Joel Shafferman is Counsel to the Firm. Mr. Shafferman concentrates his practice in the areas of Bankruptcy Law, Insolvency, Creditors’ Rights, and Federal Court litigation.
Mr. Shafferman is admitted to practice law in the State of New York and the United States District Court for the Southern, Eastern, and Northern Districts of New York.
Mr. Shafferman earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree from Hofstra University and his Juris Doctorate from Hofstra University School of Law in 1985 where he was a Research Editor of the Law Review.
After graduating from Law School, Mr. Shafferman served as a Law Clerk to a United States Bankruptcy Judge in the Eastern District of New York, Brooklyn Division, for a two-year term after which he went into private practice
Mr. Shafferman has an extensive experience in representing debtors in Chapter 11 and Chapter 7 cases, as well as landlords, lenders, and other creditors in enforcing their rights in Bankruptcy cases. As part of his creditors’ rights practice, Mr. Shafferman has broad experience in representing landlords in large and small chapter 11 retail cases such as Sears, Roebuck and Co., CEC Entertainment Inc. (parent corporation of Chuck E Cheese), 24 Hour Fitness Worldwide, Inc., Yoga Smoga, Inc., Auralee Productions, Inc. fka Halloween Scene.
fka Halloween Scene. Mr. Shafferman also regularly represents secured lenders, and unsecured creditors in enforcing their rights against businesses and individual debtors in chapter 7 and chapter 11 cases, and in defending claims against brought by bankruptcy trustees and creditors’ committees in adversary proceedings seeking to recover preferences and fraudulent conveyances. Mr. Shafferman has also represented creditor committees, successfully obtaining recoveries for creditors in the successful reorganization. Mr. Shafferman’s debtor client base encompasses a broad range of businesses ranging from single asset real estate entities, retail stores, restaurants, country clubs, and dotcoms.
In his federal ligation practice, recently Mr. Shafferman, along with his co-counsel, successfully represented Gem Financial Service, Inc. in obtaining an award, in excess of $1,000,000, against the City of New York in a jury trial held in the United States District Court in the Eastern District of New York.
Mr. Shafferman is the author of numerous articles in publications on insolvency-related issues. Mr. Shafferman was also an Assistant Adjunct Professor of Law at Benjamin N. Cardozo Law School in New York City
