Richard Joseph Mason

Bio:

Richard represents significant business interests in transactions and litigation, with a strong concentration in the areas of business insolvency and debtor-creditor relations. He has extensive experience representing a range of clients in business matters throughout the United States and overseas.

Richard is an adjunct professor at Chicago Kent College of Law, where he has taught Bankruptcy Law since 1983 and Multinational Bankruptcy Law in 2011. He is a frequent speaker at continuing legal education programs sponsored by organizations such as the American Bar Association, International Bar Association, American Bankruptcy Institute, Commercial Law League of America, Practicing Law Institute, Illinois State Bar Association, Illinois Continuing Legal Education Institute, Iowa Bar Association, Idaho Bar Association, Illinois Banker's Association and the Chicago Bar Association.
Richard is admitted to various federal courts in 20 states.

EXPERIENCE
• Representation of foreign entity purchasing businesses from restructuring debtor.
• Representation of foreign insolvency representative in U.S. ancillary proceeding.
• Representation of a state agency sued by a bankrupt estate for breach of
contract and defamation.
• Representation of the principal commodity trading partner of Chapter 11 debtor
with several billion dollars in debts.
• Representation of trustee in bankruptcy in multi-billion dollar Chapter 7 case.
• Representation of a national chain of medical clinics facing regulatory matters.
• Representation of directors in disputes concerning corporate governance.
• Representation of an unsecured creditor’s committee of airline reorganizing in
Chapter 11.
• Representation of an unsecured creditor’s committee of printing equipment
producer in Chapter 11.
• Representation of a principal partner of a Midwestern real estate venture
restructuring debts exceeding $3 billion.
• Representation of various banks and insurance companies with financially
troubled borrowers.
• Representation of a company in a Midwestern telecommunications business
suing to invalidate a $50 million leveraged buy-out.
• Representation of a leveraged lessor of approximately $100 million in hotels to a
national hotel chain reorganizing under Chapter 11.
• Representation of an unsecured creditors committee of Midwestern metal
stamping manufacturer restructuring under Chapter 11.
• Representation of an institutional landlord of approximately 30 properties to a
Southwestern retailer restructuring debt under Chapter 11.
• Representation of a trustee in bankruptcy of Midwestern publicly held limited
partnerships with hotels undergoing Chapter 11 reorganization.
• Representation of a purchaser of all operating assets of a Midwestern
manufacturer of automotive parts undergoing Chapter 11 reorganization.
• Representation of a group of creditors with multimillion-dollar claims against the
bankruptcy estate of one of the country's largest "Ponzi schemes."
• Representation of a producer of the operations of a leather belt manufacturer
reorganizing under Chapter 11.
• Representation of a defendant in asbestos-related litigation relating to a
bankruptcy case.
• Representation of a foreign bank seizing the bankruptcy estate of a locomotive
manufacturer for improper liquidation of its collateral.

EDUCATION
• The University of Chicago, MBA, 1980
• University of Notre Dame Law School, JD, 1977
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, BA, with High Honors, 1973

ADMISSIONS
• Illinois
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (Trial Bar)

HONORS
• Fellow, International Insolvency Institute
• Fellow, Former Regent for the 7th Circuit, 2001-2006, Chairman of Education Committee, 2015-present, American College of Bankruptcy
• Selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America
• Named to "Illinois Super Lawyers," Bankruptcy & Creditor/Debtor Rights,
Banking, Business Litigation, Super Lawyers, Thomson Reuters,
• Selected for inclusion as a "Leading Lawyer," Bankruptcy & Workout Law:
Commercial, Leading Lawyers Network Magazine, Law Bulletin Publishing.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
• Co-author, "When do the Creditors' Shoes Fit?: A Bankruptcy Estate's Power to Assert the Rights of a Hypothetical Judgment Creditor, 91 American Bankruptcy Law Journal 435 (2017).
• Co-author, “Repatriating Proceeds of a U.S. Avoidance Action to a Foreign Main
Proceeding: Does Chapter 15 Authorize Structured Dismissals?” Norton Journal
of Bankruptcy Law and Practice, Volume 25, Number 5 (2016)
• Co-author, Priorities Among Article 9 Security Interests and Competing Rights,
Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education, 2016
• Author, Perfecting Article 9 Security Interests Under Illinois Law, Illinois Institute
of Continuing Legal Education, 2016
• Co-author, “Pursuing Avoidance Actions Under U.S. Law Against Foreign
Defendants,” ABI Journal, September, 2016
• Co-author, “Disposition of Partial LLC Interests in Bankruptcy,” Law Journal
Newsletters, Volume 33, No. 2, December, 2015
• Co-author, "Strategies for Disposition of Partial LLC Interests in Bankruptcy," The
Bankruptcy Strategist, December 2015
• Co-author, "Can an Estate Effectively Liquidate a Fractional Interest in an LLC,"
ABI Journal, October 2015
• Author, "Liability to Third Parties for Lost or Damaged Property," 27 Journal of
the National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees, 2011
• Author, "Strategies For Use of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code by Foreign Insolvency
Representatives," 5 Insolvency Restructuring International, 2011
AFFILIATIONS
• Fellow, American College of Bankruptcy and the American Bar Foundation
• Member, Business Bankruptcy Committee, 1984-present; Chair, Subcommittee
on Use and Disposition of Property, 1993-1998; Delegate, United Nations
Commission on Model Insolvency Law, American Bar Association
• Member, Insolvency and Restructuring Section, 1990-present; Co-Chair of
Section, 2016 -
• Member, American Bankruptcy Institute, 1986-present
• Member, Former Section Counsel, Commercial, Banking, and Bankruptcy Law,
Illinois State Bar Association 1984-1987
• Trustee, Private Panel Maintained by Region 11 of the Office of the U.S. Trustee
• Member, Board of Directors, Illinois Farm Legal Assistance Foundation, 1986-
1988