Mark A. Berkoff

Mark A. Berkoff is chair of Neal Gerber Eisenberg’s Financial Restructuring & Bankruptcy practice group. He regularly represents debtors and creditors’ committees in complex commercial Chapter 11 cases in diverse industries (such as media, steel, bank holding companies, automotive, office products, promotional products, retail, metal fabricating, single asset real estate cases, consumer lending, food service and medical). He has handled all aspects of the Chapter 11 proceeding from pre-bankruptcy planning through plan confirmation and post-confirmation matters.

Mark is experienced in business reorganizations/restructurings, out-of-court compositions, workouts and liquidations (including liquidations pursuant to Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code). He also represents secured creditors in Chapter 11 proceedings, buyers of assets in and outside of Bankruptcy Court; insurance companies in collecting unpaid pre-petition and post-petition workers’ compensation premiums as administrative and/or priority claims; and landlords, directors and officers and trustees. He also has prosecuted and defended involuntary petitions in bankruptcy, represented assignees, handled assignments for the benefit of creditors and prosecuted and defended thousands of preference cases. Mark has also successfully argued a case in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Mark is recognized in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business (as high as Band 2) as one of the country’s leading bankruptcy and insolvency lawyers. Clients call him “simply a great lawyer,” with an “impressive understanding of how to best get a deal done.” Clients have also said, “[h]e is a very bright individual. He’s tenacious, has good instincts and handles himself well. He’s terrific. He’s always done a fantastic job. He’s a very nice person and very respectful.” He has been designated an Illinois Super Lawyer for the past 10 years, a recognition reserved for the top 5% of Illinois practitioners. He has been rated AV Preeminent (the highest rating given) by Martindale-Hubbell since 1997. He is also listed in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in American Law. Mark was also selected as one of the world’s leading insolvency and restructuring attorneys in the 2014 Banking Finance and Transactional Expert Guide.

Mark was named a Turnaround Management Association (TMA) 2013 Small Company Turnaround of the Year Award recipient. The award recognizes individuals who have “orchestrated the most successful turnaround” in a company with revenue of up to $50 million. Mark was also named a 2010 Mid-Size Transaction of the Year Award recipient. The award honors and recognizes professionals who led transactions that, according to the TMA, “rescued companies from the shadow of complete ruin.”

Mark is a member of the Trial Bar of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the American Bankruptcy Institute and the Turnaround Management Association. He served as the co-chairman of the Turnaround Management Association’s Education Committee (2001-2003), served as the co-chairman of the Turnaround Management Association’s Special Events Committee (2005) and as co-chairman of the Turnaround Management Association’s Entertainment Committee (2009). He also served for many years as co-chairman of the Corporate Donations Committee for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Northern Illinois as well as general counsel to the Business Products Credit Association, Inc.

Mark graduated from the “DLA Piper Harvard Leadership Program” at Harvard Business School in 2007.