Subchapter V and Virtual Court: A Tale of Two Frontiers

Scott A. Underwood is an attorney with Underwood Murray PA in Tampa and has experience in some of the most complex bankruptcy cases and distressed business situations. He has represented distressed businesses, chapter 11 debtors, secured and unsecured creditors, bankruptcy trustees, creditors’ committees, landlords, liquidating trustees and parties acquiring and selling assets from bankruptcy cases.

Mr. Underwood’s debtor-side representative experience crosses many industries. He has represented chapter 11 debtors in the health care industry, hospitality, real estate, utilities, waste-management, technology and manufacturing. In addition to representing debtors, he has represented large secured creditors, asset-purchasers, bondholders, debtor-in-possession lenders, trustees, business owners, creditors’ committees and professional fiduciaries. His representative and transactional bankruptcy experience measures in the billions of dollars. Beyond core chapter 11 matters, Mr. Underwood represents clients in various high-stakes insolvency related litigation matters. He has been involved in substantial director and officer litigation, bond disputes, technology products liability litigation and other commercial disputes. He also brings substantial experience with assignments for the benefit of creditors, having represented assignees, assignors, asset-purchasers and creditors in such proceedings throughout Florida.

Mr. Underwood is a member of, among other organizations, ABI (for which he is a past chair of its Real Estate Committee) and the Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Bar Association, Bankruptcy Bar Association for the Southern District of Florida and Business Law Section of the Florida Bar, where he is an active member of its Bankruptcy/UCC Committee and its study groups. A frequent speaker on bankruptcy topics, he has been listed in Chambers USA since 2012, in Florida Super Lawyers since 2009, as one of the Top 50 Lawyers in Tampa in 2019, and as one of Florida Trend Magazine’s Legal Elite since 2013. He was also selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America (2018, 2019 and 2020 editions) in Bankruptcy & Creditor Debtor Rights and Insolvency & Reorganization Law, and is rated AV-Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell.

Mr. Underwood received his B.A. in 1998 from the University of Florida and his J.D. magna cum laude from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2003.

Charles M. Tatelbaum is an attorney with Tripp Scott in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and chairs its creditors’ rights and bankruptcy practice group. For more than 50 years, he has focused his practice on bankruptcy and creditors’ rights issues, complex business litigation, UCC transactions, lender-liability litigation and other types of secured transactions, as well as domestic and international letters of credit.

Mr. Tatelbaum regularly represents secured and unsecured creditors in transactions and insolvency situations, creditors’ committees, business clients in complex business litigation, and provides defense of lender-liability claims, all types of bankruptcy proceedings and product-liability defenses based on warranties. He also represents secured and unsecured creditors in distressed business transactions and litigation, and he has represented clients in chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy proceedings and chapter 15 foreign bankruptcy proceedings.

Mr. Tatelbaum is well-versed in dealing with all aspects of domestic and international letters of credit, from the transactional stage through litigation. A founding ABI member, he has served on its Board of Directors and as an editor of the ABI Journal, and he served as chairman of the Task Force on Mass Torts and on the advisory board of the ABI Law Review. 1992-1997. For seven years, Mr. Tatelbaum was an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland School of Law, teaching courses in creditors’ rights and the Uniform Commercial Code, and now serves as an Emeritus member on the Board of Visitors of the Francis King Carey School of Law at the University of Maryland. For several years, he was hired by the Federal Judicial Center to provide training to bankruptcy judges throughout the country at their annual educational retreats. He also authored a number of the provisions of the bankruptcy law changes that were signed into law in April 2005.

Mr. Tatelbaum regularly represents Fortune 150 companies and has been featured as a consultant on “60 Minutes” and “Good Morning America,” as well as on NPR’s “All Things Considered” and “Morning Edition.” Additionally, he is a frequent guest on news radio programs throughout the United States speaking on current developments involving bankruptcy and creditors’ rights.

Mr. Tatelbaum received his B.A. in 1963 from the University of Maryland and his J.D. in 1966 from the University of Maryland School of Law, where he was a member of the editorial board of the Maryland Law Review and vice president of the Student Bar Association.

Chad P. Pugatch is a member with Lorium PLLC in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and leads its Bankruptcy, Insolvency and Restructuring practice. He has been practicing since 1976.

Previously, Mr. Pugatch practiced with several Fort Lauderdale firms, including his own private practice, where he focused on commercial litigation, bankruptcy and insolvency law. He has extensive experience in state and federal courts, having represented debtors, trustees, committees and creditors, among many others.

Rated AV-Preeminient by Martindale-Hubbell, Mr. Pugatch is a member of ABI, the American and Broward County Bar Associations, and the Bankruptcy Bar Association of the Southern District of Florida. He received his B.A. in 1973 from the University of Miami and his J.D. in 1976 with honors from the University of Florida Levin College of Law.

