
DAVID P. LEIBOWITZ
dleibowiz@lodpl.com
312-662-5750
EXPERIENCE
1990-present Chapter 7 Panel Trustee, Northern District of Illinois
- Administered more than 10,000 chapter 7 cases
- Pioneered use of Truth in Lending claims in trustee cases
- Administered more than 1,000 assets cases including many highly significant cases such as:
- IFC Credit Corporation
- McDonough and Associates
- Arthur B. Adler and Associates, Ltd.
- Goldblatt’s Bargain Stores, Inc.
- Discount Merchandise, Inc.
- Teknek, Inc.
1999 – Present Law Offices of David P. Leibowitz, LLC
Founder and Managing Member
- Practice built from solo practice in Lake County, Illinois to interstate firm with offices in Illinois and Wisconsin. Now sole office in Chicago.
- Representation of principal as Assignee for the Benefit of Creditors
- Complex bankruptcy, consumer bankruptcy and foreclosure defense in Illinois and Wisconsin
- Foreclosure defense training in Wisconsin under federal grant.
- Counsel to principal in his role as Chapter 7 Trustee and to clients in complex bankruptcy and insolvency matters including student loan resolution
- Expert witness and mediation service
1991-1999 Freeborn & Peters
Partner – Head of Insolvency Practice
- Led practice group of five attorneys and two paralegals.
- Successfully prosecuted to judgment leading case of: Leibowitz v Parkway Bank & Trust Co (In re Image Worldwide, Ltd), 139 F3d 574 (7th Cir. 1998)
- Confirmed numerous chapter 11 cases and represented many secured creditors in real estate reorganization cases
- Represented Creditors Committee in Straight Arrow Products, Inc., (Allentown PA) paying over 65% dividend to unsecured creditors
1976-1990 Schwartz Cooper Kolb & Gaynor Chtd. Chicago, Illinois
Associate, Partner from 1980-1990
- On brief in In re UNR Industries, 736 F.2d 1136 (7th Cir. 1984) establishing the concept of “legal representative” in mass tort bankruptcy cases
- Represented Hon. John Powers Crowley, trustee in significant embezzlement-defalcation case, In re Cooper & Cooper
- Won appeal in leading case of Kramer v. Exchange National Bank of Chicago, 118 Ill. 2d 277, 515 N.E. 2d 57, 113 Ill. Dec. 248 (1987)
- Recovered hidden assets utilizing fraudulent transfer and RICO theories in Leibowitz v. Saleh (In re Discount Merchandise), (1994 Bankr. LEXIS 29 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 1994) an international bust-out case
- 1990-present American Bankruptcy Institute Washington, DC
- Member, past chair – Unsecured Creditors Committee Subcommittee Contributor to Creditors’ Committee Handbook)
- Past co-chair – Commercial Fraud Committee – Editor in Chief and Principal Author of ABI Fraud Manual
- Past co-chair – Consumer Bankruptcy Committee
- Member of Board of Directors
- Co-chair- Task Force on Individual Chapter 11 cases
- Author of numerous articles in American Bankruptcy Institute Journal
- Speaker at numerous American Bankruptcy Institute conferences
1998-2000 International Law Institute Washington, DC
Senior Faculty Advisor
- Developed and led insolvency training for judges and bankruptcy trustees in Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia
- Developed and published Mongolian Bankruptcy Trustee’s Handbook
- Organized Mongolian Bankruptcy Trustees Association
- Served as delegate to Asian Development Bank Insolvency Conference in Manila, Philippines (January, 1999)
National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees
- Past editor and frequent contributor to NABTalk, quarterly journal of National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees.
- Frequent speaker at NABT Conferences
- Past member of the Board of Directors
Chicago Bar Association Chicago, Illinois
Member and past chair of Arbitration Law Committee
- Developed initial plan and rules for court-annexed arbitration in Cook County, Illinois
1974-1976 Illinois Appellate CourtChicago, Illinois
Judicial Clerk to Hon. John C. Hayes
Member – American Bar Association
American Bankruptcy Institute
Chicago Bar Association
Illinois State Bar Association
Wisconsin Bar
National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees
National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys
Admitted: Illinois and Wisconsin, Third, Seventh and Tenth Circuits
Courts of Appeals. District Courts in Illinois, Indiana, Maryland and
Wisconsin.
EDUCATION
- Loyola University of Chicago, JD cum laude, 1974 (Alpha Sigma Nu honor society)
- Northwestern University, BA 1970 (Economics)
PRO BONO
- Lake County Bar Association, Pro Bono Committee
- Prairie State Legal Services, Waukegan, Illinois
- CARE volunteer
HONORS AND DISTINCTIONS – PUBLIC SERVICE
- Recipient of 2006 Excellence in Pro Bono Service Award from United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- Recipient of 2007 Pro Bono Award – Volunteer Legal Program – Lake County Bar Association
- Recipient of 2010 Liberty Bell Award from Circuit Court for the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit, Lake County Illinois for “extraordinary service to the justice system”
- Board Certified in both business and consumer bankruptcy – American Board of Certification
- Accredited as mediator by the Chicago Bar Association
- Fellow of the Wisconsin Law Foundation
- Former Member and past president of North Shore School District 112 Board of Education, Highland Park, Illinois
- Former Member and past president of Highland Park Public Library Board of Trustees
- Frequent contributor to Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education publications and seminars on bankruptcy related topics
- Former Member of Board of Directors and past Secretary – South Central Community Services, Inc., Chicago, Illinois
- Recognized by:Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America, Law Dragon 500 (Bankruptcy), Leading Lawyers, Martindale Hubbell (Av Preeminent)