Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019

Kesha Tanabe is a bankruptcy attorney with Tanabe Law in Minneapolis and is licensed in North Dakota, Minnesota and New York. She started her career as an assistant attorney general in New York.

Prior to starting her own firm about five years ago, Ms. Tanabe was a partner at ASK LLP, Maslon LLP and Faegre Baker Daniels. She is also a professor of bankruptcy law at the University of St. Thomas Law School, a member of the editorial board of the MSBA’s Bankruptcy Bulletin and a co-founder of the Minnesota Chapter of IWIRC, and she served as a Special Projects Leader for ABI’s Bankruptcy Litigation Committee. She was recently appointed to serve as a subchapter V trustee in Region 12.

Ms. Tanabe is a graduate of the London School of Economics and received her J.D. from Cardozo School of Law.

Anthony’s practice focuses on commercial litigation, bankruptcy and insolvency, business disputes, automotive supply chain issues, loan negotiations and workouts, and transactional matters.

Anthony has represented a diverse group of clients in state, federal, and out-of-court matters, including original equipment manufacturers, sub-tier suppliers, closely-held businesses, shareholders, receivers, bank and financial institutions, private equity companies, guarantors, financially-distressed companies, creditors and debtors in bankruptcy proceedings and adversary proceedings, unsecured creditors' committees, bankruptcy trustees, franchisors, and asset purchasers.

Judicial intern to the Hon. Robert H. Cleland, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, 2007.

Clients often come to Bill in the midst of a potential financial calamity. Whether the call comes from company management or one of the dozens of financial institutions he represents, each of these financial crises comes with its own unique set of problems. Knowing that Bill will create a tailored approach to address those problems provides comfort.

Bill is a trusted restructuring counselor. He helps his clients analyze and resolve their financial issues, representing debtors, lenders, secured creditors, creditors' committees and trustees, among others, in all manners of chapter 11 and chapter 7 cases as well as out-of-court workouts and restructurings. Bill assists financial institutions and cannabis-related businesses on the interaction between state cannabis laws and federal banking and bankruptcy laws.

He also acts as outside bankruptcy counsel to a number of corporations and provides general business counseling in distressed situations, and represents a number of his clients in their FDCPA, FCRA, and similar consumer finance defense claims. Bill strives to find the right customized strategy for each client, knowing that it is the key to a successful resolution. Bill is on the panel of Chapter 7 Trustees for the Northern District of Illinois and in that role is a fiduciary responsible for the preservation, liquidation, and distribution of assets in both consumer and commercial chapter 7 cases.

Michael E. Ridgway is a judge on the United States bankruptcy court, District of Minnesota. He was appointed to the court on May 20, 2013, and his current term will expire on May 19, 2027.

Judge Ridgway has spent seventeen years in private practice, but has also worked in public service. Prior to joining the court, Ridgway was a Trial Attorney with the United States Trustee's Program. He also served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the U.S. Attorney's Office in the District of South Dakota. Judge Ridgway was elected county prosecutor, a position he served in for five years.

Judge Ridgway received his undergraduate degree from Yankton College in 1978 College and his J.D. from the University of Notre Dame Law School in 1981.