Mortgage Mediation in Bankruptcy: How to Make the Mediation Process Successful

Rachael A. Stokas is a supervising bankruptcy attorney at Codilis & Associates P.C. in Burr Ridge, Ill., and practices bankruptcy law in Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri, Texas and Indiana. She has been with Codilis for nearly 20 years and has been the supervising attorney over its Bankruptcy team since 2016.

Ms. Stokas is an experienced creditors’ rights practitioner in the fields of bankruptcy, mediation, foreclosure, real estate and eviction. She has been a member of the Illinois Bar since February 2002 and a member of the Missouri Bar since October 2008, and she is admitted to practice in the U.S. District Courts of Northern, Central and Southern Illinois, Eastern and Western Missouri and Wisconsin, Southern Indiana, and Eastern, Northern and Southern Texas. She has served on the Northern District of Illinois Bankruptcy Liaison Committee and is currently an active participant on the Eastern District of Wisconsin’s Bench Bar Committee. Additionally, she is an active member of ABI, the Illinois Bar Association and Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity.

Ms. Stokas received her B.A. from Emory & Henry College and her J.D. from the University of Dayton School of Law.

Amy H. Koltz is president, executive director and a mediator for Metro Milwaukee Mediation Services, Inc. (d/b/a Mediate Wisconsin), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in Brookfield, Wis. The organization administers such housing mediation programs as the Landlord-Tenant Mediation Program, the Metro Milwaukee Foreclosure Mediation Program and the Wisconsin Foreclosure Mediation Network.

Ms. Koltz is an adjunct professor at Marquette University Law School, where she teaches workshops on client interviewing and counseling, mediation advocacy and negotiation. She also is a roster mediator for the Mortgage Modification Mediation Program through the Eastern and Western District of Wisconsin Bankruptcy Courts.

Ms. Koltz is a former chair of the Wisconsin State Bar’s Dispute Resolution Section Board and continues to serve on the board chairing its Mediation Week Committee. She received her B.A. from the College of William and Mary and her J.D. from Marquette University Law School, and she holds a Graduate Certificate in Dispute Resolution from Marquette University.

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.

Laurie K. Weatherford is the chapter 13 standing trustee for the Middle District of Florida in Orlando. Prior to her appointment in 1996, Ms. Weatherford was Of Counsel with the law firm of Maguire, Voorhis & Wells, representing primarily debtors and creditor committees in chapter 11 cases, and was a panel trustee. She tried a jury trial in the In re Braniff case and helped develop the Mortgage Modification Mediation Program for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Orlando.

Ms. Weatherford frequently lectures on mortgage modification and various chapter 13 issues. She is a member of the National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees, for which she serves on its Human Resources Committee. She also served on the Board of Directors of the Central Florida Bankruptcy Law Association and is a past chairman of the Bankruptcy Committee of Orange County, Fla.

Ms. Weatherford received her B.A. with honors from the University of Florida and her J.D. with honors from Cumberland School of Law, where she was an honor court justice, a member of the International Law Moot Court Team and copy editor for the Cumberland Law Review.