Deborah L. Thorne is a partner in the Chicago office of Barnes & Thornburg LLP and a member of the Finance, Insolvency and Restructuring Department. Ms. Thorne concentrates her practice in the areas of creditors' rights, bankruptcy, financial restructurings, secured lending, and commercial transactions encompassing all phases of restructuring of corporate clients, commercial litigation and representation of creditors seeking recovery for breach and liquidation of contract and other claims; negotiation of restructuring plans, financing and other disputes; representation of creditors' committees; representation of secured creditors in UCC foreclosures, replevins of personal property, workouts of non-performing loans, representation of trade vendors in preference defense and reclamation claims, and representation of various parties in assignments for benefit of creditors. Her clients have included financial institutions, corporations, and partnerships in a variety of industries including healthcare, truck manufacturing, food retail, advertising, and automotive supply. Ms. Thorne was selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2011 in the area of bankruptcy and creditor-debtor rights law, and was recognized as a 2011 Leading Lawyer in Illinois. She has also been recognized by Illinois Super Lawyers every year since 2005.
Ms. Thorne is a frequent lecturer and has authored articles for numerous legal and business publications, including the National Association of Credit Management's (NACM) Business Credit Magazine and the ABI Journal. She is a contributing editor of the NACM's Credit Manual, and is on the editorial board of Business Credit Magazine. Ms. Thorne is a member of the board of directors for the American Bankruptcy Institute and serves on the editorial board of the ABI Journal. She is a past co-chair of the Unsecured Trade creditors Committee. In addition, she is the author of the Preference Defense Handbook, Second Edition and co-authored Auto Supplier Insolvencies & Bankruptcies, both published by the American Bankruptcy Institute. Ms. Thorne is the former bankruptcy chair of the 7th Circuit Bar Association. She is the former chair of the Chicago Bar Association's Bankruptcy Committees and a former member of the board of governors of The Chicago Council of Lawyers. Her community activities include past president of the Evanston United Way Board and board member of the United Way of Suburban Chicago. She currently serves as chair of the board of Women Employed in Chicago.
Ms. Thorne received her B.A. in history from Macalester College in 1975, her M.A.T. from Duke University in 1976, and her J.D. with honors in 1983 from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago Kent College of Law. She is admitted to practice before all Illinois state courts, the U.S. District Courts for the Northern District of Illinois, the Northern and Southern Districts of Indiana, and Western District of Michigan.
Publications
3/5/2012, ABI Journal - "Recovery of LBO Fraudulent Transfers: Can § 546(e) Be Circumvented?"
12/1/2011, ABI Journal - "Third-Party Purchaser Payments to Seller's Unsecured Creditors: Recoverable as Preferential Transfers?"
11/1/2011, Business Credit - "Sellers Beware, As Debtors Continue the Challenge to Section 503(b)(9): Anticipate the Attack Through Terms and Conditions"
6/1/2011, Business Credit - "Looking at the Fine Print (and the Map): Who Owns the Preferences? Where Are You and What Did the Plan Say?"
05/01/2011, ABI Journal - Does "the Mortgage Follow the Note"? Lessons Learned, Best Practices for Assignment of a Note and Mortgage
05/01/2011, Business Credit - "United States Supreme Court Lends Hand to Preference Defendants: Trustees Need to State a Case"
12/01/2010, ABI Journal - "Rule 4(m): An Impermissible Detour Around § 546's Statue of Limitations"
06/09/2010, UCC Law Journal - "Navigating Turbulent Economic Waters; Using the Uniform Commercial Code to Steady the Boat"
5/20/2010, Preference Defense Handbook: The Circuits Compared, 2d Ed.
