Overview
Mike Benz is a partner in Chapman's Litigation Group and has been practicing law since 1986. He has extensive experience representing secured and unsecured creditors and trustees in bankruptcy proceedings, workout matters and commercial litigation.
Mike regularly represents creditor clients in securitization and structured finance matters as they overlap with bankruptcy law. In addition, he advises creditor clients on municipal bankruptcy issues under Chapter 9 of the Bankruptcy Code.
He has argued cases in Bankruptcy and District Courts across the country, the Third, Seventh, and Ninth Circuit Federal Courts of Appeal, as well as before the Illinois Supreme Court and the Illinois Appellate Court.
He has also testified before the Rules Committee of the Illinois House of Representatives and the Judiciary Committee of the Illinois Senate in support of legislation relating to the rights of foster parents.
Representative Cases
- Representation of securitization trustee in trial and appellate court fraudulent transfer litigation
- Representation of secured creditor In litigation over non-monetary default
- Representation of secured creditor in bankruptcy proceeding of automobile dealership and related Section 363 sale
- Representation of securitization trustee in automatic stay and cash collateral litigation
- Representation of secured creditor and DIP lender in chapter 11 bankruptcy case of garden products company and related Section 363 sale
- Representation of national bank acting as escrow agent in M&A escrow dispute
Practice Focus
- Bank Defense
- Commercial Foreclosure and Real Estate Litigation
- Commercial Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Corporate Counseling
- Corporate Trust and Agency Services
- Employment Law
- Fiduciary Litigation
- Merchant Bank Credit Card Processing Claims
- Restructuring and Bankruptcy
- Special Situations and Restructuring
- Troubled Securitizations
Admitted
Illinois, 1986
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, 1986
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, 1986
Education
Loyola University Chicago School of Law, J.D., cum laude, 1986
University of Illinois, B.A., Classics, 1983
- Phi Beta Kappa
Insights
Publications
- Co-Author, "The Proof Is in the Pudding: Seventh Circuit Holds That the Illinois Department of Revenue Must Present Evidence to Support the Value of Its Claim for Adequate Protection in a Section 363 Sale," Pratt's Journal of Bankruptcy Law. November/December 2018.
- Co-Author, "All Is Not Lost: Courts Allow Debtors to Redeem Sold Real Estate Taxes in Bankruptcy to Avoid Losing Their Property," LexisNexis Emerging Issues Analysis. May 2018.
- Co-Author, "All Is Not Lost: Courts Allow Debtors to Redeem Sold Real Estate Taxes in Bankruptcy to Avoid Losing Their Property," Pratt's Journal of Bankruptcy Law. April/May 2018.
- Co-Author, "Tax Sales and Fraudulent Transfers: Two Approaches," Law360. September 27, 2016.
- Co-Author, "A Cautionary Tale for Over-Secured Creditors," Law360. May 25, 2016.
- Co-Author, "The Seventh Circuit Ups the Ante in an Instructive Decision Affirming the Power of Bankruptcy Courts to Stay Litigation," Pratt's Journal of Bankruptcy Law. April/May 2016.
- Co-Author, "Turning Paper into Cash: Post-Judgment Collection Methods," Pratt's Journal of Bankruptcy Law. July/August 2014.
- Co-Author, "Recent Noteworthy Securitization Case," Client Alert. October 23, 2013.
- Co-Author, "2013 Foreclosure Litigation — Bid Amounts at Judicial Sales," Client Alert. March 19, 2013.
- Co-Author, "Secondary Market Tax-Exempt Asset Securitization for Sponsors, Investors, Other Market Participants and Their Counsel," American Bar Association. June 2005.
