Bankruptcy Practice is Constantly Changing

Edwin G. Rice is a partner with Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP in Tampa, Fla., and has nearly 30 years of experience primarily in the area of bankruptcy and insolvency law. He has represented nearly every major constituency in bankruptcy, including debtors, chapter 11 trustees, unsecured creditors’ committees, major secured creditors and lessors.

Mr. Rice has extensive experience in loan workouts, mortgage foreclosures, lending transactions, lending-related litigation and assignments for the benefit of creditors. His bankruptcy experience includes the defense and prosecution of preference, fraudulent transfer and other avoidance actions, claims litigation, dischargeability actions, relief-from-stay litigation, cash-collateral litigation, valuation litigation, contested confirmations, director and officer claim litigation, lease assumptions and rejections, bankruptcy sales and debtor-in-possession financing.

Mr. Rice is a past president and chairman of the Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Bar Association and is recognized by Chambers USA, The Best Lawyers of America and Super Lawyers. He received his B.S.B.A. in 1987 from the University of Florida and his J.D. in 1990 from the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif.

Hon. Lewis M. Killian, Jr. (ret.) is Of Counsel with Berger Singerman LLP in Tallahassee, Fla., and a member of its Business Reorganization Team. He has successfully completed certification to become a Circuit Civil mediator in Florida and completed ABI’s and St. John’s University’s 40-Hour Bankruptcy Mediation Training program.

For more than 25 years, Judge Killian served as the Chief Bankruptcy Judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Florida. He was first appointed by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals as U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the district on Sept. 22, 1986, and on Sept. 22, 2000, he was reappointed for a second term. During his time on the bench, Judge Killian had been the sole bankruptcy judge in the Northern District, which required him to regularly travel to hold hearings in each of the four divisions: Gainesville, Tallahassee, Panama City and Pensacola.

Prior to his judicial appointment, he served for 10 years as an officer in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam conflict, including a tour in Vietnam, where he received several military awards and decorations. He retired from the Army Reserve with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, JAGC.

Judge Killian graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1969 and received his J.D. with honors in 1976 from Florida State University College of Law.

Alberto F. Gomez, Jr. is a partner in the Tampa, Fla., office of Johnson Pope Bokor Ruppel & Burns, LLP, where he focuses primarily on bankruptcy law, insolvency, assignments for the benefit of creditors and all other aspects of debtor/creditor law. He has represented clients in all aspects of bankruptcy representation and insolvency matters (debtors, creditors, trustees, assignees, receivers, purchasers, etc.) since 1990, and his practice has primarily focused on the commercial and corporate aspects of bankruptcy and insolvency law, but he has remained active representing clients in consumer related cases as well.

Mr. Gomez is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell and has been listed as one of Florida’s “Legal Elite” in Florida Trend magazine. In addition, he has been selected as a Florida “Super Lawyer” by Law & Politics publication and as one of Florida’s “Top Attorneys” in The Wall Street Journal.

Mr. Gomez is or has been a member of the Hillsborough County Bar Association, Hillsborough County Bar Foundation Board of Trustees, the Florida Bar, the Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association and ABI, and actively participates in local pro bono efforts. He received his B.A. from the University of Florida in 1985 and his J.D. from Stetson University College of Law in 1988, where he was a member of the Stetson Law Review.

Kathleen L. DiSanto is a shareholder with Bush Ross , P.A. in Tampa, Fla., where she focuses her practice on matters related to bankruptcy, corporate restructuring, creditors’ rights, insolvency proceedings, and general commercial transactions. She represents businesses and individuals in a wide array of matters in the bankruptcy, creditors’ rights and insolvency arena.

Ms. DiSanto is Board Certified in Business Bankruptcy Law by the American Board of Certification and accredited by The Florida Bar. She entered private practice in 2010 following a two-year clerkship to Hon. Caryl E. Delano, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Middle District of Florida.

Ms. DiSanto has represented numerous debtors, secured creditors, unsecured creditors and trustees in complex chapter 11 bankruptcy cases, adversary proceedings and chapter 7 cases. She is a member of ABI, for which she serves as a coordinating editor of the ABI Journal; an associate of the Ferguson White Inn of Court; a financial advisor to the Gamma Phi Beta sorority; and a board member of the Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Bar Association.

Ms. DiSanto is rated AV-Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell and has been named a Florida Super Lawyers “Rising Star” from 2013-16 and 2019, as well as a Florida Trend “Legal Elite Upand- Comer for 2012. She received her B.S. in 2005 from the University of Virginia and her J.D. in 2008 from Stetson University College of Law.