Total Credits: 6.0 MCLE, 1.0 Ethics, 1.0 Elimination of Bias, 6.0 Kansas Credit, 1.0 Kansas Ethics
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Moderator: Laura Toledo, Lathrop Gage, LLP, St. Louis
8:30 – 9:00 AM | Registration
9:00 – 9:50 AM | Case Law Update & Current Developments
Speakers: Hon. Kathy A. Surratt-States, Chief Judge, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of Missouri; Adam G. Breeze, Watton Law Group, St. Louis; Kathryn A. Klein, Riezman Berger, PC, St. Louis; Eric C. Peterson, Spencer Fane LLP, St. Louis
9:50 – 10:05 AM | Break
10:05 – 10:55 AM | Stay Violations & Discharge Injunctions – post Taggart
Speakers: Christopher D. Lee, Millsap & Singer, LLC, St. Louis; Sarah E. Tomlinson, Law Clerk for Hon. Charles E. Rendlen III, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of Missouri; Abigail B. Willie, Professor, Saint Louis University School of Law, St. Louis
10:55 – 11:45 AM | New Bankruptcy Legislation
Speakers: Bonnie L. Clair, Summers Compton Wells LLC, St. Louis; Paul A. Randolph, U.S. Department of Justice, St. Louis; Thomas H. Riske, Carmody MacDonald PC, St. Louis
11:45 AM – 1:00 PM | Lunch | included with program
1:00 – 1:50 PM | Advocacy Skills
Speakers: Sonette T. Magnus, Lewis Rice LLC, St. Louis; Marshall C. Turner, Husch Blackwell LLP, St. Louis; Gary L. Vincent, Attorney at Law, Sunset Hills
1:50 – 2:40 PM | Chapter 13 Issues
Speakers: Diana S. Daugherty, Office of the Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Trustee, Eastern District of Missouri, St. Louis; Corrine E. Edwards, Walters & Edwards, LLC, St. Charles; John P. Miller, Dunn & Miller, PC, Chesterfield; Bryan T. Voss, Adams Law Group, St. Peters
2:40 – 2:55 PM | Break
2:55 – 3:45 PM | #MeToo, Bias & Bullying
Speaker: Kimber H. Baro, Baro Law Firm, Florissant; Tracy A. Brown, Law Office of Tracy A. Brown, PC, St. Louis; Leonora S. Long, Law Offices of Leonora S. Long, St. Louis
3:45 PM | Adjourn
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Kimber practiced family law for ten years and specialized in bankruptcy law for the last 20 years. She is a member of NACBA and licensed in the U.S. District Court for the EDMO, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States.
Tracy A. Brown has managed her own firm for over 25 years and is licensed in Missouri and Texas. She specializes in Bankruptcy and Tax Resolution. In 2003 she was appointed as a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Panel Trustee in the Eastern District of Missouri. She has a Texas CPA license.
Judge Bonnie L. Clair sits on the bench of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. Judge Clair previously spent many years in private practice representing creditors and debtors in bankruptcy, commercial, and consumer finance matters; she also spent time in-house at a large financial institution and served in the Attorney General’s Honors Program of the United States Department of Justice as an attorney with the Office of the United States Trustee.
Judge Clair currently serves on the Conference News and Elections Committees of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges. Before taking the bench, she served on the Region X Disciplinary Committee for the Missouri Bar, mediated and investigated proceedings for the Missouri Bar’s Fee Dispute Resolution Committee, and contributed to the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Seventh Circuit Volo updates. However, no one wants to talk about any of that once they find out that she was on Jeopardy! in 2006 and Who Wants to be a Millionaire? in 2002.
Judge Clair received her law degree from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, where she was an articles editor for the Journal of Urban and Contemporary Law (now the Journal of Law & Policy) and a national competitor in the New York City Bar Moot Court Competition. She received her undergraduate degree from Duke University, where she served on the editorial and business boards of The Chronicle, debated varsity and camped in “Tent 2” in the Krzyzewskiville line during the 1989-1990 basketball season.
