Joseph L. Schwartz is Chair of the Firm’s Bankruptcy & Corporate Restructuring Group. He has over 25 years of experience in commercial bankruptcy and state court insolvency matters, with a focus on corporate restructurings and reorganizations.

Joe also has substantial experience in state and federal receiverships and assignments for the benefit of creditors, as well as out-of-court corporate restructurings, turnarounds, workouts, wind-downs, dissolutions and commercial litigation. He represents a diverse array of clients, including, but not limited to, indenture trustees, debtors, official and ad hoc creditors’ committees, insurance companies, banks, other secured lenders, chapter 7 and chapter 11 trustees, trade creditors, third-party purchasers, and landlords.

Joe also serves as one of the Subchapter V trustees in New Jersey, having been appointed by the Office of the United States Trustee under the Small Business Reorganization Act, and regularly serves as a mediator in bankruptcy cases in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey. He also regularly both prosecutes and defends avoidance actions on behalf of various clients, including preference and fraudulent conveyance lawsuits.

Joe has considerable experience and has taken a leading role in representing various constituents in numerous bankruptcy cases and insolvency-related matters, including complex cases involving the construction, healthcare, mass tort, commodities, mining and metals, real estate, retail, apparel, steel, airline, manufacturing, distribution, telecommunications, and technology sectors.

Joe was elected President of the New Jersey Turnaround Management Association, effective January 2022, and will serve a two-year term, following years of service to NJ TMA. He also serves on the Turnaround Management Association’s Global Membership Council, which addresses global membership goals and strategies for TMA. He is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute and various other insolvency-related associations. In addition, Joe has previously served on the New Jersey Supreme Court District V-C Ethics Committee (western Essex County).

Joe serves on the Corporate Advisory Council of Homeless Solutions, which offers shelter, services, and supportive housing to the homeless and working poor in Morris County through outreach services, a Safe Haven Program for the mentally ill homeless, and a Family Transitional Housing Program.

He also frequently lectures and writes on various insolvency-related topics. While attending law school, Joe served as a member of the Suffolk University Law Review.

Bankruptcy Litigation

Corporate Reorganization

New Jersey

United States District Court, District of New Jersey

United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit

Suffolk University Law School, J.D., cum laude, 1991

Rutgers University, B.S. in Accounting, 1988

Former Member, NJ Supreme Court District V-C Ethics Committee (western Essex County).

Member, Debtor/Creditor Section, New Jersey Bar Association

President, New Jersey Turnaround Management Association

Corporate Advisory Council, Homeless Solutions

ABI Mid-Atlantic Bankruptcy Advisory Board

Subchapter V Chapter 11 Trustee, District of New Jersey

Mediator, Bankruptcy Court Mediation Panel, District of New Jersey

Since 2007, Chambers USA: America’s Leading Business Lawyers Client’s Guide has ranked Riker Danzig’s Bankruptcy Group in the top tiers of New Jersey’s bankruptcy practices. Chambers has ranked Joe in Band One in its Client’s Guide for Bankruptcy Law.

Joe has been named by NJBIZ as a 2023 “Leaders in Law” Award Honoree. This annual program honors legal professionals, including in-house attorneys and attorneys in private practice, whose dedication to their occupation and to their communities is outstanding. The honorees were selected by a panel of independent judges with experience in the justice system following a rigorous nomination process.

Since 2022, Joe has been recognized in the Lawdragon list of the 500 Leading Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers in the United States. Lawdragon selects attorneys for its list who are highly regarded for helping companies navigate ailing economies and uncertain times.  Lawdragon notes that among the signature traits of those on their list are “the ability to be calm, deliberate and creative while it feels worlds crash around them. They find the through line to the future.”

Joe has been included in The Best Lawyers in America®, a peer review of U.S. Lawyers, for Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law, as well as for Bankruptcy Litigation, since 2010.

Thomson Reuters has included Joe on the New Jersey “Super Lawyers” list for Bankruptcy Law each year since 2006.

See Awards and Honors Methodology.

