Liquidating Assets

Catherine J. Furay is the chief judge of the United States bankruptcy court, Western District of Wisconsin. She joined the court on January 2, 2013.

Judge Furay received her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and her J.D. from University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Mr. Bakst represents clients in the areas of creditors' rights, bankruptcy, reorganization, and insolvency. He regularly represents secured and unsecured creditors, debtors, trustees, and creditors' committees in loan workout and other negotiations and in state and federal courts.

Upon graduation from Wayne State University Law School, Mr. Bakst clerked for a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan.

He is a former two-term board member of the Detroit Chapter of the Turnaround Management Association. He served as chairperson of the Bankruptcy and Debtor-Creditor Rights Committee of the Real Property Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan from 1996 to 2000 and is a member of numerous other bankruptcy and creditors’ rights related organizations including the American Bankruptcy Institute. He often lectures in the areas of bankruptcy and creditors’ rights.

Mr. Bakst is on the Executive Committee, is Treasurer of the Board of Directors, and is Chair of the Finance Committee for the Jewish Family Service of Metropolitan Detroit. He served previously on the Advisory Board of the Michigan Israel Business Accelerator, as a member of the Community Advisory Board for the Detroit Jewish News, and on the board of the Detroit Chapter of the American Jewish Committee. Mr. Bakst also served on the Zoning Board of Appeals of the City of Oak Park from 1996 to 2000.

He has been included in The Best Lawyers in America since 2009 in the practice areas of Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law and Litigation-Bankruptcy. He has also been included in Michigan Super Lawyers under Bankruptcy: Business for the past decade. Mr. Bakst has been annually listed as a “Top Lawyer” for Bankruptcy and Creditor/Debtor Rights by metro Detroit business magazine DBusiness since the list debuted in 2009. He is Martindale-Hubbell? AV Preeminent? Peer Rated for Highest Level of Professional Excellence and endorsed for High Ethical Standing.

Rebecca represents businesses and other interested parties in bankruptcy, state court receiverships, sales of business assets and out-of-court business reorganizations. She often serves as the receiver for operating and liquidating businesses, as well as in real estate matters. Ms. DeMarb has been certified in business bankruptcy by the American Board of Certification since 2005.

Ms. DeMarb works diligently to meet the needs of her clients. Rebecca is hands-on, responsive, and focuses on bringing diverse interests together to reach acceptable solutions that are cost-effective and make solid business sense. DeMarb brings a polished work-product and a no-nonsense approach to her streamlined, lean and efficient practice.

Rebecca’s skills, knowledge, and experience have earned her inclusion on the Wisconsin Super Lawyers list in Debtor-Creditor Rights since 2008 and on the Top 25 Female Attorneys in Wisconsin by Super Lawyers in 2010, 2015 through present, and Top 25 Attorneys in Madison in 2015 through present. In 2012, she was rated AV by Martindale-Hubbell peer Review Ratings and she maintains the highest Judicial AV Preeminent Rating.

Rebecca DeMarb has been an active member of the insolvency bar and professions. In 2017, DeMarb founded the Wisconsin Network of the International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (“IWIRC”). She remains the Chair of the Wisconsin Network and has taken on positions with the International Board. In 2012, Rebecca served on the Milwaukee committee for Turnaround Management Association. She has been a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute and Turnaround Management Association for several years, and in 2013 served on the Milwaukee Committee for TMA. Since 2019, DeMarb has served on the Advisory Board for the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Central States Conference. From 2013-2016, Rebecca served on the Board for the Bankruptcy, Insolvency, and Creditors’ Rights Section of the State Bar of Wisconsin.

In 2014, she was a winner of the 8th Annual M & A Advisor Turnaround Awards for the Anchor BanCorp, Inc., Chapter 11 bankruptcy case. In 2015, she was a co-winner of the 9th Turnaround Management Association National and Midwest Small Company Transaction awards for her service in the LongVans and Related Entities case, and a co-winner of the 10th Annual M&A Advisor Divestiture Award for LongVans and Related Entities.

After nearly five years with Sweet DeMarb LLC, in January of 2018, DeMarb founded DeMarb Brophy LLC. Prior to that work, Rebecca practiced with Kerkman Dunn out of Milwaukee, at Murphy Desmond in Madison, Wisconsin, in large Chicago firms, and as a solo practitioner.

Michael E. Deeba is a partner in the Bankruptcy & Restructuring Services practice of Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP in Chicago and has over 30 years of experience in bankruptcy, financial distress, accounting and tax-related matters. He has provided consultation and expert-witness services in the areas of restructuring, bankruptcy, insolvency, valuation, fiduciary duties and governance issues, related-party transactions, fraudulent transfers, fraud investigations, forensic accounting and investigatory services, and commercial damages modeling. He has served in these capacities in bankruptcy, federal and state courts and as an arbitrator.

Mr. Deeba has been retained as financial advisor to debtors-in-possession, trustees, secured creditors, committees and other parties-in-interest. His experience has also included structuring and feasibility of plans of reorganization, disclosure-statement issues, valuation of businesses and divisions, solvency analyses and studies, assessments of reasonably equivalent value, adequate capital concerns, and preference and fraudulent-transfer claim disputes.

Mr. Deeba has provided interim-management turnaround services to companies in a wide range of industries, and he has been retained to provide valuation services and lost-profits calculations in disputes involving sales agreements, contracts, shareholder and partner agreements, leases, employment contracts, noncompete clauses, trade infringement and wrongful competition. He is a member of ABI, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors and the Turnaround Management Association.

Mr. Deeba received his B.S. in accounting from the University of Central Oklahoma.