SAN FRANCISCO — Baltimore-based Whiteford, Taylor & Preston is taking over as counsel to Howrey’s unsecured creditors committee from Sacramento’s Felderstein Fitzgerald Willoughby & Pascuzzi.

San Francisco U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali gave the green light to the Whiteford firm, including Falls Church, Va., partner Bradford Englander, to step in for Thomas Willoughby, a court order signed Thursday shows.