Mr. Geller concentrates his practice in corporate reorganizations, workouts, Chapter 11 bankruptcies, bankruptcy-crime litigation, commercial litigation, and complex real property foreclosures. He has represented debtors, secured creditors, creditors committees and trustees in cases of regional and national significance.
Among his more significant engagements, Mr. Geller formerly represented the Creditors Committees in Great Northern Paper, Inc., one of the largest employers in the State of Maine, In re Belknap, Inc., and In re HFH, Inc., two of the largest Chapter 11 cases in Kentucky history, and In re Telesphere Communications, Inc., a complex telecommunications bankruptcy; the Debtors in In re Commercial Financial Services, Inc., a case involving approximately $1.6 billion in securitized assets, and In re Direct Air, Inc., a commuter airline bankruptcy; the Chapter 11 Trustee in In re Chicago, Missouri & Western Railway Company, one of the first railroad reorganizations under the Bankruptcy Code of 1978; and secured creditors such as Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, Ocwen Federal Bank FSB, First American Bank, N.A., and LaSalle National Bank, N.A., in dozens of bankruptcy cases (including single-asset cases) and commercial and multi-family residential foreclosures.
Mr. Geller is certified as a business bankruptcy specialist by the American Board of Certification. He has spoken to numerous bar and professional associations on general bankruptcy issues, on the role and duties of creditors committees, on real estate issues in bankruptcy (including single-asset bankruptcies), on confirmation issues in Chapter 11 cases, and on commercial foreclosure issues. Mr. Geller has served as a faculty member at the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA) and at the American Bankruptcy Institute/Emory University Bankruptcy Symposium, teaching trial advocacy skills to commercial and bankruptcy attorneys.
In addition to his commercial and bankruptcy litigation practice, Mr. Geller served as a member of the Board of Directors of Pro Bono Advocates ("PBA"), an Illinois not-for-profit corporation, from 1992 until 1999, and served as President of PBA's Board from September 1994 until March 1997. He has been recognized by the Illinois State Bar Association and PBA for his work on behalf of victims of domestic violence and applicants for political asylum, as well as for other public service.
EDUCATION
Boston University School of Law (J.D., cum laude, 1985; member and editor, American Journal of Law & Medicine);
Dartmouth College (B.A., magna cum laude, 1982; Phi Beta Kappa).
BAR ADMISSIONS
Mr. Geller is admitted to practice in (a) the United States Courts of Appeal for the First, Sixth and Seventh Circuits, (b) the United States District Courts for the District of Maine, the Northern District of Illinois, the Central District of Illinois and the Northern District of Oklahoma, and (c) the Supreme Courts of Illinois and Maine.
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
American Bar Association
American Bankruptcy Institute
Maine State Bar Association
Dartmouth Lawyers Association
*The Supreme Court of Illinois does not recognize certifications of specialties in the practice of law and the certificate, award or recognition is not a requirement to practice law in Illinois. |