, examiner, special trustee for probate court, chief responsible officer, disbursing agent and provisional director.

Mr. Marshack received the Hon. Peter M. Elliott Award by the Orange County Bankruptcy Forum in 2016 and the American Jurisprudence Award, and he has been listed in Super Lawyers. He is a member of the Long Range Planning Committee of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California and a director of the California Bankruptcy Forum.

Mr. Marshack taught at the University of California at Irvine from 1985-92 and was an adjunct professor of bankruptcy law at Western State College of Law. He received his B.A. in 1979 from the University of California, Irvine and his J.D. magna cum laude from California Western School of Law. Following law school, he clerked for Hon. Folger Johnson, Chief Judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Oregon.

H. David Cox is the founding member of Cox Law Group in Lynchburg, Va., and practices bankruptcy law throughout the Western District of Virginia.

Prior to entering private practice, he clerked for the late Hon. William E. Anderson. He co-edits the treatise Bankruptcy Practice in Virginia, co-authored the fourth edition of ABI’s Consumer Bankruptcy: Fundamentals of Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, and has lectured at numerous regional and national CLE programs.

Mr. Cox is a permanent member of the Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference and a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, and he serves on ABI’s Board of Directors. He received his B.A. in 1992 from Virginia Tech and his J.D. in 1995 from the University of Richmond - TC Williams School of Law.

Hon. Michael A. Fagone is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Maine in Bangor, appointed in April 2015. He is also a member of the U.S. Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the First Circuit, appointed in April 2016.

Judge Fagone previously clerked for Associate Justices Leigh I. Saufley and Robert W. Clifford of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. Following his clerkship, he joined Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson in Portland, Maine, and was a member of its Business Restructuring and Insolvency Practice Group from 1998-2000, and from 2001-15, where he represented clients in bankruptcy cases and in out-of-court restructurings. While practicing law, Judge Fagone was recognized in The Best Lawyers in America and Chambers USA as one of the top bankruptcy lawyers in Maine. He is Board Certified in Business Bankruptcy Law by the American Board of Certification and served on the board of directors of the Nathan and Henry B. Cleaves Law Library, and on the board of directors of the Dyer/Library and Saco Museum.

Judge Fagone currently serves on ABI’s Board of Directors and volunteers with Credit Abuse Resistance Education (CARE), teaching students about the responsible use of credit and the dangers of credit abuse. He also has volunteered as a coach and an evaluator for Maine Law’s teams in the Conrad B. Duberstein Moot Court Competition.

Judge Fagone received his B.A. from Amherst College in 1993 and his J.D. summa cum laude from the University of Maine School of Law in 1997.