The American College of Bankruptcy announced on Oct. 15 that Sheppard Mullin partner Ori Katz will be inducted as a Fellow of the College on March 18, 2016 in Washington, D.C.  The ceremony will take place at the Smithsonian Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, and will be presided over by Michael L. Cook, Chair of the College. 

Katz is a member of the Finance and Bankruptcy practice group in Sheppard Mullin’s San Francisco office, where he is also the co-managing partner of the office.  He specializes in business bankruptcies and other aspects of insolvency law.  Katz has represented debtors, individual creditors, creditors' committees, parties purchasing assets out of bankruptcy and parties involved in bankruptcy litigation. He has successfully reorganized companies in a wide range of industries, including real estate, retail, construction, biotech, telecommunications, media and the internet.

The 31 inductees of the College’s Class 27 are being honored and recognized for their professional excellence and exceptional contributions to the bankruptcy and insolvency practice.  They reside in 19 states and two foreign countries.

The American College of Bankruptcy is an honorary association of bankruptcy and insolvency professionals and plays an important role in sustaining professional excellence in the field.  College Fellows include commercial and consumer bankruptcy attorneys, judges, insolvency accountants, turnaround and workout specialists, law professors, government officials and others in the bankruptcy and insolvency community.

Nominees undergo a rigorous nomination process and are extended an invitation to join based on a record of achievement.  The College now has 848 active Fellows, not including Class 27, each selected by a Board of Regents from among recommendations of the Circuit Admissions Council in each federal judicial circuit and specially appointed Committees for Judicial and Foreign Fellows.

Criteria for selection include: the highest standard of professionalism, ethics, character, integrity, professional expertise and leadership contributing to the enhancement of bankruptcy and insolvency law and practice; sustained evidence of scholarship, teaching, lecturing or writing on bankruptcy or insolvency topics; and commitment to elevate knowledge and understanding of the profession and public respect for the practice.