Ethical Rules and Pitfalls: What Every Bankruptcy Professional Needs to Know

Stephen W. Basedow, Esq., is an associate attorney at the Law Firm of Simon Goldenberg, PLLC. He concentrates on matters involving consumer debt litigation, real estate transactions and consumer bankruptcy law. He is a graduate of Chaminade College Preparatory School, the University of Texas at Austin, (B.A.) and Hofstra University School of Law, (J.D.)

He is admitted to practice in New York State and the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Basedow served as an associate at Fox Rothschild, LLP and Lieb at Law, P.C. In addition to his work as an attorney, Mr. Basedow is licensed by the State of New York as a Real Estate Instructor and Broker.

Mike Riela is a partner in Tannenbaum Helpern’s Creditors’ Rights and Business Reorganization practice. With more than 15 years of experience, Mike advises companies on complex restructuring, distressed M&A, loan transactions and bankruptcy related litigation matters. Mike has in-depth experience in advising clients on corporate and real estate bankruptcies, workouts, Chapter 11 and Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases, debtor-in-possession (DIP) and bankruptcy exit loan facilities, secondary market trading of distressed debt and trade claims, Section 363 sales and bankruptcy retention and fee agreements and disputes. His clients include banks, administrative agents, indenture trustees, hedge funds, private equity firms, professional services firms, trade creditors, contract counterparties, shareholders, debtors and investors.

Mike has represented buyers of assets in Section 363 and out-of-court sales from sellers such as Evergreen Solar, Inc., Sonic Telecommunications International, Ltd, Urban Communicators PCS Limited Partnership, US Aggregate, Inc., and Vectrix Corporation, as well as representing lenders, trustees and administrative agents in major Chapter 11 cases and workouts such as Delta Air Lines, Inc., Extended Stay Inc., Buffets Inc., Legends Gaming LLC, Nortel Networks, Premier International Holdings Inc., and many others.

Mike also works with clients on cybersecurity and data privacy issues, including the assessment and investigation of information security and data breach incidents. Before any data breaches occur, Mike prepares and helps clients implement written information security programs, systems access policies, and incident response plans. After clients suffer a breach, Mike assists with their response and advises on their legal duties, including clients’ duties under various security breach notification laws.

Prior to joining Tannenbaum Helpern, Mike was a shareholder at Vedder Price and was a counsel at Latham & Watkins. He has been recently selected to serve on the 2016 Bankruptcy editorial advisory board for the Law360 publication.