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HON. ROBERT A. GORDON is a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Maryland. He received his B.A. degree from Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, and his J.D. degree from the University of Maryland School of Law. Judge Gordon was a partner with Tydings & Rosenberg LLP in Baltimore for 12 years before coming to the bench in June 2006. Judge Gordon has been, and continues to be, active in professional and community service organizations throughout Maryland. He was a member and chair of the Maryland State Bar Association's Lawyer's Assistance Program, dedicated to aiding lawyers with substance abuse problems. Since joining the bench, he has been a member of the United States District Court's Disciplinary & Admissions Committee. HON. WENDELIN I. LIPP was sworn in on April 3, 2006 as a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Maryland, Greenbelt Division. She obtained her B.A. degree, with honors, from the University of Maryland in 1974 and her J.D. degree from the University of Baltimore School of Law in 1978. Judge Lipp was formerly a principal with the law firm of Paley, Rothman, Goldstein, Rosenberg, Eig & Cooper Chartered in Bethesda, Maryland. She headed the firm's Bankruptcy and Creditors' Rights Practice Group, concentrating in the areas of debtor and creditor rights, bankruptcy, insolvency and financial work-outs. She is board-certified in Business Bankruptcy Law by the American Board of Certification. She served as a Chapter 7 Panel Trustee in the Greenbelt Division from 2003 to 2006. Judge Lipp also served as president of the Bankruptcy Bar for the District of Maryland from 2003 to 2004. She is a member of the Walter B. Chandler American Inn of Court and has lectured and authored articles on a variety of bankruptcy issues. JOSEPH J. BELLINGER JR. is a principal at Offit Kurman, Attorneys At Law, and serves as head of the Bankruptcy, Restructuring & Creditors' Rights practice. His diverse practice encompasses a broad range of litigation in bankruptcy cases and insolvency matters, and his clients include asset-based lenders, factors, equity funds, financial institutions holding secured and unsecured claims, indenture trustees, equipment lessors, landlords, manufacturers, taxing authorities, Chapter 7 and 11 Trustees, state court receivers, turnaround professionals, and purchasers of distressed loans or assets. He has also served on the panel of Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Trustees for the District of Maryland since 1997. In addition to creditor representation, he has represented borrowers and guarantors in bankruptcy proceedings, restructurings and litigation matters. Mr. Bellinger has extensive experience in Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases, state court receiverships and other insolvency proceedings. His litigation experience includes fraudulent conveyance claims, preference actions, contested plan confirmations and all forms of contested matters in bankruptcy cases. Mr. Bellinger's litigation practice also includes complex commercial litigation in state and federal courts. He received his B.S. degree from Western Michigan University and his J.D. degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Baltimore. For more than 10 years, Mr. Bellinger has served on the board of directors for the Turnaround Management Association, Chesapeake Chapter, and he is a former president of the chapter. He is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Maryland Bankruptcy Bar Association and the National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees. GARY H. LEIBOWITZ is a member of the Bankruptcy & Corporate Restructuring Department for Cole, Schotz, Meisel, Forman & Leonard, P.A., based in Baltimore. He focuses his practice on corporate reorganizations, creditors' rights issues and business litigation. Mr. Leibowitz has served as counsel for numerous parties including debtors, secured and unsecured creditors, creditors' committees, landlords, and trustees in chapter 11 cases. He has significant experience in various aspects of bankruptcy practice including: voluntary and involuntary petitions, stays and injunctions, contracts and leases, claims litigation, preference and fraudulent transfer litigation, reorganization plans, and liquidations. Mr. Leibowitz currently serves as the president of the Bankruptcy Bar Association for the District of Maryland. He also served on the Maryland Bankruptcy Bar Association Joint Committee on Changes to the Local Bankruptcy Rules. Mr. Leibowitz also has extensive experience in an array of business and commercial litigation. His practice includes both the prosecution and defense of a wide variety of disputes in both state and federal court. Mr. Leibowitz has served as counsel to numerous national manufacturers, vendors