NALFA welcomes Robert M. Fishman to our membership.  NALFA certifies Robert Fishman as a qualified bankruptcy fee examiner.  Mr. Fishman is a partner at Shaw Fishman Glantz & Towbin LLC in Chicago.  Mr. Fishman is the firm’s co-chair of the Bankruptcy, Reorganization and Creditor Rights practice.  Mr. Fishman was recently featured in Crain’s Chicago Business story, “Meet the Bill Gatekeeper in Detroit’s Bankruptcy.”  The article states:

Fishman says he fell into bankruptcy practice “by accident” after a stint at the Illinois attorney general’s office.  The mix of dealmaking, litigation and client variety proved a good match for his temperament.  After 18 years in private practice, he left 155-lawyer Ross & Hardies, which later merged with McGuireWoods.  He joined a small real estate firm at two firms, and established a bankruptcy practice there.  He wanted more control over his work, he says.

Fishman has built a national profile on his work with the Alexandria, Va.-based American Bankruptcy Institute, where he was president from 1997 to 1998, and his involvement in the United Airlines, Kmart and Peregrine Financial Group.

The fee examiner role is the most prominent he has held in a big case. Fishman says, “the kind of opportunity I just felt I couldn’t say no to,” although not because of the money.  Rather, Fishman sees the assignment as an important credential for business development.  He speculates that more municipalities may file bankruptcy.  If that happens, he says, “I’ll be in a very good position to be considered for that.”