Hon. Erik P. Kimball is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of Florida in West Palm Beach, appointed in 2008. Prior to his appointment to the bench, he was a member of the Commercial Law and Bankruptcy Department at Hale and Dorr (now WilmerHale) in the firm’s Boston office, where he specialized in corporate bankruptcy, workouts and debt restructuring, and spent considerable time on pro bono representation of individual debtors.

Judge Kimball left Hale and Dorr to become a vice president at Colonial Management Associates Inc., a Boston-based mutual fund advisor, where he oversaw all fixed-income defaults for the firm’s municipal department. Thereafter, he was a shareholder with the Florida firm Nabors, Giblin & Nickerson, P.A., where his practice focused on representing institutional investors and indenture trustees in connection with defaults of publicly traded debt securities. He later returned to Boston as a vice president in the Investment Department at Columbia Management Advisors, an affiliate of Bank of America, where he supervised all fixedincome defaults and assisted in the management of its Municipal Department. From 2003 until his judicial appointment in 2008, Judge Kimball was a shareholder at Akerman Senterfitt in the firm’s Orlando office, where he represented secured creditors, indenture trustees, institutional investors, corporate debtors and other parties in bankruptcy, receivership and debt-restructuring matters.

Prior to his appointment, Judge Kimball was a member of the Board of Governors and a member of the Executive Committee of the National Federation of Municipal Analysts, an organization of more than 2,000 municipal credit analysts whose primary goal is to provide educational programs for municipal finance professionals. During his long association with the NFMA, he assisted in writing and presenting on numerous topics relevant to municipal finance.

Judge Kimball is a recipient of the Denis Maguire Pro Bono Award of the Boston Bar Association. He received his his B.A. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1987 and his J.D. from Boston College Law School in 1990.

Hon. Jeffery W. Cavender is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Georgia in Atlanta, sworn in on March 2, 2018. Prior to his appointment to the bench, he was a partner in the financial restructuring practice of Troutman Sanders LLP, where he primarily represented corporate debtors and secured lenders in chapter 11 cases and mortgage servicers in consumer-related litigation and bankruptcy matters.

Judge Cavender previously was a partner in the bankruptcy group of McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP (n/k/a Dentons LLP) and served as the general counsel for a national mortgage company. He chaired the Bankruptcy Section for the Atlanta Bar Association from 2017-18 and was a member of its board of directors from 2012-18. During Judge Cavender’s tenure as chair, the Atlanta Bar Bankruptcy Section was named the national CARE chapter of the year and received the Pro Bono Award for Excellence and the Small Section of the Year Award from the Atlanta Bar. He is an active member of ABI, having previously served on the advisory committee for its Southeast Bankruptcy Workshop. He currently serves as the chair of the Membership Services Committee for the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and as an adjunct professor at Mercer University School of Law.

Judge Cavender received his undergraduate degree in history summa cum laude in 1990 from Berry College, and his J.D. cum laude from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1993, where he was a member of the Georgia Law Review and was inducted into the Order of the Coif.

Amy Denton Harris has approximately 18 years of restructuring experience and specializes in the representation of debtors, assignors, committees, creditors, trustees, assignees, purchasers, and other parties in bankruptcy cases, assignments for the benefit of creditors, and out of court workouts. She is also active in the firm’s representation of parties in commercial litigation in state and federal court including litigation involving directors and officers. She has been particularly active in the representation of real estate developers and home builders, medical practices and physicians, agribusinesses, and independent and franchised restaurant chains and other food service companies.

Amy Denton Harris joined Stichter, Riedel, Blain, & Postler P.A. in March of 2003 and became a shareholder in 2010. Mrs. Harris received her J.D. with honors in 2002 from the University of Florida. While in law school, Ms. Harris interned for The Honorable Paul M. Glenn and The Honorable Michael G. Williamson, Bankruptcy Judges, Middle District of Florida.

Ms. Harris has been appointed by the Office of the United States Trustee to serve as a Subchapter V Trustee in small business cases filed under the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019. The legislative purpose of the SBRA is to provide a fast track for small businesses to confirm a consensual plan with the assistance of a private trustee.

Jordi Guso is a partner with Berger Singerman, LLP in Miami in its Business Reorganization practice, where he concentrates his practice in commercial bankruptcy, workouts, financial restructuring and commercial litigation. He represents financially distressed businesses in court-supervised and out-of-court restructurings in a variety of industries, including aviation, hospitality, retail, casual dining and real estate. He also advises official committees, secured creditors and purchasers in the areas of bankruptcy, insolvency and ? 363 asset sales.

Mr. Guso has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America (2006-19), Chambers & Partners USA: America’s Leading Business Lawyers (2004-18), Florida Trend magazine’s “Legal Elite” (2004-18) and “Legal Elite Hall of Fame” (2015-18), as one of the top 1.6 percent of attorneys in Florida, The South Florida Legal Guide’s “Top Lawyer” (2005- 18), Florida’s Super Lawyers (2006-18), Who’s Who Legal, Florida (2008-17) and Who’s Who Legal (2008-17), and he is AV Preeminent-rated by Martindale-Hubbell. He is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and an ABI member, and he has served on the board of the Bankruptcy Bar Association for the Southern District of Florida and on the advisory board of ABI’s Alexander L. Paskay Memorial Bankruptcy Seminar.

