The Great Debates

Hank Menninger chairs the firm’s Bankruptcy, Business, and Creditors' Rights Practice Area. He has extensive experience representing individuals and restructuring businesses in bankruptcy proceedings. He serves as a member of the panel of Bankruptcy Trustees for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Ohio, and is certified by the American Board of Certification in the area of Consumer Bankruptcy*. He has served as a state court appointed receiver, including an important stint as Receiver in the celebrated Kenwood Towne Place foreclosure proceeding in the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas. He has had involvement in one form or another in nearly every large Chapter 11 case filed in Cincinnati over the past twenty years, including the reorganization proceedings involving Federated Department Stores, Eagle Picher Industries, Brendamour’s Sporting Goods, Elder Beerman Department Stores, Cincinnati Riverfront Coliseum, the Cincinnati Cyclones, R.L. Torbeck Industries, Claddagh Pubs, Ameristop Convenience Stores, Berean Christian Stores, Odom Industries, Able Care Medical Services, as well as the Calumet Farms case in Lexington, Kentucky. Hank is licensed to practice in state and federal courts in both Ohio and Kentucky.

Hank has been included on the Ohio Super Lawyers? list by the publishers of Law and Politics Magazine every year since 2004. He has also been selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America? since 2009 in the fields of Bankruptcy and creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law and Litigation - Bankruptcy. Hank has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Salmon P. Chase College of Law, Northern Kentucky University and lectures frequently on legal topics relating to bankruptcy and real estate practice. His article “The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA) and Attorney Sanctions – A Sixth Circuit Overview and Analysis”, co-authored with Thomas J. Blatz, Jr., was published in Volume 33 of the Northern Kentucky Law Review. He is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute. He has served as Chairman of the Real Estate Law Committee of the Cincinnati Bar Association, Chairman of the Cincinnati Bar Association’s Practical Law Institute, and as a member of the Planning Committee of the annual Midwest Regional Bankruptcy Seminar. He is also an approved Real Estate Title Insurance Agent for the Chicago Title Insurance Company.

Having graduated from Elder High School (Class of ’68), the University of Cincinnati (B.A., Class of ’72), and the Salmon P. Chase College of Law of Northern Kentucky University (Order of the Curia, J.D. Class of ‘77) Hank lives in Harrison, Ohio with his wife. He has three adult sons, one of whom (Michael J. Menninger) is a practicing attorney. He is an active member of St. John the Baptist parish, and serves as an elected member of the Harrison City Council. He has been active in the community, currently serving as a member of the Executive Committee of the Cincinnati Reds Community Fund Board. He has served as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Cincinnati Bar Association Foundation, and as a member of the Board of Trustees for the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association. He was honored by the Chase College of Law Alumni Association with its prestigious “Professional Achievement Award” in 2007.

Bob Sanker's practice is concentrated in the areas of bankruptcy, reorganization and creditors' rights. He also acts as general counsel for a number of closely-held companies.

Bob has extensive experience in representing debtors, creditors, creditors' committees, lenders, investors and purchasers in Chapter 11 cases and in out-of-court restructurings. He has represented creditors and court appointed representatives of future claimants in major mass tort bankruptcy proceedings, including the Eagle Pitcher Industries, Wallace and Gale, and G-I Holdings cases. He has appeared in Bankruptcy Courts all over the country.

Bob has spoken on a number of insolvency related topics and is currently Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Midwest Regional Bankruptcy Seminar.

Bob Goering Co founded the law firm in 1960, focusing on representing debtors in financial distress. He’s an adjunct professor of law at the Salmon P. Chase College of Law, teaching bankruptcy courses since 1974. He has broad experience in representing individuals and businesses in private workouts and in bankruptcy proceedings. He has been certified by the American Board of Certification in Business and Consumer Bankruptcy since 1992. Bob has received the Award of Merit from the Ohio Legal Center Institute. He is a member of the Cincinnati Bar Association, the Ohio State Bar Association, Northern Kentucky Bar Association, the Cincinnati Bar Association and Northern Kentucky Bar Association Bankruptcy Committee.

Casey focuses her practice in the areas of insolvency, creditors’ rights and bankruptcy reorganization, including all aspects of bankruptcy litigation. She represents secured lenders, creditors’ committees, unsecured creditors and other parties of interest in bankruptcy proceedings, restructurings and out-of court workouts.

Prior to joining Taft, Casey was a law clerk for the Honorable Beth A. Buchanan and Honorable J. Vincent Aug, Jr. of the United States Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Ohio. She earned her B.A. and her M.B.A. from the University of Cincinnati, and her J.D. from Salmon P. Chase College of Law.

Casey is dedicated to serving her profession. She currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Midwest Regional Bankruptcy Institute and is the vice-president of the Tri-State Association for Corporate Renewal. She is a past chair of the Judicial Liaison Committee for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Ohio at Cincinnati and past chair of the Bankruptcy Committee at the Cincinnati Bar Association. She is a member of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber of Commerce's WE Lead Class 11 and a graduate of Cincinnati Academy of Leadership for Lawyers (CALL) Class XVII. She served on the board for the League for Animal Welfare, where she co-chaired their annual fundraising event.

An insightful writer known for his authoritative take on legal developments affecting bankruptcy practice, Rochelle published for Bloomberg every day from 2007 until this fall.

Prior to his second career in journalism, he practiced bankruptcy law for 35 years, including 17 years as a partner in the New York office of Fulbright & Jaworski LLP.

He earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Columbia University, where he won Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar awards in the law school.

Honarable Robert E. Gerber is a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of New York. Since his appointment to the bench 10 years ago, Judge Gerber has presided over a wide variety of chapter 11, chapter 7, chapter 15, section 304 and SIPA cases - including PSINet, Ames Department Stores, Global Crossing, Adelphia, Basis Yield Alpha Fund, Lyondell Chemical, BearingPoint, DBSD North America, Chemtura and General Motors.He earned a B.S. degree in industrial engineering, with high honors, from Rutgers University (from which he graduated in 1967), and a J.D. degree, magna cum laude, from Columbia Law School, from which he graduated in 1970, and where, among other things, he was a James Kent Scholar. Before going on the bench, he practiced with the firm of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, specializing in securities and commercial litigation and, thereafter, bankruptcy litigation and counseling. Except for a period of service in the United States Air Force, in 1971 and 1972, he was with Fried Frank for 30 years, 22 as a partner. He is a contributing author to Collier on Bankruptcy, and a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy.