Arthur Gonzalez (LL.M. ’90), who joined the NYU School of Law as a senior fellow after stepping down as chief judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in February, was honored by the Hispanic National Bar Association during a reception at the New York offices of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson on April 9.
The crowd of more than 80 guests included most of Gonzalez’s colleagues on his former court, as well as judges from other districts. Diana Sen, immediate past president of the Hispanic National Bar Association, offered remarks, as did Fried Frank bankruptcy and restructuring partner Brad Eric Scheler; Marissa Soto ’06, an associate in Scheler’s department; and Norma Ortiz ’87 of the father-daughter law firm Ortiz & Ortiz. Ortiz, who was Gonzalez’s first clerk, highlighted the former judge’s special role as New York State’s first Latino bankruptcy judge and first and only Latino chief judge of a bankruptcy court. Gonzalez, who presided over the high-profile Chapter 11 cases of Enron, WorldCom, and Chrysler, then offered his own remarks in response to the tributes. He is currently teaching a course on cross-border insolvency cases and relevant law at NYU Law.
Posted on April 16, 2012