Christopher Celentino is a partner with Foley & Lardner LLP and a member of the Bankruptcy & Business Reorganizations Practice. He focuses his practice in the areas of creditor's rights, fiduciary services litigation, business reorganization and workouts, and insolvency and bankruptcy law.
Mr. Celentino's bankruptcy practice emphasizes representation of creditors in chapter 7, 11 and 13 cases, as well as representation of court-appointed trustees in chapter 7 and chapter 11 cases. He has also represented debtors, including publicly-traded companies, having been instrumental in representing a debtor in a chapter 11 reorganization characterized by the bankruptcy judge as "a member of the San Diego Bankruptcy Reorganization Hall of Fame." Mr. Celentino has a significant knowledge in mechanic's lien law and construction litigation matters, as well as family law and related dissolution matters. His creditor's right practice emphasizes representing lenders and borrowers in workout and restructuring of commercial loans, secured transactions, and lease transactions, and pursuit of creditor's remedies in commercial litigation matters.
Mr. Celentino is one of only a few San Diego attorneys certified as a business bankruptcy specialist by the American Board of Certification. In 2011, he was selected as one of the "Transcript 10," comprised of ten of the most noteworthy attorneys from San Diego County, by the San Diego Daily Transcript. He is currently the president of the California Bankruptcy Forum, the leading professional organization for Bankruptcy Lawyers in the State of California, having served previously as treasurer and secretary. He is also a member of the San Diego Bankruptcy Forum Board of Directors, where he previously served as president in 2002. He is a member of the San Diego County Bar Association, where he served as chair of the Bankruptcy Law Section from 1992 - 1993, and a secretary and vice president of the California State Bar Association Insolvency Committee, as well as a former member of the board of directors of the Bay Area Bankruptcy Forum. He is also former chair of the San Diego Financial Lawyers Group, and has served since 1994 as a court-appointed mediation panel member to the United States Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of California.
Mr. Celentino is widely known as the co-founder and chair of the board of directors of the Old Town Academy, a K-8 Charter School in San Diego, California.
Mr. Celentino was selected for inclusion in the 2007-2011 San Diego Super Lawyers ® lists; The Best Lawyers in America® 2011-2012 lists; and the 2005-2006 editions of Who's Who in American Law. He has been Peer Review Rated as AV® Preeminent™, the highest performance rating in Martindale-Hubbell's peer review rating system.
Representative matters include*:
· Chief Reorganization Counsel, Party City of San Diego and seven affiliate debtors, confirmed plan reorganization
· Chief Reorganization Counsel, Palomar Mountain Spring Water, Inc., confirmed plan of reorganization
· Chief Reorganization Counsel, CinemaStar, Inc., confirmed plan, publically traded company
· Chief Reorganization Counsel, Audre, Inc. confirmed plan, publically traded company
· Trustee Counsel, In re Adams, complex high-profile bankruptcy/divorce case
· Trustee Counsel, multiple fraudulent conveyance cases
· OCC Counsel, In re Enivel, Inc. and seven affiliated debtors
· OCC Counsel, In re Mesa Verde Re Venture LLC
· Official Creditors' Committee Counsel, In re Pacific Gateway Exchange, confirmed plan of reorganization
· Official Creditors' Committee Counsel, In re Campesinos Unidos, confirmed plan of reorganization
· Creditor Counsel, In re DAKS LLC
*Certain of these matters occurred prior to Mr. Celentino joining Foley & Lardner LLP.
Selected publications:
· Featured, "Duane Morris Attorney Trying to Change Landscape of Education," San Diego Daily Transcript (June 2011)
· Author, "Portions of the 2005 Bankruptcy Reform Legislation of Interest to Family Law Practitioners," Pennsylvania Family Lawyer (July 2008)
· Author, "Divorce and Bankruptcy," California Family Law Newsletter (2006)
· Author, "Divorce and Bankruptcy: Spousal Support as Property of the Estate," California Bankruptcy Journal, Vol. 28, No. 4 (2006)
Speaking engagements:
· Co-speaker, "Bankruptcy and Divorce - When World's Collide," Bay Area Bankruptcy Forum (January 31, 2012)
· Speaker, "When Worlds Collide: Bankruptcy and Divorce," Esquire Solutions, San Diego, California (December 7, 2011)
· Speaker, "Bankruptcy Reorganization Plan Strategies: Debt Reinstatement and Indubitable Equivalent," Stafford Webinar (September 7, 2011)
· Speaker, "Bankruptcy 101," Rady School at University of California, San Diego (April 2011)
· Speaker, "Don't Be the One Who Gets (Sun)Burned: Secured Creditor Rights Including Valuation Issues," AIRA's 26th Annual Bankruptcy & Restructuring Conference, San Diego, California (June 2010)
· Co-speaker, "Restructuring 101 for Healthy Companies: What Healthy Companies Need to Know About Restructuring Now," Association for Corporate Growth - San Diego Chapter (November 2009)
· Co-speaker, "Bankruptcy Issues in Divorce," The Rutter Group Program, San Francisco and Los Angeles, California (September 2007)
· Speaker, "Medication in Bankruptcy Cases," Center for International Legal Studies (February 2007)
· Speaker, "Bankruptcy Law: What You Need to Know When a Key Vendor/Supplier/Customer Files Bankruptcy," Center for International Legal Studies (August 2006)
· Speaker, "Licensing, Distributions and Franchising Issues Arising in U.S. Bankruptcy Proceedings," Center for International Legal Studies (February 2006)
· Speaker, "Mechanics Lien Law & Related Remedies," National Association of Credit Managers, San Diego (2006)
· Speaker, "Bankruptcy Taxation," 8th Annual Tax and Accounting Institute, San Diego, California (November 2004)
· Speaker, "Key Creditor Remedies and Related Issues Under the Bankruptcy Law, " CFDD Western Conference, San Diego, California (February 2004)
· Speaker, "Debtors' Pension Plans: Ours or Theirs?" National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees, Spring Meeting (2001) Annual Meeting (2003)
· Speaker, "Construction Law and Mechanics' Lien Issues," Center for International Legal Studies (February 2003)
· Speaker, "A Primer on Mechanics' Liens, Stop Notices and Design Professional's Liens," Credit Financial Development Division of National Association of Credit Managers (January 2001, 2002 and 2003)
· Speaker, "Mechanics' Lien Law and Strategy: Stop Notices, and Payment Bond Claims in California," National Business Institute (April 2002)
· Speaker, "Workouts, Restructuring and Reorganization," Association for Corporate Growth Annual Meeting (March 2002)
· Speaker, "Emerging Use of Internet in Bankruptcy Asset Liquidation, " Central California Bankruptcy Association (November 2000)
· Speaker, "Efficient Liquidation of Assets in Bankruptcy Cases," National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees (September 2000)
· Speaker, "Pursuit of Pension Assets in Bankruptcy Cases," Alameda County Bar Association (March 2000)
· Speaker, "Offshore Assets: Discovery and Recovery," Southern California Chapter, American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (January 2000)
Mr. Celentino graduated from Georgetown University Law Center (J.D., cum laude, 1987), where he was the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Law and Technology and was an associate editor of The Georgetown Law Journal. His undergraduate degree is from Northwestern University (B.S., 1984).
Mr. Celentino is admitted to practice in California and before the U.S. District Court for the Southern, Northern, Central and Eastern districts of California. He has been admitted pro hac vice in federal bankruptcy court matters in Arizona, Delaware, Nevada, New York, Illinois and Texas.