Mr. Whitman Holt

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Mr. Whitman Holt

Klee, Tuchin, Bogdanoff & Stern LLP, Los Angeles, CA

WHITMAN has represented clients across the bankruptcy and insolvency spectrum in his 13 years of practice. He maintains an active appellate practice and has been involved in several key cases, including work drafting the prevailing briefing in Stern v. Marshall and FDIC v. Siegel (In re IndyMac Bancorp, Inc.). He was also a lead attorney representing Jefferson County, Ala., in its chapter 9 case involving the restructuring of billions of dollars of debt; he was the principal drafter of the confirmed plan and was involved in all other aspects of the case and related appeals. In addition, he maintains an active pro bono practice in high-impact consumer bankruptcy cases, including most recently as principal author of a Supreme Court amici curiae brief in Midland Funding LLC v. Johnson.

Having grown up as the eldest of nine children in rural Montana, leadership comes easily to Whitman. He has served as a leader of several local and national legal associations, including as president and other elected offices of the Financial Lawyers Conference and secretary of the National Bankruptcy Conference. He also led several organizations in college and law school, and was an Eagle Scout in high school. In addition, he served on the advisory board for ABI’s Bankruptcy Battleground West conference. He mentors young lawyers and regularly provides free consultation to counsel from the National Consumer Law Center and the National Consumer Bankruptcy Rights Center.

Whitman is a co-author of Bankruptcy and the Supreme Court: 1801-2014 (West Academic 2015), a comprehensive desk reference for lawyers, judges, law students and scholars examining the Supreme Court’s bankruptcy decisions from 1801 through 2014 from six different perspectives. He also is a contributing author to Collier on Bankruptcy and co-author of a series of LexisNexis Emerging Issues Analysis commentaries regarding bankruptcy and the Supreme Court.

Education

  • J.D., CUM LAUDE, HARVARD LAW SCHOOL
  • B.A., POLITICAL SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY, MAGNA CUM LAUDE, BATES COLLEGE

Whitman’s knowledge of both business and consumer bankruptcy law is truly encyclopedic. He is honest, humble, soft-spoken, a good listener, and even-tempered, although he can be a passionate advocate for justice and fairness.