Diana Daugherty was appointed Standing Chapter 13 Trustee for the Eastern District of Missouri on March 1, 2017, and served as staff attorney for John V. LaBarge, Jr., the prior Standing Chapter 13 Trustee. Diana was the 2008 recipient of the Missouri Bar's Roser Award for Excellence in Bankruptcy Practice.
Corrine Edwards graduated from Washington University in St. Louis. She then obtained her law degree from St. Louis University. She then worked for two years as an assistant prosecuting attorney in Phelps County. Corrine returned to St. Louis to work in bankruptcy and open her law firm eight years ago.
Kathy Klein has represented creditors in all aspects of bankruptcy since 1991, primarily consumer cases. Kathy practices in the bankruptcy courts of Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and North Dakota. She obtained her undergraduate degree from the University of Missouri and her law degree from Saint Louis University.
Christopher joined Sandberg Phoenix in 2022 and is part of the Business Litigation practice group. He focuses his practice in the areas of community association law, creditor’s rights, mortgage servicing law and bankruptcy. He has represented a large number of secured and unsecured creditors in both bankruptcy and general litigation settings. He understands that litigation can be a stressful and strives to give clear and thorough communications to put them at ease.
Christopher was selected as a local bankruptcy rules committee member, was an editor for the Saint Louis Pubic Law Review for which he was also selected for publication. He also has been chosen to speak at a number of CLEs by judges, the United State Trustee’s Office and the Missouri Bar.
Leonora Long is recently retired from her career as a trial attorney with the United States Trustee Program. During her tenure she served as a Special Assistant United States Attorney and was a frequent lecturer at the Department of Justice National Advocacy Center. She currently is in private practice. She is the 2008 recipient of the Robert E. Brauer Award for Innovations in Bankruptcy and the 2016 recipient of the Roser Award for Excellence in Bankruptcy Practice.
Sonette Magnus counsels clients through all phases of commercial litigation, including pre-suit evaluations, discovery, mediation, expert witness preparation, trial preparation and when advisable, trial. Sonette represents clients in courts throughout the State and Federal Courts in United States. Sonette is a former law clerk to Chief Bankruptcy Judge Kathy A. Surratt-States.
John P. Miller is a partner at Dunn & Miller. Mr. Miller practices in the areas of Real Estate, Bankruptcy, and Estate Planning. Mr. Miller represents financial institutions in matters under Chapters 7 and 13. He is licensed to practice law in the State of Missouri, the EDMO, the SDIL.
Paul A. Randolph has served as the Assistant United States Trustee for the Eastern District of Missouri since 2004, and as the Acting United States Trustee for Region 8 (Tennessee and Kentucky) since his appointment by the Attorney General in April 2018. He was a Trial Attorney for nearly 15 years in the U.S. Trustee's office in Phoenix, Arizona, a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for bankruptcy fraud matters, and Acting Assistant U.S. Trustee for the Peoria office of Region 10. Mr. Randolph received his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1987 and his B.S. with Honors from Lindenwood University. He was engaged in the private practice of law with a large Arizona law firm prior to joining the U.S. Trustee. Mr. Randolph has engaged in outreach and community service during his career including as a board member of the Haven of Grace Women’s Shelter in St. Louis, the Mound City Bar Association, and the non-profit Cinema St. Louis. He has also served on the church council of his local church for several years. Mr. Randolph has worked throughout his career to advance inclusion and diversity initiatives in the legal practice. His recognitions include a U.S. Department of Justice Pro Bono Service Award and a distinguished member award from Region VIII of the National Bar Association.
Judge Surratt-States was sworn in as U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri on March 17, 2003 and appointed Chief Judge on February 1, 2013.
Judge Surratt-States received her B.A., cum laude, from Oklahoma City University and her J.D. from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis.
