Top Bankruptcy Lawyers in US and Canada

May 12, 2010
Daniel Workman

Bankruptcy Attorneys Latham and Watkins, New York - alancleaver_2000 (Flickr)

Find out which bankruptcy lawyers are most respected by their peers for their proven expertise in insolvency and restructuring cases.

Insolvency means that a person or company cannot pay off their debts on their payment due dates. This could be due to a short-term lack of funds.

On the other hand, bankruptcy refers to when a court of law rules that person or company is legally unable to pay their creditors. Often, the bankrupt party has liabilities that far exceed their assets.

This can be the case where individuals have outstanding mortgage loans greater than their homes’ current market values. Another example is a property insurance company hit with an extraordinary number of liability claims worth more than the insurer’s total assets.

What a Bankruptcy Attorney Does

Often bankruptcy attorneys advertise themselves as insolvency and restructuring specialists. Insolvency and restructuring lawyers advise debt-burdened parties about options to re-organize and perhaps rehabilitate their respective financial situations.

And while they are experts in bankruptcy law, bankruptcy attorneys can structure legal solutions to insolvency without having to declare bankruptcy in court.

Partly due to the credit crisis, insolvency cases often pertain to clients that file for involuntary bankruptcy. Not surprisingly, these parties search specifically for bankruptcy lawyers who can guide them through the legal process for formal bankruptcy proceedings.

Finding a Reputable Insolvency Lawyer

Online Expert Guides is a website that ranks bankruptcy lawyers in 37 countries.

Nomination questionnaires, legal expert interviews and senior-level consultations are used to decide which bankruptcy lawyers merit inclusion on the Export Guides’ Best of the Best 2010 list of top insolvency and restructuring lawyers.

Presented below are the most respected bankruptcy lawyers in the U.S. and Canada.

Top Bankruptcy Lawyers in U.S.

All of the following award winners are American corporate lawyers who specialize in bankruptcy law.

Brad Eric Scheler (from Fried Frank Harris Shriver and Jacobson law firm in New York)
Donald S. Bernstein (Davis Polk and Wardwell, New York)
Harold S. Novikoff (Wachtell Lipton Rosen and Katz, New York)
Harvey R. Miller (Weil Gotshal and Manges, New York)
John (Jack) Wm. Butler Jr. (Skadden Arps Slate Meagher and Flom, Chicago)
Martin J. Bienenstock (Dewey and LeBoeuf, New York).

Five of the award-winning U.S. bankruptcy lawyers work out of New York City, America’s financial business hub.

Top Bankruptcy Lawyers in Canada

Below are Online Expert Guides’ picks for top bankruptcy attorneys operating in Canada.

Andrew J.F. Kent (from McMillan law firm in Toronto)
Derrick C. Tay (Ogilvy Renault, Toronto)
Jay A. Carfagnini (Goodmans, Toronto)
Max Mendelsohn (McMillan, Montreal)
Robert I. Thornton (Thornton Grout Finnigan, Toronto)
S. Richard Orzy (Bennett Jones, Toronto).

Toronto is the financial center of Canada, which explains why many of the bankruptcy attorneys work there. Canada has 2 official languages, English and French. The McMillan legal practice is strategically located in Montreal and can service French-speaking clients.

Larger Bankruptcy Legal Firms in U.S.

For individuals or companies looking for bankruptcy attorneys working for bigger corporate firms, the following identifies American legal practices with at least 6 insolvency lawyers listed on the Expert Guides website.

Kirkland and Ellis
Latham and Watkins
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher and Flom
Vinson and Elkins
Weil Gotshal and Manges
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr

Expert Guides identifies 105 other American bankruptcy law firms on its portal.

Larger Insolvency Law Firms in Canada

Canada also has multi-practitioner law firms that specialize in insolvency and bankruptcy legalities. Below are Canadian bankruptcy firms with at least 3 practicing lawyers.