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For more than 15 years, Mr. Gutfleish has aggressively represented debtors, creditors, creditors' committees, and bankruptcy trustees in all aspects of bankruptcy proceedings. Mr. Gutfleish began his career in the bankruptcy field in Manhattan and later joined a New Jersey-based bankruptcy firm. He has worked on complex bankruptcy cases throughout his career, including Bradlees, Inc., Teligent, Inc. and The Bennett Funding Group Inc., and on complex commercial litigation arising in bankruptcy cases.
Mr. Gutfleish represented the official committee of unsecured creditors appointed in The Bennett Funding Group, Inc. case, one of the largest pyramid schemes in U.S. history. Creditors throughout the country filed claims in excess of $700 million and received average distributions of 50%, an impressive result.
Mr. Gutfleish represented the trustee in the chapter 11 case filed by C&I Promotions, Inc., in which the business was preserved and sold as a going concern, conflicting claims to the debtor's assets were consensually resolved, hundreds of local jobs were preserved, employees were paid their outstanding wages, and unsecured creditors received a sizable distribution.
Since joining Forman Holt Eliades & Ravin in 2004, Mr. Gutfleish has represented various chapter 11 and chapter 7 trustees. In that capacity, he has investigated several significant real estate, mortgage, health, welfare and insurance frauds committed by the debtors and their principals, and has pursued the alleged wrongdoers on behalf of creditors. He also has assisted several financially distressed businesses in bankruptcy proceedings and non-bankruptcy work-outs.
Mr. Gutfleish has served as a panelist for seminars sponsored by the Bergen County Bar Association, the Institute of Continuing Legal Education, and the New Jersey State Bar Association, including those addressing the basics of chapter 11 bankruptcy practice, the pit-falls of bankruptcy for non-bankruptcy practitioners, state law liquidation alternatives, the interplay and tensions between matrimonial and bankruptcy proceedings, and corporate governance in chapter 11 reorganization cases.
Education
Colgate University (B.A., cum laude, 1985)
Boston University School of Law (J.D., cum laude, 1988)
Boston University Law Review, Member (1986-87), Associate Editor (1987-88)
Admissions
State of New Jersey
State of New York
United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
United States District Court for the Northern District of New York
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Memberships
Bankruptcy Law Section -- New Jersey State Bar Association
Creditor/Debtor Relations Committee -- Bergen County Bar Association.
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