Mr. Guso is admitted to practice in Florida, the Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, and the U.S. District and Bankruptcy Courts for the Southern, Middle and Northern Districts of Florida. He clerked for Hon. Sidney M. Weaver, former Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida, from 1990-92.

Mr. Guso received his B.S. in political science from Spring Hill College and his J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law.

Vincent F. Alexander, CFE is a partner in the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., office of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP and a member of its Bankruptcy & Insolvency and Complex Business & Commercial Litigation practices.

Vincent has extensive experience in bankruptcy reorganizations and liquidations, out-of-court restructurings, asset sales, and bankruptcy- and insolvency-related litigation.

Mr. Alexander regularly represents debtors, equity-holders, chapter 7 and liquidating trustees, and unsecured creditors’ committees, as well as other creditors, in bankruptcy proceedings and related litigation. He also has experience successfully representing clients in complex litigation matters, including fraud, trade secret and restrictive covenants, breach of contract, unfair and deceptive trade practices, fiduciary issues, and sports and entertainment.

Before becoming a lawyer, Mr. Alexander was a linebacker in the NFL with the New York Jets and Arizona Cardinals, and was a mortgage banker for a large national lender.

Mr. Alexander received his B.A. in economics and commerce in 2003 from the University of Pennsylvania and his J.D. cum laude in 2009 from the University of Miami School of Law.

Karim is chief strategy and innovation officer of the American Bankruptcy Institute in Alexandria, Va., the nation’s largest association of bankruptcy professionals, comprised of 11,000 members in multidisciplinary roles, including attorneys, bankers, judges, lenders, turnaround specialists and others. Mr. Guirguis provides vision and leadership in transforming and conducting the company’s internal and external IT plans. He joined the ABI staff in 2002 after several positions in website architecture and computer animation, most recently with Disney MGM Studios in Florida.

Mr. Guirguis’s work has earned several awards from his peers, including an Oscar for his work on Finding Nemo, the prestigious Horizon Award for ABI’s video honoring its founders, as well as the Webby Award for his work with Tiffany Inc. and Polo.com. He is a regular presenter on cutting-edge technology issues for professional educators such as the American Society of Association Executives, for which he serves on its technology board.

Mr. Guirguis received his B.S. in electrical engineering from Cambridge University in England, his Master’s in multimedia and animation from George Mason University, and his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Denise D. Dell-Powell is the chair of Dean Mead’s Bankruptcy and Creditors’ Rights Practice Group in Orlando. She has more than 25 years of experience in bankruptcy and creditors’ rights, as well as distressed property, including CMBS foreclosures, workouts and bankruptcy matters. She has represented secured and unsecured creditors, debtors, chapter 11 trustees, chapter 7 trustees and unsecured creditors’ committees. In addition to a focus on banking and financial institutions, her career also includes representation in the hospitality, restaurant, health care and agricultural industries.

In Ms. Dell-Powell’s business litigation practice, she has represented parties in federal and state court and has experience trying both jury and nonjury trials. Her litigation practice involves representing clients in a broad range of matters, including those involving real estate, mortgage foreclosure, receiverships, lender liability, commercial evictions, partnership disputes and other real estate-based litigation.

Ms. Dell-Powell is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and a frequent lecturer, presenter and author on bankruptcy, restructuring and related issues. She has presented at conferences and seminars sponsored by the American Bar Association, ABI, Trigild, The Florida Bar, The Bankruptcy/UCC Section of The Florida Bar, the Florida Bankers Association, the Jacksonville Bankruptcy Bar Association, the Central Florida Bankruptcy Law Association and Lorman Education Series.

Ms. Dell- Powell received her B.S. from Florida State University and her J.D. from Mercer University School of Law.

Hon. Michael G. Williamson is Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Middle District of Florida in Tampa, initially appointed as bankruptcy judge in March 2000 and as chief judge on Oct. 1, 2015. He is also an adjunct professor at Stetson University College of Law, where he teaches bankruptcy law, and he co-authored West’s Bankruptcy Law Manual.

Judge Williamson served as a chapter 7 panel trustee from 1977-79 and represented numerous chapter 11 corporate debtors, creditors’ committees and trustees in bankruptcy cases throughout Florida for 20 years afterward. He is a past chair of the Committee on Creditors’ Rights for the Section of Litigation of the American Bar Association, past chair of the Business Law Section of the Florida Bar and its Bankruptcy/UCC Committee, and a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy.

Judge Williamson received his undergraduate undergraduate degree from Duke University in 1973 and his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1976.