The ABC's (and DEF's) of Assignments for the Benefit of Creditors

For more than 20 years, Catherine has focused her practice on debtor and creditor rights and the representation of Chapter 11 and Chapter 7 trustees in insolvency and bankruptcy matters. In 1999, the U.S. Department of Justice appointed her to the private panel of bankruptcy trustees, and she has served as a Chapter 11 and Chapter 7 trustee in more than 10,000 cases.

Catherine has represented lenders in and out of Bankruptcy Court in contested matters, commercial and residential foreclosure actions and in document reviews.

Catherine also has experience in civil and commercial litigation disputes as well as land use matters and has represented corporations, partnerships and individuals, trying numerous jury and non-jury cases to completion.

Prior to joining the firm, Catherine was a partner at Forman Holt Eliades & Youngman LLC. She was also previously a partner at a boutique law firm for more than 15 years.

In her capacity as trustee, Catherine has overseen the liquidation of publicly traded companies and privately held companies in a variety of industries

Tobias Keller counsels clients in a variety of industries dealing with financial distress, advising on dislocations arising from excessive leverage, uncontrolled litigation, or unanticipated employee or vendor problems, and the governance questions that arise in connection with those challenges.

Mr. Keller regularly lectures for organizations on governance, distressed mergers and acquisitions, and various restructuring topics. He is a fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy and has been recognized as a leading lawyer in publications including Chambers USA.

Mr. Hartheimer has over twenty years of experience as a management consultant. His focus is financial restructuring of distressed corporations and divestitures of their underlying assets. He has worked as a principal for private equity firms. Mr. Hartheimer has been retained by law firms, accounting firms, commercial banks and financial advisors. A sample of his client engagements include capital restructuring, corporate reorganizations, equity and creditors’ committee retention, buy and sell side advisory and asset disposition. He has also been a consultant for a Health Care Patient Ombudsman and fiduciary advisor for trusts and estates.

Mr. Hartheimer focuses on middle market distressed transactions and has extensive experience working within the insolvency process. He also served in a senior management role as Business Development Officer for a private equity and merchant-banking fund and participated in over 50 transactions. His knowledge base includes valuation, asset recovery, corporate turnarounds and asset management. Mr. Hartheimer is skilled at negotiations of complex sales agreements and has implemented plans of reorganization and his experiences range from such industries as energy, healthcare, commercial and general aviation, automotive, rail, materials handling, general manufacturing, pulp & paper, agribusiness and retail and distribution.

Most recently, Mr. Hartheimer has developed a municipal and public utility practice with a concentration in energy and infrastructure.

In addition to his professional credits, Mr. Hartheimer is a dedicated member of several professional organizations. He is active in The American Bankruptcy Institute, The Turnaround Management Association, and WorkOUT Professionals, where he is a charter board member.

Mr. Hartheimer is a graduate of the State University of New York at New Paltz.

As chair of Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones’s postconfirmation practice group, Mr. Caine oversees the entire spectrum of claims and avoidance litigation for debtors, creditors committees, trustees, liquidation or post-confirmation trusts, and defendants, from “mega cases” to smaller, individual matters. While many lawyers handle this type of work few, if any, can produce outstanding recoveries for all parties by calling upon the same case experience and litigation background, or utilize the proprietary avoidance and preference claim analysis software that Mr. Caine has helped to develop. He also spends considerable time as “general counsel,” assisting liquidating trustees in the administration of postconfirmation estates/corporate winddowns, and representing individuals and business entities in avoidance and claims litigation defense. He brings an experienced, responsive approach to all such disputes that might result in litigation, and lectures nationally on such topics.

In addition, Mr. Caine has lead responsibility in litigation concerning a variety of business, bankruptcy, and commercial law issues, as well as the representation of debtors, trustees, creditors, and committees in chapter 11 reorganization cases. He handles matters in state and federal courts, with an emphasis on disputes tried in bankruptcy court, including contested reorganization matters.

Mr. Caine has written numerous articles and often lectures nationally on bankruptcy and litigation, and is a past president and former chair and vice president of education of the American Bankruptcy Institute, the world's largest organization of insolvency professionals, with over 12,000 members. He is a member of the Registry of Mediators for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, and a former member of the Los Angeles Superior Court panel of business law arbitrators. He holds an AV Preeminent Peer Rating, Martindale-Hubbell's highest rating for ethical standards and legal ability, and has been named a "Super Lawyer" in the field of Bankruptcy & Creditor/Debtor Rights every year since 2007 in a peer survey conducted by Law & Politics and the publishers of Los Angeles magazine, an honor bestowed on only 5% of Southern California attorneys. He has been named to Best Lawyers in America in the 2016-2019 editions for the practice area of Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law.

Mr. Caine is a graduate of Northwestern University and received his J.D. from UCLA. Mr. Caine is admitted to practice in California and is a resident in our Los Angeles office.

Robbin L. Itkin is a partner with Sklar Kirsh, LLP in Los Angeles, and is also a mediator, trustee and advisor. Among her high-profile clients are entertainers, producers, directors, writers and athletes, company CEOs and board members, as well as private and public companies in the entertainment, sports, real estate, hospitality, manufacturing, energy, retail, transportation and other industries.

Ms. Itkin has successfully restructured billions of dollars of debt in out-of-court restructurings and in chapter 11 bankruptcy cases. She frequently speaks at educational conferences regarding commercial, bankruptcy and other matters including women’s issues, and has provided legal commentary for television and radio shows. She appeared on NBC’s Los Angeles affiliate, where she discussed her representation of season ticket-holders in the Los Angeles Dodgers bankruptcy case. She has also offered commentary on other television news outlets, including “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams,” the “Today Show,” where she spoke on women in the workplace, and C-SPAN, where she interviewed U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. The Century City Bar Association named

Ms. Itkin “Bankruptcy Lawyer of the Year” for 2013, and she has been named among the Top 100 Southern California Super Lawyers as well as among the Top 50 Women Southern California Super Lawyers. She also is listed as a “Top 100” in Who’s Who in LA Law and is recognized in The Best Lawyers in America.

Ms. Itkin currently serves as a Board Member Emeritus for the City of Hope National Medical Center and Beckman Cancer Research Institute, as a board member for the Los Angeles Women’s Leadership Council, and as a board member for the Los Angeles Chapter of Credit Abuse Resistance Education (CARE). She received her B.A. in 1981 from the University of California, Los Angeles and her J.D. in 1984 from the University of Southern California.