Otterbourg P.C. has named Melanie L. Cyganowski chair of the firm’s Restructuring and Bankruptcy Department.
Cyganowski previously chaired Otterbourg’s Insolvency Litigation Services, ADR and Fiduciary Appointments practice. Scott L. Hazan, who most recently headed the firm’s Creditors’ Committee practice, has stepped down from his leadership positions in the firm’s Restructuring and Bankruptcy Department after more than three decades, and remains a member of the firm. Cyganowski will now oversee all practice areas within the firm’s Restructuring and Bankruptcy Department.
“Melanie has an exceptional national reputation, and we are confident that our Restructuring and Bankruptcy Department has a bright future with her at the helm,” said Daniel Wallen, Otterbourg’s chairman. “We thank Scott for his excellent service to the firm and to our clients, and we look forward to his continued guidance.”
Cyganowski is a commercial and bankruptcy law litigator, mediator, arbitrator and expert witness. She also serves as a fiduciary (examiner, trustee, receiver, referee, monitor or special master) in bankruptcy and civil litigation. She was a federal bankruptcy judge for 14 years and served as the U.S. Chief Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of New York from 2005 to 2007. In April of this year, The National Law Journal named her one of the nation’s 75 “Outstanding Women Lawyers.”
Cyganowski’s experience parallels that of Conrad B. Duberstein, who also led the bankruptcy department at Otterbourg and served as U.S. Chief Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of New York, before passing away in 2005.
“I am honored to follow in the footsteps of Connie Duberstein and Scott Hazan, whose leadership made ours one of the premier bankruptcy practices in the country,” Cyganowski said. “We have an increasingly complex bankruptcy and restructuring environment where individuals and businesses face challenging financial times, and we at Otterbourg continue to seek innovative ways to tackle these problems.”
Cyganowski’s recent work includes serving on the plaintiffs’ Executive Committee that is assisting lead counsel in key aspects of the General Motors ignition switch litigation, and leading the turnaround at Interfaith Medical Center in Brooklyn as the first individual to be appointed as the “Temporary Operator” of a hospital in the State of New York.
Otterbourg P.C. offers clients a unique combination of legal insight and practical solutions and is known for its integrity, stability and business knowledge. The firm regularly represents clients in matters of national and international scope, including institutional lenders and creditors such as banks, asset-based lenders, hedge funds and private equity firms.