and service providers, as well as local businesses. He earned his B.S. degree from the University of Maryland and his J.D. degree, cum laude, from the University of Miami School of Law. Mr. Leibowitz is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute, the American Bar Association, the Maryland State Bar Association and the Bar Association of Baltimore City. LORI SIMPSON is a member of the law firm of Bishop Daneman & Simpson, LLC, in Baltimore, where she practices in bankruptcy. Ms. Simpson has been a Chapter 7 Trustee in Baltimore since 1997. In addition to acting as the trustee in Chapter 7 and 11 cases, she has represented business and consumer debtors and creditors. Ms. Simpson received her B.A. degree, from James Madison University and her J.D. degree from the University of Baltimore School of Law. She has lectured at bankruptcy seminars and is a member of the Maryland State Bar Association, Inc., the Women's Bar Association of Maryland and the Bankruptcy Bar Association of Maryland, Baltimore Chapter. GERARD R. VETTER has been a Standing Chapter 13 Trustee in the District of Maryland, Baltimore Division, since October 1, 2004. While in private practice in Baltimore for the previous 24 years, Mr. Vetter's practice focused on bankruptcy and commercial litigation. Mr. Vetter represented Chapter 7 Trustees in consumer and commercial bankruptcy cases as well as creditors and debtors in consumer and commercial cases in both bankruptcy courts and state courts. Mr. Vetter graduated, cum laude, from Princeton University in 1977 and received his law degree from The George Washington University in 1980. He is admitted to practice law in Maryland and the District of Columbia, as well as for the Supreme Court of the United States and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. MODERATOR - RICHARD L. COSTELLA is a principal in the Miles & Stockbridge P.C.'s Baltimore office, where he is a member of the Creditors' Rights and Bankruptcy group. Mr. Costella's practice focuses primarily on bankruptcy and commercial litigation matters. In this respect, he represents a wide variety of lenders and financial institutions in virtually all aspects of consumer and commercial bankruptcy cases. He has experience in pursuing motions for relief from the automatic stay, as well as litigating confirmation, dischargeability, preference, cash collateral, DIP financing and avoidance actions. Mr. Costella also represents numerous lenders in consumer finance litigation involving the Truth in Lending Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Mr. Costella is a regular speaker at legal education seminars sponsored by the Bankruptcy Bar Association for the District of Maryland. In recent years, his presentations at these seminars have included Predatory Lending and Creditor Abuse in Bankruptcy Matters, Electronic Discovery in Bankruptcy Litigation, and Understanding the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 2005. Mr. Costella is a member of the Maryland Bar and is also admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and the Supreme Court of the United States. Mr. Costella has also co-authored several briefs and presented oral argument on appeal in both the United States District Court for the District of Maryland and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Mr. Costella graduated from the West Virginia University School of Law in 1998, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif and the Executive Editor of the West Virginia Law Review. Mr. Costella received his B.S. degree from Towson University in 1987, and his M.S.B. degree, with honors, from Johns Hopkins University in 1994. After graduation from law school, Mr. Costella clerked for the Honorable L. Edward Friend, II in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of West Virginia. MODERATOR - DAVID N. PORTNEY Esquire, is with Grossbart, Portney, and Rosenberg, P.A., where he concentrates in consumer bankruptcy, but also handles serious personal injury, workers compensation, criminal, divorce, and wills and estates cases. He served as Law Clerk for the Honorable Edward A. DeWaters, Chief Judge, and Circuit Court for Baltimore County. He was also an Assistant Public Defender in Baltimore County for two years. Mr. Portney came to the law after establishing himself as a respected teacher and administrator in a private school in Washington, D.C. He obtained his B.S. degree in secondary education from The University of Maryland, College Park, in 1972 and continued his education at George Washington University, where he received his M.A. degree in special education in 1978. In 1986 he graduated from the University of Baltimore School of Law. He is an active member of the Maryland State Bar Association and the Maryland Trial Lawyers Association.
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