PATRICK A. FRAIOLI Jr.
, 45
FIRM: Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP
LAW SCHOOL: University of Chicago Law School
CLIENTS: Carsdirect.com, IPG, Snowboarder Circe Wallace, Internet Brands, Circuit City, Manulife Financial, Autodata, Credit Suisse, Applied Cos.
YEARS IN PRACTICE: 21
Reason I’m a Lawyer: Because I could not hit an 85 mile-per-hour curveball.
Most Challenging Case: Serving first as temporary receiver and now as court-appointed monitor in the Mattel v. MGA case. That means overseeing the manufacturing, shipping, marketing and sale of a worldwide brand by one company for the benefit of its competitor is an intellectual challenge, to say the least. Directing the orderly transition of the brand from one to the other, including a worldwide product recall, is a logistical and execution challenge. Hearing disputes and providing recommendations to the court has given me a new perspective on issues such as due process.
Best Career Moment: There was a day, years ago, when I was on a litigation team that literally won a lawsuit for widows and orphans.
Worst: Having to litigate several cases to the brink of trial during my dad’s terminal illness.
If I Weren’t an Attorney: I would be general manager of the New York Giants.
Bucket List: Writing my family’s history, seeing my grandchildren graduate high school, starting a charity to keep teenagers from smoking, playing some part in replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy sources.
My Colleagues Don’t Know: I am a good cook, I started a blog recently called Duck Soup, I like scented candles, I was a member of the New York Stock Exchange, and as an only child I used to play chess against myself and cheat.
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BEN H. LOGAN
, 58
FIRM: O’Melveny & Myers LLP
LAW SCHOOL: Stanford
CLIENTS: Lennar Corp., Official Creditors’ Committee of Philadelphia Newspapers, New Century Financial Corp., Och Ziff Capital Management, Beach Point Capital Management, numerous other financial institutions
YEARS IN PRACTICE: 33
Reason I’m a Lawyer: My dad was a lawyer. In high school and college I was very active in debate, and debaters often think of becoming lawyers. When I got to law school, I truly enjoyed the camaraderie and intellectual challenge.
Most Challenging Case: We represented New Century as debtor in possession in its chapter 11 case filed in June 2007. New Century was one of the largest subprime mortgage originators in the country, and in early 2007 it announced that it needed to restate its financials. We parachuted in to try to preserve as much value as possible, which was quite a challenge since this multi-billion-dollar financial enterprise was starting to unravel rapidly. At the time, we did not realize that we were the first wave of what became a collapse of this entire industry.
Best Career Moment: Developing a means of resolving billions of dollars of claims in the New Century case in a very efficient, streamlined manner. The protocol has been copied in most of the subsequent subprime mortgage cases. I wish I had patented it.
If I Weren’t an Attorney: I’d be a magician (one of my hobbies).
Bucket List: Seeing a ball game at every Major League Baseball stadium.
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OTHER TOP BANKRUPTCY ATTORNEYS
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Robbin Itkin
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Ken Klee
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Robert Klyman
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Richard Wynne
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