No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.

In re Hollister Construction Servs., LLC, 617 B.R. 45 (Bankr. D.N.J. March 13, 2020)

In re New England Confectionery Co., 2020 Bankr. Lexis 266 (Bankr. D.MA. January,31 2020)

In re New England Confectionery Co.(Murphy v. ACAS LLC), 2019 Lexis 3703 (Bankr. D.MA December 4, 2019)

In re G-I Holdings, Inc., 580 B.R. 388 (Bankr. D.N.J. January 26, 2018)

In re Signature Apparel Group, LLC, 557 B.R. 54 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y August 24, 2017

In re G-I Holdings, Inc. (G-I Holdings, Inc. v. Ashland, Inc.), 2017 Lexis 68891 (Bankr. D.N.J. May 5, 2017)

In re Hanjin Shipping Co., 2016 Lexis 3986 (Bankr. D.N.J. September 20, 2016

In re Signature Apparel Group, LLC (Signature Apparel Group., LLC, v. Laurita, 2016 Lexis 2858 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. August 4, 2016)

In re Microbilt Corp. (Microbilt Corp. v. Chex, Systems 588 Fed. Appx. 179 (3d Cir. December 10, 2014)

In re Circle 10 Restaurant, LLC, 519 B.R. 95 (Bankr. D.N.J. November 7, 2014)

MicroBilt Corp. v. Chex Sys. (In re MicroBilt Corp.) 2013 Lexis 176070 (D.N.J. December 16, 2013)

In re NJ Affordable Homes Corp. 2013 Lexis 4798 (Bankr. D.N.J. November 8, 2013)

In re Raritan Hospitality, LLC,  2011 Lexis 2649 (Bankr. D.N.J. July 8, 2011)

In re Ridgemour Meyer Properties, LLC (Ginsburg Development Cos., LLC v. Silverman, 2011 U.S. Dist. Lexis 1555 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. January 5, 2011)

In re Ridgemour Meyer Properties, LLC, 413 B.R. 101 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. December 12, 2008)

In re International Benefits Group, Inc., 2008 WL 5070673, (D.N.J. November 24, 2008)

In re EnCap Golf Holdings, LLC, 2008 WL 4200324, (Bankr. D.N.J. September 4, 2008)

In re Benun, 386 B.R. 59 (Bankr. D.N.J. February 29, 2008)

In re M Liquidating Corp., 2007 WL 4571090, (Bankr. D.N.J. December 27, 2007)

In re International Benefits Group, Inc., 2007 WL 1875926 (D.N.J. June 28, 2007)

In re United Steel Enterprises, Inc., 2006 WL 3544583 (D.N.J. December 8, 2006)

In re International Benefits Group, Inc., 2006 WL 2417297, (D.N.J. August 21, 2006)

In re Benun, 339 B.R. 115 (Bankr. D.N.J. March 10, 2006)

In re Combustion Engineering, Inc., 391 F.3d 190 (3rd Cir. December 2, 2004)

In re APF Co., 308 B.R. 183 (Bankr. D.Del. April 26, 2004)

In re APF Co. (Pardo v. Foundation Health Corp)., 2004 WL 1969580 (Bankr. D.Del. January 21, 2004)

In re Muma Services, Inc., 286 B.R. 583 (Bankr. D.Del. November 27, 2002)

In re American Appliance, 272 B.R. 587 (Bankr. D.N.J. January 25, 2002)

In re APF Co., 274 B.R. 408 (Bankr. D.Del. December 18, 2001)

In re APF Co., 2001 WL 1820788 (D.Del. August 31, 2001)

In re APF Co., 274 B.R. 634 (Bankr. D.Del. August 27, 2001)

In re APF Co., 264 B.R. 344 (Bankr. D.Del. June 27, 2001)

Pollution Control Financing Authority of Warren County v. County of Somerset, 735 A.2d 633, (N.J.Super.A.D. August 27, 1999)

Matter of Arrow Carrier Corp., 1994 WL 411780 (D.N.J. June 6, 1994)