Bankruptcy, Litigation Lawyers - Garden City, Long Island, New York

Howard B. Kleinberg

Law Practice

Howard B. Kleinberg is a Member of Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein, P.C. located in Garden City, Long Island, N.Y. Mr. Kleinberg heads the firm’s Bankruptcy & Business Reorganization group and is a member of the Corporate Finance practice. He concentrates his practice on bankruptcy, corporate reorganization, workouts, debtor and creditors’ rights, and commercial litigation.

Mr. Kleinberg focuses on the representation of creditor and business interests of local, regional and national corporations in chapter 11 cases of major public and local and regional companies, as well as related litigation. Recent representations include matters in Blockbuster Video, Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P), Finlay Fine Jewelry, 1031 Tax Group, Chesapeake Corporation, Flying J and Big West Oil, Bally’s Total Fitness, Goodys, Musicland, Parkview Nursing Home, Minisink Estates, and Quality Payroll Systems, among others, with emphasis on such issues as asset sales under section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code, lease and contract assumptions, rejections and cure payments under section 365 of the Code, and reclamation claims. Mr. Kleinberg represents clients as debtors, creditor committee members, and equity security holders in chapter 11 cases of regional public companies and privately held businesses, covering such areas as DIP and exit financing, business and chapter 11 plan formulation and negotiation, and the use and disposition of major assets. Mr. Kleinberg also represents bankruptcy trustees. Mr. Kleinberg has been retained and qualified as an expert witness on bankruptcy and has given testimony. As a member of the Firm’s Financial Services Group, Mr. Kleinberg has negotiated and drafted documentation for complex lending transactions for banks and conducted out-of–court workouts and restructurings.

Mr. Kleinberg’s practice also includes litigation both in bankruptcy and other courts. He has litigated a wide variety of matters for both debtor and creditor clients in such areas as loan documentation enforcement, preference and fraudulent transfer avoidance, motions and contested evidentiary hearings to vacate the automatic stay, the appointment of a chapter 11 trustee, claims allowance, lien avoidance and collateral valuation. On the non-bankruptcy side, Mr. Kleinberg has litigated such matters as corporate dissolution, enforcement and defense of contractual restrictive covenants, and commercial fraud. His practice also includes appeals and extensive involvement in alternative dispute resolution forums, particularly mediation.

Professional Profile

After receiving his J.D. in 1989, Mr. Kleinberg accepted a judicial clerkship with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York. Following the clerkship, he trained as an associate in the bankruptcy department of a Manhattan law firm, moving his practice to Long Island in 1995. Mr. Kleinberg headed the successful effort to reorganize one of the largest real estate bankruptcies in the state of Connecticut, providing for the company to emerge from chapter 11 with its equity intact having restructured $60 million of debt.

Professional Affiliations

Mr. Kleinberg maintains active memberships in the Long Island Chapter of the Turnaround Management Association, the American Bankruptcy Institute, the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, and the Nassau County Bar Association. He is also active in Cornell University alumni programs, and is a past board of trustee member of the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum. Mr. Kleinberg is rated "AV Preeminent" by Martindale-Hubbell, the highest level in professional excellence, and he was recognized by L.I. Pulse Magazine in 2010 and 2011 as one of the region's "Top Legal Eagles".

Publications & Presentations

Mr. Kleinberg has authored numerous articles that have been published in the Banking Law Journal, New YorkLaw Journal, and Nassau Lawyer. Mr. Kleinberg has also lectured at CLE (Continuing Legal Education) seminars.

Admissions
Mr. Kleinberg is admitted to the bars of the States of New York and Connecticut, the United States District and Bankruptcy Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, and the United States and Bankruptcy Courts for the District of Connecticut.