Curtis M. Plaza

Partner

Curtis Plaza has considerable experience representing clients on complex corporate lending issues. He works closely with a number of national banking institutions in the corporate trust, indenture trustee, and asset-backed financing areas, assisting with default administration, contractual and legal interpretation and compliance, risk management, bondholder relations, debt restructuring, committee representation, and bankruptcy/reorganization issues.

Curtis's work for his clients has led to significant roles in a number of large debtor cases, including Budget Rent-a-Car, Collins & Aikman, W.R. Grace, The IT Group, Genesis Health Ventures, Oakwood Homes Corporation, Insilco Technologies, Trump Hotel & Casino Resorts, Kara Homes Corporation and Bayonne Medical Center.

Curtis also represents secured lenders in default situations, including pre-bankruptcy and bankruptcy workouts. His work in this capacity has included, among other things, the representation of a national bank as a secured lender in obtaining stay relief for a multi-million dollar loan and mortgage portfolio, as well as the negotiation and documentation of the related asset sale.

In addition, Curtis has significant experience in defending creditors in preference avoidance cases, recently successfully representing a major national equipment rental corporation in its defense of multi-million dollar preference litigation involving thousands of payment transactions and numerous available defenses.

Curtis received his B.A. cum laude, from the University of Notre Dame and his J.D. from Fordham Law School. While at Fordham, Curtis served as an editor on the Fordham Urban Law Journal and studied legal ethics and social policy as a Stein Scholar at Fordham's Stein Center for Law & Ethics. Curtis is admitted to the bars of New York and New Jersey as well as the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the District of New Jersey.

Prior to coming to Riker, Curtis served as a legal intern for the Honorable John G. Koeltl, United States District Judge, Southern District of New York, and for the Office of the New York State Attorney General. Curtis also previously worked as Coordinator of the Legal Clinic at Bread for the City, a non-profit community clinic serving the Shaw neighborhood of Washington, DC. Curtis continues to provide pro bono legal services as a participating member of the Pro Bono Partnership based in Newark, New Jersey.

Law and Politics magazine has named Curtis a Super Lawyers "Rising Star" since 2006.

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