Christina M. Sanfelippo

CHRISSY is an associate with Cozen O’Connor in Chicago, where she focuses her practice in the areas of bankruptcy, restructuring and bankruptcy litigation. She represents debtors, trustees and creditors in a range of chapter 7 proceedings, including preference and fraudulent transfer actions, as well as complex bankruptcy litigation. She also assists debtors and official committees of unsecured creditors in chapter 11 proceedings. In addition, she handles commercial disputes, including contract claims and business torts.

Chrissy currently chairs the Chicago Network of the International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC), and also serves on IWIRC’s international board of directors as vice director of News. In 2018, she received IWIRC’s prestigious Rising Star Award for her exceptional leadership and contributions to IWIRC’s mission of enhancing the professional status of women in the insolvency and restructuring profession. In addition, she co-chairs ABI’s Young and New Members Committee and serves on the advisory board for ABI’s Central States Bankruptcy Workshop. She has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America as one of its “Ones to Watch” since 2021, and she was selected to participate in the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges (NCBJ) Next Generation Program in 2021.

Chrissy stumbled into insolvency practice by chance when she accepted a position as a bankruptcy associate out of law school, despite knowing nothing about bankruptcy law. Embracing the challenge head-on, she read a number of introductory texts to learn the practice and has since committed to deepening her knowledge of various areas of bankruptcy law by becoming a frequent author on bankruptcy topics. She serves as a coordinating editor of the ABI Journal’s Benchnotes column, which summarizes recent and notable bankruptcy-related decisions. In addition, she co-authors the “Treatment of Secured Interests in Bankruptcy” chapter in the Secured Transactions handbook, published by the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education, and a chapter on bankruptcy in the Commercial Real Estate Transactions textbook, published by Wolters Kluwer. She also has authored a number of articles for Law360, ABI newsletters and other industry publications. Each year, she volunteers with her former moot court program, the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot, as a guest arbitrator for the law students’ practices to help them prepare their arguments for competition. She also has worked on a variety of pro bono projects, including the preparation of U Visa applications for noncitizen crime victims through the National Immigrant Justice Center in Chicago. Within her firm, she serves as a liaison to the Associates Committee, volunteers her time with the firm’s summer associate program, and serves as a mentor to first-year associates.