Consumer Ethics: Navigating the Tightrope

Ariane R. Holtschlag is partner with FactorLaw in Chicago and serves as a member of the panel of chapter 7 bankruptcy trustees for the Northern District of Illinois. In her legal practice, She focuses primarily on consumer bankruptcy.

Ms. Holtschlag regularly represents debtors, trustees, and creditors in chapter 7 and 13 as well as bankruptcy-related litigation. She has spoken at several bankruptcy education programs and also volunteered for CARE, speaking to high school students about credit and bankruptcy. In 2017, she was chosen as one of ABI’s inaugural “40 Under 40” award recipients in recognition of her achievements.

Ms. Holtschlag was a commissioner on ABI’s Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy and in 2018 testified before congress on chapter 7 trustee fees. She received her undergraduate degree in 2004 from Illinois Wesleyan University and her J.D. from the University of Iowa in 2007.

Susan Freeman is a partner who concentrates her practice on business bankruptcy and on appeals of all kinds. She is the only lawyer invited to membership (and leadership) in both the American College of Bankruptcy and the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. Susan has briefed and argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, and she is frequently invited to present materials and speak at seminars in Arizona and nationally.

Hon. Mary Grace Diehl is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Georgia in Atlanta, appointed in February 2004.

Prior to taking the bench, she was a partner in the litigation section of Troutman Sanders LLP and chaired its Bankruptcy Practice Group. During her years in private practice, she was consistently named in The Best Lawyers in America and Chambers US: America’s Leading Business Lawyers. Judge Diehl is the immediate past president of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, and serves on the Boards of Directors of ABI and the Turnaround Management Association. She is also a Fellow and vice president of the American College of Bankruptcy and a former president of the Southeastern Bankruptcy Law Institute.

Judge Diehl received the Woman of the Year in Restructuring Award in 2008 from IWIRC (International Women in Restructuring Confederation) and is a regular speaker at CLE programs. She served as a trustee of Canisius College from 2008-14 and has been an adjunct professor of law at Emory Law School.

Judge Diehl received her B.A. summa cum laude from Canisius College in Buffalo, N.Y., and her J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School.

Hon. Bruce A. Harwood is Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the District of New Hampshire in Manchester, first appointed in March 2013. He also serves on the First Circuit’s Bankruptcy Appellate Panel.

Prior to his appointment, Judge Harwood chaired the Bankruptcy, Insolvency and Creditors’ Rights Group at Sheehan Phinney Bass Green in Manchester, N.H., representing business debtors, asset-purchasers, secured and unsecured creditors, creditors’ committees, trustees in bankruptcy, and insurance and banking regulators in connection with the rehabilitation and liquidation of insolvent insurers and trust companies. He was also a chapter 7 panel trustee in the District of New Hampshire and mediated disputes arising in debtor/creditor relations. Judge Harwood was program co-chair of ABI’s Northeast Bankruptcy Conference for four years, served on ABI’s Board of Directors (Communication, Information and Technology Committee) and was Northeast Regional Chair of the ABI Endowment Fund’s Development Committee. He is a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy and was consistently recognized in the bankruptcy law section of The Best Lawyers in America and in New England Super Lawyers, as well as in Chambers USA with a “Band 1” ranking in the field of corporate/commercial bankruptcy.

Judge Harwood received his B.A. from Northwestern University and his J.D. from Washington University School of Law.