Recent Consumer Case Law Developments with Bill Rochelle

Alejandro Oliveras Rivera has been the standing chapter 13 trustee for the District of Puerto Rico in San Juan since July 2002. Previously, he was Assistant U.S. Trustee for the District of Puerto Rico, was in private practice and joined Puerto Rico Legal Services, holding positions as staff attorney, deputy director and director of field offices, as well as deputy director and director of its private attorney involvement program. He joined the Office of the U.S. Trustee as a staff attorney in 1989, then joined the law firm of Franco Quiles-Mariani & Godinez, where he represented lending institutions in bankruptcy matters, general civil litigation, mortgage foreclosures and mortgage closings.

Mr. Oliveras-Rivera is admitted to practice law before the Puerto Rico Supreme Court, the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico and the First Circuit Court of Appeals, and he is a member of ABI and the National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees. He received his J.D. from the University of Puerto Rico Law School in 1976.

Hon. Robert H. Jacobvitz is Chief Bankruptcy Judge for the District of New Mexico in Albuquerque and a judge on the Tenth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel. He was appointed to the bench Aug. 10, 2009.

Judge Jacobvitz is the Tenth Circuit representative on the Board of Governors of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and chairs its Technology Committee. In 2008, he was inducted as a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy, and in 2004 and 2010 he taught bankruptcy law at the University of New Mexico School of Law as an adjunct professor.

Prior to taking the bench, Judge Jacobvitz was in private practice with the law firm of Jacobvitz, Thuma & Walker P.C., where he focused on chapter 11 cases, representing debtors in possession, creditors and committees. His practice also included business and real estate transactions and commercial litigation, and he has served as both a chapter 11 and chapter 12 trustee.

Judge Jacobvitz is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, has been listed in The Best Lawyers of America and in Southwest Super Lawyers, and received the New Mexico State Bar Bankruptcy Law Section’s outstanding bankruptcy lawyer award in 2003 and 2007, as well as the New Mexico CLE, Inc.’s Sandia Award. He received his B.A. from the University of Colorado with high distinction and his J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif.

An insightful writer known for his authoritative take on legal developments affecting bankruptcy practice, Rochelle published for Bloomberg every day from 2007 until this fall.

Prior to his second career in journalism, he practiced bankruptcy law for 35 years, including 17 years as a partner in the New York office of Fulbright & Jaworski LLP.

He earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Columbia University, where he won Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar awards in the law school.

Rudy J. Cerone is the co-chair of the firm's Creditors’ Rights, Financial Restructuring, and Bankruptcy practice. A graduate of the University of California at San Diego (B.A., summa cum laude) and Boston College Law School (J.D., cum laude), he has more than three decades of experience in business bankruptcies and commercial litigation, and over a decade of experience in complex consumer cases.

Rudy represents secured lenders in workouts, bankruptcy proceedings, and collateral recovery. He successfully defends creditors against lender liability claims, class actions, and sanctions proceedings.

Rudy is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and is certified as a Business Bankruptcy Specialist by the American Board of Certification and by the Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization. He is a long-time member of the American Bankruptcy Institute. He currently serves as a Commissioner on the ABI Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy and as a Co-Chair of the Caribbean Insolvency Symposium.

Rudy is an author and frequent lecturer on both business and complex consumer bankruptcy issues.