Attorney Profile

Practice Areas: Bankruptcy & Reorganization; Distressed Assets Group; Energy; Litigation; Loan Workout
Areas of Emphasis: Bankruptcy Litigation; Corporate Reorganization
Bar Admissions: New Jersey; U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey; Third Circuit Court of Appeals
Education: Suffolk University Law School, J.D., cum laude, 1991; Rutgers University, B.S. in Accounting, 1988
Professional Activities: Member, NJ Supreme Court District V-C Ethics Committee (western Essex County).; Member, Debtor/Creditor Section, New Jersey Bar Association; Member, New Jersey Turnaround Management Association

Joseph L. Schwartz

Partner

When creditors are looking for experienced representation in bankruptcy matters, Joseph L. Schwartz is the lawyer many rely on for effective legal counsel. Joe occasionally represents debtors, but the bulk of his bankruptcy work is for secured and unsecured creditors, creditor committees, bankruptcy trustees, insurance companies, litigation trustees and indenture trustees.

He performs ongoing bankruptcy work for The Bank of New York, North Fork Bank, Gladston-Peapack Bank, JP Morgan Chase, Wachovia Bank, U.S. Bank, Solix Inc., Playtex Products, Lexent Inc. and numerous other companies. He has also represented and continues to represent a number of insurance companies in various asbestos-related bankruptcy cases. He also had the primary responsibility in representing creditors in the billion-dollar FPA Medical Management bankruptcy. In that case, Joe prosecuted approximately 150 lawsuits over several years. In addition, Joe represented the primary secured creditor in the Kiwi Airlines bankruptcy case.

Joe occasionally speaks on a variety of bankruptcy-related topics. He is a member of the Turnaround Management Association, American Sigma Phi Alpha and is a recipient of the American Jurisprudence Award for bankruptcy, administrative law and evidence. Law & Politics magazine has named Joe one of New Jersey's "Super Lawyers" for bankruptcy law. Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business Guide named him as one of the leading bankruptcy lawyers in the state, noting that clients say he "inspires confidence" by being "fantastically well prepared, highly determined and completely at ease on his feet in court."

Joe is the author of various published articles, including "Secured Creditors and Lienors," Tilton, ed., Bankruptcy Business Acquisitions (American Bankruptcy Institute 2007); "The Admissibility of Statistical Probabilities in DNA Testing for Suspect Identification in Criminal Proceedings," 24 Suffolk U. L. Rev. 868 (1991) and "The Dischargeability of Restitution Obligations Under Chapter 13," 25 Suffolk U.L. Rev. 178 (1991). The last two of these articles can be found at www.heinonline.org.