Best Lawyers in California, United States for Litigation - Bankruptcy
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Van Durrer leads Skadden, Arps’ corporate restructuring practice in the western United States and advises clients in restructuring matters around the Pacific Rim. He regularly represents public and private companies, major secured creditors, official and unofficial committees of unsecured creditors, investors and asset-purchasers in troubled company M&A, financings and restructuring transactions, including out-of-court workouts and formal insolvency proceedings. Mr. Durrer’s r...
Maggie Schroedter is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Commercial Litigation and Litigation - Bankruptcy. Maggie, who practices law in San Diego, California, has been recognized since 2022. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Maggie is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
William Smelko is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law and Litigation - Bankruptcy. William, who practices law in San Diego, California, has been recognized since 2025. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which William is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Caroline Djang is a member of Buchalter’s Insolvency and Financial Law practice group in the Firm’s Orange County office. Ms. Djang practices in the areas of insolvency, bankruptcy, and litigation. She has vast experience representing various creditors, trustees, debtors, and committees in bankruptcy cases and adversary proceedings. Ms. Djang is a Chapter 11 Subchapter V Trustee for the Central District of California. She counsels her clients on the best strategies for pursuing an...
Mr. Goldich’s legal practice primarily encompasses representation of debtors, creditors’ committees, trustees, and other parties in chapter 11 bankruptcy cases. He also regularly consults on conflicts and ethics issues in the firm’s chapter 11 cases and is a former chair of the LACBA Ethics Committee, on which he served for over fifteen years. In addition to playing a lead role as debtor's counsel in many successful chapter 11 reorganizations and going-concern sales, Mr. Gol...
Howard J. Steinberg is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law and Litigation - Bankruptcy. Howard J., who practices law in Los Angeles, California, has been recognized since 2020. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Howard J. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Mr. Pomerantz has substantial experience representing debtors, unsecured creditors, secured creditors, trustees, and creditors' committees in chapter 11 reorganization cases, chapter 7 cases, and in related litigation in both state and federal court. Mr. Pomerantz also has an active creditors' committee practice, having represented the creditors' committees in Glazed Investments (Krispy Kreme), Commissary Operations, Tom's Foods, Empire Beef and Souper Salad. Mr. Pomerantz's practice is gener...
Mr. Hochman is experienced in both litigation and bankruptcy practice. He handles business litigation and appeals in federal and state courts, and has represented committees, debtors, trustees, and creditors in bankruptcy cases. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and received his law degree from the UCLA School of Law, where he was editor in chief of the UCLA Pacific Basin Law Journal. He served as a federal law clerk to the Honorable William J. Rea and as a judicial extern to the...
Alan Kornfeld is a senior litigation partner. His practice focuses principally on complex litigation matters in bankruptcy courts. Mr. Kornfeld has tried a diverse set of matters, including contested confirmations, DIP financing and cash collateral motions, sale motions, rejection motions, and incentive plan motions. Mr. Kornfeld has also handled a wide variety of commercial disputes in state and federal courts and has tried adversary actions and claim objections in bankruptcy courts. He was ...
Mr. Litvak specializes in bankruptcy and restructuring matters. He has represented debtors, trustees, creditors, and creditors' committees in numerous bankruptcy cases and out-of-court restructurings. He has authored a number of papers on insolvency issues and has lectured at various seminars and bar association meetings. Mr. Litvak is a graduate of UC Berkeley and received his J.D. from Duke University. Every year since 2014, he has been named a "Northern California Super Lawyer" in a peer s...
Brian L. Davidoff is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law and Litigation - Bankruptcy. Brian L., who practices law in Los Angeles, California, has been recognized since 2017. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Brian L. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Frank Merola is a partner in Stroock’s Financial Restructuring Group and has more than 25 years of experience in business reorganization and bankruptcy. Mr. Merola has advised debtors, creditors, acquirers and equity holders in both Chapter 11 and out-of-court restructurings across a range of industries. He also focuses his practice on the representation of ad hoc and official creditor committees and equity holders. Prior clients include Sirius Satellite Radio, Harbinger Capital Partner...
Ms. Brandt specializes in business and commercial litigation, including bankruptcy litigation. She has extensive experience in electronic discovery for large corporate entities. Ms. Brandt is a graduate of UCLA and earned her J.D. at USC. She was listed in the 2018 and 2019 editions of Best Lawyers in America for her work in the area of bankruptcy litigation. Ms. Brandt is admitted to practice in California.
Mr. Fiero serves as a co-chair of the firm's Committee Practice Group and maintains a national practice representing debtors, committees, acquirers, and other significant parties in interest in complex reorganizations and financially distressed situations, both in and out of court. Mr. Fiero is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and received his J.D. from Hastings College of the Law, where he was associate note editor for the Hastings Journal of Communications and Entert...
Steven J. Katzman’s unique and accomplished background includes over three decades of experience in both government service and private practice. A former United States Trustee for five federal judicial districts and federal prosecutor, Steven offers unparalleled trial, bankruptcy and complex litigation experience, specializing in complex insolvency, federal and commercial litigation. During 2003-2008, Steven was appointed as the U.S. Trustee for the Central and Southern Districts of Ca...
As chair of Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones’s post confirmation practice group, Mr. Caine oversees the entire spectrum of claims and avoidance litigation for debtors, creditors committees, trustees, liquidation or post-confirmation trusts, and defendants, from “mega cases” to smaller, individual matters. While many lawyers handle this type of work few, if any, can produce outstanding recoveries for all parties by calling upon the same case experience and litigation backgro...
Our Methodology
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Our methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The Process
Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer review survey is directly related to the quality of the voters.