About
Attorneys
PRACTICE AREAS
Creditors' Rights, Insolvency & Bankruptcy
Litigation & Dispute Resolution
AT WORK
Kurt M. Carlson, Chair of the firm's Creditors' Rights, Insolvency & Bankruptcy group and a leader of the Financial Crisis Response Team, concentrates his practice on representing creditors, assignees and financially distressed businesses of all sizes in complex business litigation, workouts, insolvency proceedings, bankruptcy reorganization cases and bankruptcy liquidations.
Kurt has extensive experience in a broad range of financial distress issues and bankruptcy-related matters, including contract disputes, receiverships, assignments for the benefit of creditors, commercial real estate foreclosures, Uniform Commercial Code sales, lender liability and commercial contract claims, fraudulent conveyance, nondischargeability claims and preference actions. An accomplished litigator, Kurt works with clients to develop and deliver practical solutions to business problems through the implementation of effective legal strategies.
Over nearly 20 years of practice, Kurt has been lead counsel in countless contested evidentiary hearings and trials before state, federal and bankruptcy courts in Illinois and nationally. He has also represented creditors in a number of high-profile bankruptcy cases involving Kmart, Conseco, UAL, National Steel, Clark Retail, MarchFirst, Doctors Hospital, OMC, Resources Technology Group, Florsheim, Ha-Lo, Birmingham Steel, Neumann Homes, Wickes, Hedstrom, Select Snacks (Jays) and Rockford Products, as well as more than 100 cases filed in the U.S. bankruptcy courts in Illinois.
IN THE PROFESSION
Kurt served on the Bankruptcy Court Liaison Committee of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois, which strives to facilitate information exchange and improve relations between bankruptcy practitioners and judges.
A frequent speaker on bankruptcy, insolvency and creditors' rights, Kurt has written articles for numerous publications, as well as litigation and bankruptcy policy manuals for clients.
Kurt is a member of the Federal Bar Association, the Michigan State Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Association. He is also a member of the Illinois Bankers Association and the American Bankruptcy Institute. Additionally, Kurt been recognized by the Leading Lawyers Network as a top Illinois lawyer in the areas of commercial bankruptcy and workout law, as well as creditor's rights/commercial collections law.
IN THE COMMUNITY
Kurt is a volunteer speaker for C.A.R.E., a national program that educates high school students on the dangers of easy credit as they embark on their college careers. A deacon of his church, Kurt also volunteers his time as a reader for the blind and a coach for his kids' sports teams.
BACKGROUND
Thomas M. Cooley Law School
J.D., 1990
Michigan State University
B.A., 1987
Kurt is admitted to practice in Illinois and Michigan, and before the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the U.S. District Court for Eastern and Western Michigan. He also represents clients in many other jurisdictions, on a pro hac vice basis.
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RELATED ARTICLES & PUBLICATIONS
The Next Wave: Ironically, a Recovery Could Actually Spur Fresh Business Bankruptcies, National Law Journal (pdf)
Working Through Your Customer's Financial Distress