For invitations to our events and updates on key legal issues and business concerns:
Please Click HereRuder Ware is pleased to announce that Eau Claire-based attorney Christopher Seelen has earned his national certification in creditors’ rights law from the American Board of Certification. Mr. Seelen is only the 6th attorney in Wisconsin to achieve certification in creditors’ rights and the only attorney outside the greater Milwaukee area. Mr. Seelen is a member of Ruder Ware’s Banking & Financial Institutions Focus Team and represents banks, credit unions, and other creditors in bankruptcy court and state court. He is a chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee and a 2010 Rising Star as selected by Wisconsin Super Lawyers magazine.
To become certified, Mr. Seelen satisfied the following requirements:
Passed an extensive, day-long written examination covering creditors’ rights issues;
Full-time practice of law for at least five years;
Good standing in the bars of all states in which a license to practice law is held;
Devoted at least 30% of practice time and at least 400 hours to creditors’ rights related matters in the last three years;
Demonstrated commitment to continuing legal education by earning at least 60 hours of bankruptcy education in the past three years;
Documented involvement in creditors’ rights by providing information on cases practiced.
Congress has added this certification by adding it to the list of Section 330 compensation factors in the new bankruptcy law. Legislators and courts recognize that the successful operation of the bankruptcy system depends upon the involvement of professionals with special expertise. This new law recognizes that Board certification provides a simple, meaningful, and objective measure of skill and expertise in the bankruptcy field.
Attorneys within Ruder Ware’s Banking & Financial Institutions Focus Team have substantial experience representing creditors’ committees, financial institutions, and other creditors in bankruptcy and insolvency proceedings, as well as in matters involving complex commercial workouts and foreclosures, replevins, and homestead foreclosures. We also have a wide range of experience advising clients on transactions involving distressed businesses, and we have regularly represented financial institutions and other lenders, creditors’ committees, individual secured and unsecured creditors, business debtors, trustees, receivers, investors, buyers, sellers, and others in connection with various insolvency matters.
The American Board of Certification (ABC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving the public and improving the quality of the bankruptcy bar. The rigorous ABC certification standards are designed to encourage bankruptcy practitioners to strive toward excellence and to recognize those attorneys who are experts in the bankruptcy
field. The ABC offers separate certification programs in business and consumer bankruptcy and creditors’ rights. All three ABC certification programs are accredited by the American Bar Association.