05/01/2010, Business Credit - "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Weighing the Exercise of Prudent Collection Techniques Against Future Preferential Exposure"
04/01/2010, ABI Journal - "Good as Gold: Obtaining and Retaining Perfected Security Interests in Borrower Bank Accounts"
11/01/2009, Business Credit - "Cash Collateral and DIP Financing Orders"
09/10/2009, Commercial Finance & Insolvency Bulletin - September 2009
09/01/2009, Business Credit - "What Credit Professionals Should Know About Liquidation and Restructuring Outside of Court"
08/05/2009, Business Credit - "Adequate Assurance and Anticipatory Repudiation in the Supply Chain"
06/12/2009, Business Credit - "Pay to Play: Liquidation of Assets Using Chapter 11 Should Provide Unsecured Creditors With a Share of the Proceeds"
05/01/2009, Business Credit - "Creditors Committees': What you should consider before deciding to serve"
04/01/2009, Business Credit - "Navigating Turbulent Waters: A Checklist of the Tools Provided by the Uniform Commercial Code"
03/01/2009, Business Credit - "Beware: How You Bill Goods and Services May Impact Your Right to Priority Payment"
11/01/2008, Business Credit - "Michigan Bankruptcy Court Upholds Rights of Sellers of Goods"
06/01/2008, ABI Journal - "Trouble for secure creditors: Avoiding the Traps of UCC Sec 9-503 and 9-506"
06/01/2008, Business Credit - "Out-of-Court Liquidation Pose Questions for Credit Professionals"
05/01/2008, Business Credit - "Anticipatory Repudiation: Is the Force With You?"
05/01/2008, Protocol Magazine - "A good credit application is a powerful tool"
04/01/2008, Business Credit - "Careless Clicking: The Consequences of 'I Agree'"
03/05/2008, Dow Jones Daily - "Reclamation, Administrative Claims Under 2005 Bankruptcy Reform Act"
03/01/2008, Business Credit - "The Equal Opportunity Credit Act: Avoid the Pitfalls"
02/01/2008, Business Credit - "Credit Applications: Useful Tools in Knowing Your Customer and in Binding Your Customer to Contractual Terms"
12/01/2007, ABI Journal - "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Provisional Liens on Deposits, Preference Liability and the Interconnection of UCC Section 4-210"
11/01/2007, ABI Journal - "Preference Litigation Run Amok"
11/01/2007, Business Credit - "Assignments for the Benefit of Creditors: Creditor Considerations"
10/31/2007, Auto Supplier Newsletter, Vol. 2, Issue 4 - October 2007
06/01/2007, ABI Journal - "Reclamation under the New §546(c)(1): Illusory Remedy as Ever"
06/01/2007, Business Credit - "Stoppage in Transit: Useful and Reliable Remedy for The Diligent Seller Facing The Insolvent Buyer"
05/01/2007, Business Credit - "Terms and Conditions: Don't Forget the Small Print!"
04/01/2007, ABI Journal - "The Courts Begin to Speak: Deciphering §546(c)"
04/01/2007, Business Credit - "Bailment versus Sale: Another View"
03/01/2007, The Credit Report - "Mystery Unfolds: Bankruptcy Courts Begin to Explain New Rights of Reclamation"
11/30/2006, Business Credit - "Lessons To Be Learned: Auto Supplier Industry Workouts Encourage Parties To Communicate"
10/15/2006, Auto Supplier Newsletter, Vol. 1, Issue 5
10/01/2006, Pratt's Journal of Bankruptcy Law - "Bankruptcy Briefs"
09/18/2006, Auto Supplier Newsletter, Vol. 1, Issue 4
09/01/2006, Business Credit - "Critical Vendors And Essential Suppliers: New Meaning In The Auto Supply Business"
08/03/2006, Auto Supplier Newsletter, Vol. 1, Issue 3
06/23/2006, Auto Supplier Newsletter, Vol. 1, Issue 2
05/26/2006, Auto Supplier Newsletter, Vol. 1, Issue 1
04/01/2006, ABI Journal - "Creditors' Committees? The Fallout from BAPCPA Changes to Section"
01/26/2006, ABI World - "Supreme Court Rules that Bankruptcy Courts Have Jurisdiction to Hear Avoidance Actions Brought Against States; Sovereign Immunity Not a Bar to the Bankruptcy Courts' in Rem Jurisdiction"
12/01/2005, ABI Journal - "Lenders Beware: Set-off and Recoupment Can Reduce Your Collateral Value"
05/01/2005, ABI Journal - "New Law Gives Trade Creditors Help"
12/01/2004, ABI Journal - "'Who's on First?': The Eighth Circuit Highlights the Interplay of 'Circular Priority' and Bankruptcy Law"
04/01/2004, ABI Journal - "Are All Creditor 'Animals' Equal?"
