Samuel “Sam” Wisotzkey, Chair of the firm’s Finance Department, focuses his practice on commercial, business bankruptcy and creditors’ rights law. He has extensive experience assisting secured and unsecured business clients in solving the problems associated with financially troubled customers, tenants, and vendors, both prior to and within formal insolvency proceedings in both state and Federal courts.

He regularly assists clients in navigating Chapter 11 proceedings filed by a customer or vendor in cases throughout the country, including advising regarding critical vendor arrangements, sales under section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code, asserting reclamation and administrative claims and pursuing adequate protection payments and relief from stay actions to protect real and personal property collateral.

Sam routinely defends clients against preferential transfer claims in bankruptcy and receivership litigation throughout the 50 states. He negotiates and documents secured lending transactions and workout arrangements under the Uniform Commercial Code, and carries on a long and rich history of KMK in the representation of the interests of commercial banks and financial institutions.

His accomplishments include:

  • Represented the purchaser in the acquisition of a manufacturing facility being sold by a Wisconsin receiver in a proceed brought under Chapter 128 of the Wisconsin Statutes.
  • Represented the food service supplier to a substantial regional restaurant chain prior to and throughout the debtors’ Chapter 11 proceeding, negotiating full payment as a critical vendor, and further guiding the client through the debtors’ sale under Section 363, enabling the client to retain a significant customer.
  • Represented a well known manufacturer in a multi-million dollar preference defense action, convincing the Tennessee bankruptcy court that goods that qualified for administrative expense status under § 503(b)(9) could also be used as new value in defense of the preference claim. In re Commissary Operations, Inc., 421 B.R. 873 (Bankr. M.D. Tenn. 2010).
  • Successfully argued that Wisconsin law requires a state court receiver to provide payment to unsecured creditors that provide goods and services during the time the receiver was in control of the property, overturning the lower court’s ruling that had denied permission to intervene to assert that claim. M&I Marshall & Ilsley Bank v. Urquhart Cos., 2005 WI App 225, 706 N.W. 2d 335.
  • Successfully defended numerous creditors from preference claims totaling over half a million dollars asserted by a Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee under the state preference statute. Dubis v. B.W. Supply (In re Delta Group, Inc.), 310 B.R. 918 (Bankr. E.D. Wis. 2003), aff’d, 336 B.R. 405 (E.D. Wis. 2004).

Bar Admissions

  • Wisconsin
  • Arizona (Inactive)
  • S. District Court Eastern District of Wisconsin
  • S. District Court Western District of Wisconsin
  • S. District Court Northern District of Illinois
  • S. District Court Central District of Illinois
  • S. District Court, District of Arizona
  • S. Court of Appeals 7th Circuit
  • S. Supreme Court
  • Lac du Flambeau Tribal Court

Education

  • University of Michigan Law School, J.D., 1991
  • Bucknell University, B.S., Magna Cum Laude, 1988

Professional Distinctions, Honors, and Awards

  • Board Certified in Business Bankruptcy Law by the American Board of Certification since 2017
  • Recognized as a Wisconsin Super Lawyer 2016-2018 in Business Bankruptcy
  • Recognized as a Best Lawyer in America since 2016 in Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law, and Commercial Litigation
  • Martindale Hubbell – AV Rated
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Professional Associations and Memberships

  • State Bar of Wisconsin
  • American Bankruptcy Institute

Speeches/Seminars Presentations

  • “Reclamation Claims”
  • “The Power and Limitations of the Unsecured Creditors’ Committee”
  • “The “363 Sale”—Protecting your Rights when the Debtor Sells the Business”
  • “Dancing with the Debtor in Chapter 11: Protective Measures and Strategies to Maximize Recovery”
  • “From Negotiated Reorganization to Pre-Packaged Bankruptcy: What Creditors Need to Know”

Community Involvement

  • Robert Parish member
  • Wednesday Soccer Club

Other Honors

  • Shaler Area School District (PA) Athletic Hall of Fame – Inducted 2017