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Kathy
Bazoian Phelps was admitted to the California
Bar in 1991. Her
educational background is as follows: Pomona
College (B.A. 1988); University of California at
Los Angeles (J.D. 1991).
She has been
a partner at Danning, Gill, Diamond &
Kollitz, LLP since 1999 and a member of the firm
since 1991. Danning,
Gill, Diamond & Kollitz, LLP is a 21-person
law firm, which specializes in debtors' and
creditors' rights, receiverships, and bankruptcy
and reorganization.
She is a
member of the following bar associations: Century
City, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles County,
American and Armenian Bar Associations, and the
State Bar of California. She was
a member of the Insolvency Law Committee of the
California State Bar from 1998-2001.
She is a
member of the Board of Directors of the
California Receivers’ Forum; the Board of
Directors of the Century City Chamber of
Commerce; Financial Lawyers Conference; American
Bankruptcy Institute; Los Angeles Bankruptcy
Forum; Association of Insolvency and Accounting
Restructuring Advisors; and International
Association for Asset Recovery.
Ms. Phelps is a
member of the international network of law firms
known as the Global Alliance, formed for the
purpose of exchanging views and coordinating
future legal positions for those defrauded in
the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme case.
Ms. Phelps
has specialized in representation of trustees
and receivers, debtors and creditors in
reorganization, and in liquidation of
estates.
She frequently represents operating and
liquidating trustees and receivers in the United
States District Court, the United States
Bankruptcy Court and the Superior Court of the
State of California. She is
recognized by peers for her ability to trace and
recover funds in large-scale complex cases and
for her familiarity with fraudulent transfer
issues and issues arising in Ponzi
cases.
Ms. Phelps
has lectured widely and written on bankruptcy
and receivership matters, most recently as
follows:
Opportunities
for Trustees in Ponzi Scheme
Cases written
for NABTalk,
Journal of the National Association of
Bankruptcy Trustees, Summer
2010;
Fraudulent
Transfer Claims and Defenses in Ponzi Schemes
for National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees
September 2010
Conference;
The Liability
of Investors, Sales People, Professionals and
Others in Ponzi Schemes for the
Association of Insolvency and Accounting
Restructuring Advisors in June 2010;
The
Intersection of Bankruptcy and
Receiverships for the
Association of Insolvency and Accounting
Restructuring Advisors in June 2010;
Bankruptcy
Issues Arising in Ponzi Schemes for the
Century City Bar Association in April 2010;
Fraudulent
Transfer Claims and Defenses in Ponzi
Cases for the
American Bankruptcy Institute Southwest
Conference in September 2009;
and
Bankruptcy
Issues Arising in Ponzi Schemes for the
Beverly Hills Bar Association in March
2010.
In Federal
and State Court receiverships and bankruptcy
cases, Ms. Phelps has represented receivers and
trustees in operating and liquidating businesses
for the last 19 years. The
following list is illustrative of some of her
recent experience:
- Counsel for
federal equity receiver in SEC action of
Diversified Lending Group, Inc. and Applied
Equities, Inc. Ms.
Phelps is serving as lead counsel in this large
Ponzi scheme, supervising the winding down of
the business, the reconstruction of missing and
incomplete records, the analysis and tracing of
investor funds, the liquidation and recovery on
various investments made by the debtor, and the
prosecution of litigation to recovery funds for
the benefit of the investors and
creditors.
- Counsel for
state court appointed receiver of Unicorp Beef,
Inc.
Ms. Phelps is serving as lead counsel for
the receiver in this litigation matter,
reconstructing missing records and tracing over
$9 million of funds removed by the defendant
prior to the receiver’s
appointment.
- Counsel for
Chapter 11 trustee, and thereafter successor
chapter 7 trustee, in bankruptcy case of
Persistence Capital, LLC. Ms.
Phelps is serving as lead counsel in this Ponzi
scheme case where the debtor sold a fictitious
investment product related to pools of life
insurance policies. She has
assisted the trustee in sorting out the
documentation, tracing the funds and pursuing
litigation to recover funds in the case. The
principals of this debtor, Curtis Somoza and
Robert Coberly, Jr. were both indicted, and Mr.
Somoza was recently sentenced to 25 years in
prison while Mr. Coberly still awaits
sentencing.
- Counsel for
Chapter 11 trustee and thereafter the successor
chapter 7 trustee, in the bankruptcy case of
Eonxchange, LLC. Ms.
Phelps was lead counsel in this case and
assisted the trustee in investigating the
fraudulent Ponzi-like activity of the debtor
related to an emission credit trading program
through the SCAQMD.
Substantial funds were recovered for the
benefit of the creditors and the principal of
the debtor, Anne Sholtz, was ultimately
convicted.
- Counsel for
chapter 11 and chapter 7 trustees in a multitude
of bankruptcy cases, handling both the operation
and winding down of various businesses, the
tracing of funds, selling of real estate, and
prosecution of fraudulent conveyance and
preference litigation, among countless
administrative issues arising in those
cases.
- Counsel for
post-confirmation liquidation trustees, most
recently in Cello Studios, Inc., where she
supervised post-confirmation litigation and
settlement after confirmation of plan of
reorganization.
Ms. Phelps
personal interests and accomplishments include
extensive travel and the study of the Chinese
language.
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