experienced bankruptcy lawyers . It was a boutique practice much like criminal law and matrimonial law . Unfortunately for me , Akerman needed a bankruptcy lawyer ASAP so they hired a lawyer who was graduating six months before me . However , they had worked with the firm in Birmingham who was considering me for an associate ’ s position , and they provided me with a very nice recommendation . I saw Bankruptcy law as a way that I could be my own boss sooner while also remaining a transactions and banking lawyer . I already enjoyed secured transactions and real estate law so that was a logical fit . So when I started practicing , I became the first lawyer at a traditional Birmingham firm to begin appearing in Bankruptcy Court .
Since Bankruptcy Law was not a subject covered in law school at that time , I spent parts of at least two summers at Larry King ’ s NYU bankruptcy program where I got to meet Vern Countryman , Frank Kennedy , George Treister , Marty Lipton , Leonard Rosen , James White and a young David Epstein . I was also encouraged by our local bankruptcy judges , Stephen B . Coleman ( appointed in 1938 ) and Chandler Watson , as well as the local bar , including College members Charles Denaburg , Bob Rubin and Wilbur Silberman . Bankruptcy Law became one of my primary areas of practice . In addition , I handled secured lending transactions , general banking and trust law as well as commercial law like collections and material men ’ s lien law . I mainly represented the creditors ’ side of the street with only mixed results when I ventured over to the debtors ’ side .
That ’ s my story .
I grew up listening to my father talking about Chapter XI cases at the dinner table . My father Bill Thorne was a well-known business bankruptcy lawyer in Northern Indiana — maybe the only lawyer in the area willing to take on middle-market corporate reorganizations . In my memory , the best of those cases involved a local ski shop and a record store , but there were many more RV and mobile home manufacturers that needed relief . Judge Robert Rodibaugh ( N . D . Indiana ) was frequently discussed during dinner .
After attending law school and taking several bankruptcy courses ( merely so that I
Hon . Deborah L . Thorne
could understand the dinner conversation ), I found bankruptcy case discussions even more interesting and started to understand my father ’ s love for this area of law . I served as an extern for Chief Judge Robert Eisen for several semesters and , as I left law school , I was asked if I wanted to work on bankruptcy matters for the City of Chicago Law Department . Harold Washington had recently been elected as the first Black mayor of Chicago and had begun to professionalize the law department . The administration was full of young and progressive people ; it seemed like a great opportunity , so I took the job . Of course , I had no idea that I would become involved in many of the mega cases filed in the mid-eighties , including Johns- Manville , UNR Industries , Eastern Airlines , and Air Florida , as well as local tax issues continued on page 30
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