Sarah E. (Shay) Tomlinson is a litigation associate with Summers Compton Wells. Shay concentrates her practice on business litigation including employment matters, restructuring, bankruptcy, and government compliance.
Shay earned her law degree from Saint Louis University School of Law. Following graduation, Shay served as a judicial law clerk in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri and served as a Trial Attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice. She is a contributing author to the ABI Journal and The Wyoming Lawyer.
Marshall Turner advises clients on all aspects of financial restructuring, especially in connection with distressed mergers and acquisitions, workouts and bankruptcy.
Gary Vincent is counsel for two Chapter 7 Trustees, Tracy A. Brown and Kristin J. Conwell. Before his current positions, he was a member of Husch Blackwell LLP's financial services industry team where he represented creditors in a variety of bankruptcy related matters.
Professor Willie is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Saint Louis University School of Law.
Daniel J. Casamatta, in his 33rd year with the U.S. Trustee Program (USTP), is the Acting U.S. Trustee in Region 13 and the Assistant U.S. Trustee in Kansas City. He had previously managed the Grand Rapids office and served as Chief of the USTP's national training center in South Carolina.
With close to 35 years in the practice of law, Dana has served in several positions of bar leadership during her career, including being the first woman of color elected as president of The Missouri Bar, in 2016. Her numerous bar-related awards include the 2020 Eighth Circuit Richard S. Arnold Award for Distinguished Service; three President’s Awards from The Missouri Bar; a President’s Award from the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association; the Ronda F. Williams Spirit of Diversity Award; and the Sly James Diversity and Inclusion Award, just to name a few. She has been recognized as one of the Top 30 Education Law attorneys in Missouri; a Missouri Super Lawyer since 2014; and was honored as the 2018 Woman of the Year by Missouri Lawyers Weekly at their Annual Women’s Justice Awards Luncheon. Dana has tried more than twenty bench and jury trials.
She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English, with honors, from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia, and her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
When not practicing law, Dana, along with her husband and law partner Keith Cutler, are co-judges on the two-time Emmy-nominated, nationally syndicated daytime television courtroom show “Couples Court with the Cutlers.” The show is seen daily on the Oprah Winfrey Network.
Before becoming a bankruptcy judge on August 31, 2017, Brian T. Fenimore led the bankruptcy team at Lathrop Gage LLP for more than 20 years, representing debtors, creditors, and many other parties in interest. He graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1988 with a degree in Agricultural Economics, and the University of Michigan Law School in 1990. After graduating from law school, he clerked for the Honorable Arthur B. Federman.
Meg Reuter is associate clinical professor at University of Missouri-Kansas City, where she runs the field placement program. She previously taught at Indiana University, Brooklyn Law School, and New York Law School. She has co-authored books on experiential curriculum design and conducted empirical research on lawyering skill development.
Sharon is a shareholder and leader of Sandberg Phoenix’s bankruptcy and creditor rights group. She brings more than 25 years of experience in business law and business and commercial litigation. Her legal practice focuses on bankruptcy, Chapter 11 debtor and creditor issues, as well as Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 debtor matters.
Sharon has represented creditors in all aspects of creditor rights litigation, claim objection litigation, collateral realization, mechanic liens, collections, foreclosures, and replevin litigation. Sharon has also assisted financial institutions, lenders, and large suppliers with consumer and commercial restructuring of troubled credits and other business matters. In addition to representing clients before both state and federal courts, she has served as national counsel for several Kansas City-based construction industry firms. As a result of the breadth of her practice and her years of experience, Sharon is well-known and highly-regarded in the Kansas City legal community.
Sharon is licensed to practice in the Kansas Court of Appeals and Supreme Court, and the Missouri Court of Appeals and Supreme Court. She also appears before the U.S. District and Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, the U.S. District and Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Missouri, and the U.S. District and Bankruptcy Court for the District of Kansas. Sharon is authorized to electronically file in most federal bankruptcy courts in the United States.
Sharon received her Juris Doctor from the University of Kansas School of Law.