John Collen concentrates his practice on Chapter 11 reorganizations, Chapter 7 liquidation, out of court work-outs, transactions involving troubled business entities and creditors’ rights litigation. John has more than 25 years experience. John’s clients include debtors, secured and unsecured creditors, creditors’ committees, shareholders, receivers, trustees, landlords and asset buyers. His industry experience includes real estate, retail, manufacturing, printing and graphics, airlines, toys, telecommunications, broadcast, healthcare, music, transportation, entertainment, floor covering and power generation. John has been involved in many nationally recognized cases including the Rock Island Railroad, JarTran, Federated Stores, Handy Andy Home Improvement Centers, Flooring America, Grossman’s Hardware, K-Mart, United Airlines, and the Arena Football League.
John has achieved an AV® Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell, which is a testament to the fact that a lawyer’s peers rank him at the highest level of professional excellence. He has been listed in Marquis Who’s Who in American Law and Marquis Who’s Who in America. Additionally, in 2011, John was named to the Illinois Super Lawyers® list.
John is a frequent author and speaker on commercial bankruptcy and related topics. Most notably, he wrote the book, “Buying and Selling Real Estate in Bankruptcy”, West Group, 1997, and has written journal and CLE articles on such topics as bankruptcy and D&O Insurance, asset valuation, sales free and clear of liens and encumbrances and ethics. In addition to his practice, John serves as an adjunct law professor in the Bankruptcy LLM program at St. John’s Law School in New York.