Streamlined Small Business Reorganizations Under Subchapter V: Concepts and Early Decisions

John C. Smiley is a partner in the Denver office of Sender & Smiley LLC, where he practices in bankruptcy law and commercial litigation. He has assisted clients with all aspects of commercial bankruptcy cases, and has represented debtors, creditors, trustees, committees and parties interested in acquiring assets from bankruptcy estates.

Mr. Smiley has been appointed by the U.S. Department of Justice as a chapter 7 panel trustee for the 19th District of Colorado and also by bankruptcy judges as a chapter 11 trustee and examiner, and he has represented receivers in state court proceedings. In addition, he has served as lead litigation counsel in bankruptcy court, federal district court and state courts on a number of complex bankruptcy and related commercial litigation matters, including all phases of bankruptcy litigation and related commercial litigation.

A certified mediator, Mr. Smiley is a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy, has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America from 2012-19 and was named a “Colorado Super Lawyer” by 5280 Magazine from 2006-19.

Mr. Smiley received his B.S. from Colorado State University in 1983 and his J.D. from the University of Wyoming College of Law in 1986.

Jonathan Dickey is a senior associate at the Buechler Law Office, LLC in Denver. He specializes in representing debtors, creditors and trustees across all Bankruptcy Code chapters, and has experience representing debtors and creditors in state court litigation.

Prior to joining the Buechler Law Office in 2014, Mr. Dickey practiced bankruptcy law in Indianapolis from 2009-2014. He is active in the Colorado Bar Association, and was a speaker at the Colorado Bar Association Bankruptcy Case Law Update in April 2016. He also participated in the 2016 Judges’ Roundtable at ABI’s Rocky Mountain Bankruptcy Conference.

Prior to moving to Colorado in 2014, Mr. Dickey practiced bankruptcy law in Indianapolis. While there, he was a frequent speaker on bankruptcy issues for the National Business Institute.

Mr. Dickey received his B.S. in finance as a Chancellor’s Scholar in 2005 from the University of Illinois, and his J.D. in 2008 from the University of Illinois College of Law, where he was a notes editor for the Journal of Law, Technology and Policy.

Joseph G. Rosania, Jr., is a judge on the United States bankruptcy court, District of Colorado. He was appointed on January 4, 2016. Rosania clerked for U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Jay Gueck before going into private practice.

Judge Rosania earned his law degree from the University of Colorado.

Mr. Rothschild focuses his practice on turning distressed situations into distressed opportunities. Mr. Rothschild helps clients navigate complex commercial litigation – often in United States Bankruptcy Courts – to achieve their goals.

Mr. Rothschild assists clients in chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, FDIC, SEC, and state law receiverships, assignments for the benefit of creditors, out-of-court restructurings, and distressed asset sales, mergers, and acquisitions. His experience includes bankruptcy appellate matters, including matters before the United States Supreme Court, and the liquidation/reorganization of national financial institutions, bank holding companies, gas, mining, and natural resource properties, manufacturers, tech companies, real-estate holding companies, agricultural concerns, and entertainment companies.

Mr. Rothschild also has a vibrant complex commercial litigation and transactional practice.

Mr. Rothschild is also committed to providing pro bono representation for deserving individuals and causes. He has provided service in cases involving prisoner civil rights under the United States Constitution, adoption, public benefits issues, veterans’ benefits, and bankruptcy nondischargeability and unlawful evictions in violation of the automatic stay for individual debtors in chapter 7. He serves as the attorney supervisor for the Debtors’ Clinic run by the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah’s Pro Bono Initiative.

Mr. Rothschild teaches chapter 11 business reorganization at the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah where he serves as an adjunct faculty lecturer.

Prior to joining Parsons Behle & Latimer, Mr. Rothschild was an attorney with Peitzman Weg LLP and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP.

After earning his J.D. from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, Mr. Rothschild served as law clerk to Chief Justice Matthew B. Durrant of the Supreme Court of Utah.

While pursuing his law degree, he served as judicial extern to the Honorable Richard L. Speer of the Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Ohio and to the Honorable Richard M. Neiter of the Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California.

Mr. Rothschild is also a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) and the Turnaround Management Association (TMA) and is the current president of the Salt Lake Chapter of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society.

Mr. Rothschild formerly managed and represented amateur and professional boxers and was licensed by the California Athletic Commission.