Post-Filing Issue-Spotting

Neil C. Gordon is a partner in the Bankruptcy, Creditors’ Rights & Financial Restructuring practice of Arnall Golden Gregory LLP in Atlanta and focuses his practice on bankruptcy, creditors’ rights, debt restructuring, distressed assets and fraud. For more than 40 years, he has represented secured and unsecured creditors, creditors’ committees, trustees, receivers and debtors-in-possession. He also serves as the bankruptcy trustee in chapter 7 and chapter 11 cases and as an SEC receiver.

Mr. Gordon is a prolific author and speaker, having conducted more than 190 seminar presentations nationally and published over 80 scholarly articles on bankruptcy law topics over the course of his career. He is a past president of the National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees and a lifetime member of ABI, and previously co-chaired ABI’s Legislation Committee. In addition, he is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and a Master of the Bench of the Georgia Bankruptcy American Inn of Court, and he served on the small steering committee for Prof. Lois Lupica’s Study on the Costs of BAPCPA and on the Chapter 7 Subcommittee for the ABI Consumer Bankruptcy Commission.

Mr. Gordon received his B.B.A. with a focus on real estate and urban land studies in 1976 from the University of Florida and his J.D. in 1979 from the University of Georgia School of Law.

Rachel L. Foley is the founder of Foley Law, PC in Independence, Mo., and handles consumer chapter 7s and 13s in both Kansas and Missouri. She began her bankruptcy career with the United Auto Workers, representing GM and Ford employees in chapter 13 and 7 cases. She was the only bankruptcy attorney for the Missouri auto workers, and it was not unusual for her to manage three to four times the regular attorney caseload at any given time.

Ms. Foley previously was a risk manager for Clarkson Regional Health Center and has 20 years of experience in the emergency room as a Registered Respiratory Therapist. She is the inaugural winner of the K. Colleen Nunnelly Award by the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys and is recognized by her peers as being the Best of the Kansas City Bar in the area of bankruptcy. She also has been named to the Pro Bono Wall of Fame by the Missouri Bar Association.

Ms. Foley frequently speaks nationally and locally on consumer bankruptcy topics. She is a member of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, ABI, the Kansas City Bankruptcy Bar Association, the Kansas City Metro Bar Association and the International Women’s Restructuring & Insolvency Confederation.

Ms. Foley received her undergraduate degree in the sciences and medicine from Creighton University and her J.D. from Creighton School of Law.

Summer M. Shaw is a founding member and bankruptcy lawyer of SHAW & HANOVER, PC a bankruptcy boutique law firm serving Southern California with its main office located in Palm Desert, California. Summer represents creditors and debtors in bankruptcy and insolvency matters. She is a fearless litigator and employs creative strategies to achieve exceptional results for her clients. Ms. Shaw started her career in 2002 at the Law Offices of George Hanover in Palm Desert. She quickly made partner at the firm Hanover & Shaw. The partners of Hanover & Shaw later teamed with Ms. Doling to form the highly regarded bankruptcy firm DOLING SHAW & HANOVER, APC.

Ms. Shaw was named as The American Bankruptcy Institutes‘ Top 40 Under 40 in 2017, and she has served as the President of the Inland Empire Bankruptcy Forum (IEBF), a division of the California Bankruptcy Forum. She was presented with the 2016 & 2017 Honor Roll of Pro Bono Volunteers of the Central District of California. Summer Shaw is a very active member of the bankruptcy bar serving as a Consumer Co-Chair of various education programs and was honored with The NACBA 2018 Distinguished Lawyer Award.

She is also a Professor of Bankruptcy law at the California Desert Trial Academy (CDTA).

Ms. Shaw is admitted to practice in all state and federal courts in California, including the Supreme Court of California. In addition, she is admitted to practice before the United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Hon. Martin R. Barash is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Central District of California in Woodland Hills, sworn in on March 26, 2015. He brings more than 20 years of legal experience to the bench.

Prior to his appointment, Judge Barash had served as a partner at Klee, Tuchin, Bogdanoff & Stern LLP in Los Angeles since 2001, where he counseled parties in chapter 11 cases and litigated chapter 7 and chapter 11 bankruptcy cases. Following law school, he clerked for Judge Procter R. Hug, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 1992-93. Judge Barash is a member of ABI’s Board of Directors. He also serves as a director of the Judicial Leadership Development Council and is a member of the NCBJ Committee on Judicial Security. He previously was a member of the board of directors for the Los Angeles Bankruptcy Forum.

Judge Barash is a frequent panelist on bankruptcy law issues and has been a guest lecturer at the UCLA School of Law. He has also been involved in the local legal community as a pro bono attorney with the Public Counsel Chapter 7 Reaffirmation Hearing Clinic, and has been a volunteer judge for a course on negotiating and confirming chapter 11 plans at the UCLA School of Law and with UCLA’s Mock Trial Competition. He currently serves as a director and immediate past president of the Junior Statesmen Foundation, a national, nonpartisan organization sponsoring civics education programs for high school students.

Judge Barash received his A.B. magna cum laude in 1989 from Princeton University and his J.D. in 1992 from the UCLA School of Law, where he served as member, editor, business manager and symposium editor of the UCLA Law Review.