Michael P. Richman

Michael focuses on representing Chapter 11 business debtors, creditors and creditors’ committees and advises on virtually every aspect of financial distress and bankruptcy, as well as out-of-court restructurings. He is also an experienced litigator who frequently represents parties in commercial litigation in state and federal courts.

In addition to chapter 11 business debtor, creditor, and creditor committee work, Michael’s bankruptcy experience includes the prosecution and defense of preference and fraudulent conveyance cases, breach of duty claims against corporate insiders, and advocacy for purchasers of assets under Bankruptcy Code
section 363.

Prior to moving to Wisconsin and joining Steinhilber Swanson in April 2018, Michael’s legal practice was centered in New York City, the federal, state and bankruptcy courts located in the Southern District of New York, and appeared frequently in Delaware. He maintains his active bar admission in New York, and continues to represent clients in bankruptcy and litigation matters across the nation. In a career of more than 40 years, Michael has appeared in courts in more
than 20 states.

Michael has served as President of the American Bankruptcy Institute (“ABI”) (2004-05), as well as director (1996-2008), chairman of its board (2006-07) and a member of its management and executive committees. He served as chairman of the Section 363 Subcommittee of ABI’s national commission to reform Chapter 11, and co-vice chair of ABI’s National Ethics Task Force. He has for many years been named a “Super Lawyer” in peer surveys conducted by Thomson Reuters, including most recently for Wisconsin in 2022. Michael has written numerous articles on ethics in bankruptcy practice published in the American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, is a regular lecturer on bankruptcy ethics topics for ABI and the Practicing Law Institute, and over the past 25 years has been an invited speaker/lecturer at hundreds of bankruptcy conferences on many other topics.

Michael is also the founder and a performing member of ABI’s house band, the Indubitable Equivalents, which plays classic rock at bankruptcy conferences. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, and since January 2018, he has taught bankruptcy law as an adjunct Professor of Law at the
University of Wisconsin Law School in Madison.

Practices

• Bankruptcy, Restructuring and Creditors’ Rights
• Litigation

Education

• JD, Columbia Law School, 1979, with honors
• AB, Vassar College, 1975, with honors

Bar Admissions

• New York
• Wisconsin