Duane Morris LLP partner Lawrence J. Kotler will be inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy on March 10, 2017 in Washington, D.C. The ceremony will take place at the Smithsonian Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, and will be presided over by G. Christopher Meyer, Chair of the College. There are 30 nominees being honored and recognized for their professional excellence and exceptional contributions to the fields of bankruptcy and insolvency. The nominees reside in 19 states (including the District of Columbia) and three foreign countries. Paul Moore of Duane Morris in Boston is also being honored.

The American College of Bankruptcy is an honorary professional and educational association of bankruptcy and insolvency professionals. The College plays an important role in sustaining professional excellence and supports educational and pro bono efforts in local communities around the country. College Fellows include commercial and consumer bankruptcy attorneys, judges, insolvency accountants, turnaround and workout specialists, law professors, government officials and others involved in the bankruptcy and insolvency community.

Nominees undergo a rigorous nomination process and are extended an invitation to join based on a record of achievement reflecting the highest standards of professionalism. The College now has 899 Fellows, each selected by a Board of Regents from among recommendations of the Circuit Admissions Council in each federal judicial circuit and specially appointed Committees for Judicial and International Fellows. Criteria for selection include the highest standard of professionalism, ethics, character, integrity, professional expertise and leadership in contributing to the enhancement of bankruptcy and insolvency law and practice; sustained evidence of scholarship, teaching, lecturing or writing on bankruptcy or insolvency; and commitment to elevate knowledge and understanding of the profession and public respect for the practice. 

“We are extremely pleased that Larry has been selected to receive this honor. It is very well-deserved,” said John J. Soroko, Chairman and CEO of Duane Morris. The Duane Morris alumni previously elected to the American College of Bankruptcy include the late David Sykes, (a charter Fellow and past president of the American College of Bankruptcy); Judge Midge Rendell, now of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit; and the late Margery Reed.

Kotler represents chapter 11 debtors-in-possession, chapter 11 trustees, chapter 7 trustees, liquidating trustees, creditors’ committees, secured creditors and large institutional unsecured creditors in all facets of bankruptcy. He is currently serving as counsel for the unsecured creditor agent in the In re Orleans Homebuilders’, Inc. bankruptcy case pending in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, counsel for Ricoh USA, Inc. in the bankruptcy case of ITT Educational Services, Inc., pending in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana; and as trustee’s counsel in the bankruptcy cases of Ira Pressman, PJI Distribution Corp., Image Masters, Inc., et al., Bayard Sales Corp., Fabulous Fitness, Inc., Ivan Jeffery and Boyertown Auto Body Inc.—all pending in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Kotler is also representing the senior secured creditor in the bankruptcy cases of Philadelphia Entertainment Development Partners and Empire Schuylkill LP. He is also representing one of the largest unsecured creditors in the bankruptcy case of Collavino Construction Company, Inc. et al., pending in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. 

Certified as a business bankruptcy specialist by the American Board of Certification and a frequent speaker and author on bankruptcy and creditors’ rights issues, Kotler is a member and past chairman of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Bankruptcy Conference, as well as a member of the American Bankruptcy Law Institute and the Delaware Inn of Courts. He is currently the president of the Consumer Bankruptcy Assistance Project, an organization founded by David Sykes, and a member of the executive steering committee of this organization. Since 2006, Kotler has been listed in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Business Lawyers. Since 2009, he has also been listed in The Best Lawyers in America.

Kotler is a 1989 graduate of the Boston University School of Law and a 1986 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with honors.

About the Duane Morris Business Reorganization and Financial Restructuring Practice Group

Business publication The Deal ranks Duane Morris among the most active bankruptcy practices in the U.S. The firm’s Business Reorganization and Financial Restructuring group has earned a reputation for thoroughly understanding the rights and obligations of the various constituencies involved with a financially distressed company, developing a plan of action designed to achieve the client’s goals and executing the plan under what are often very difficult and rapidly changing circumstances. They also provide counsel to clients on all aspects of managing the needs of financially distressed or transitioning companies.  

 About Duane Morris

Duane Morris LLP provides innovative solutions to today’s multifaceted legal and business challenges through the collegial and collaborative culture of its more than 750 attorneys in offices across the United States and internationally. The firm represents a broad array of clients, spanning all major practices and industries.