10/10/2002, ABI Journal - "Bank's Security Interests in Checking Accounts and Checkkiting Schemes"
07/11/2002, Starting Points: The Fundamentals of Practice in Illinois 2001 Edition
Events
5/20/2011, Barnes & Thornburg's Day at the Park - CLE Lunch and Social Event
2/8/2011, "A Closer Look at Bankruptcy"
10/07/2010, Attorney Presentation - A Preference Update and Proposed Legislative Changes to the Bankruptcy Code
06/10/2010, Attorney Presentation - Bankruptcy: Trade Creditors' Rights
05/16/2010, Attorney Presentation - 2010 Credit Congress and Exposition
01/11/2010, Attorney Presentation - The Latest on 503(b)(9)
06/14/2009, Attorney Presentation - NACM Credit Congress 2009
03/05/2009, Economic Shakeout: How to Prepare for the Storm?
12/30/2008, Attorney Presentation - Fifty Ways to Leave Your Debtor Utilizing the UCC Laws
12/04/2008, Debbie Thorne Participates in the "Great Debates" at the ABI's 2008 Winter Leadership Conference
10/02/2008, Attorney Presentation - Bankruptcy Law
09/19/2008, Attorney Presentation - Deb Thorne Presents on Reclamation and 20-Day Administrative Claims
09/18/2008, Attorney Presentation - Driscoll Presents Mock Preference Case Before NACM Members
07/01/2008, Debbie Thorne Participates in Teleconference, Discusses "Assignments for Benefit of Creditors"
06/10/2008, Debbie Thorne Presents at LaFarge Corporation's Annual Meeting of Credit Managers
05/14/2008, Debbie Thorne Gives Multiple Presentations Throughout May 2008
03/25/2008, Debbie Thorne Teaches Economics Class at Macalester College; Presents on Bankruptcy and Insolvency
02/15/2008, Debbie Thorne Makes Presentation to the Midwest National Association of Credit Management
12/06/2007, American Bankruptcy Institute Winter Leadership Conference
08/21/2007, Debbie Thorne Presents at Home Centers Industry Group
06/05/2007, Doing Business in China: Risk vs Opportunity
05/17/2007, Debbie Thorne Discusses Recent Bankruptcy Law Developments
04/01/2007, Fifty Ways to Leave your Debtor: Lesser-Known Remedies for Jilted Creditors
12/12/2006, Supply Contracts in Chapter 11 Cases
11/17/2006, Group of Attorneys Present at National Japanese Organization
10/26/2006, Debbie Thorne & Kevin Driscoll Speak at Credit Management Conference
10/26/2006, Kevin Driscoll and Debbie Thorne Speak at Credit Management Meeting
10/05/2006, How to Deal with the Financially Troubled Auto Industry
02/01/2006, Deborah Thorne Presents at Industry Group Events
11/09/2005, Effects of the Hurricanes on Credit
07/02/2005, Debbie Thorne Presents at Credit Managers Group
06/15/2005, Business Bankruptcy Webinar - featuring Deborah Thorne
04/30/2005, Debbie Thorne Delivers Presentation on Bankruptcy Code
03/23/2005, Essential Issues for Creditors
02/23/2005, Essential Issues for Creditors
01/19/2005, Bankruptcy: A Comprehensive Updated Study of Bankruptcy Materials and Legal Information
08/27/2003, Bankruptcy: A comprehensive study of bankruptcy issues and strategies
07/23/2003, Bankruptcy: A comprehensive study of bankruptcy issues and strategies
05/28/2003, Bankruptcy: A comprehensive study of bankruptcy issues and strategies