Robert Gerber

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Robert E. Gerber is a former United States Bankruptcy Court judge from the Southern District of New York, who presided over the General Motors bankruptcy of June 2009. Gerber previously presided over the bankruptcy of Adelphia Communications Corporation and Ames Department Stores. [1] Gerber served in that office from 2000 to 2016.

Judge Gerber earned a B.S. degree from Rutgers University in 1967 and a J.D. degree from Columbia Law School in 1970. [2]

Prior to his appointment in 2000, he was a partner in the New York City law firm of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, where he specialized in securities and commercial litigation and, thereafter, bankruptcy litigation and counseling.

In 2012, a trust representing unsecured creditors of "old" GM filed a lawsuit (which came under Gerber's purview) against GM over payments made to hedge funds in 2009 in exchange for waiving of claims against GM's Canadian subsidiary. The challenge threatened (unsuccessfully) to reopen the 2009 case. [3]

Gerber presided over the bankruptcy of LyondellBasell. [4] Though the company emerged from bankruptcy in 2010, claims of fraudulent conveyance by the litigation trust representing unsecured creditors against individual former shareholders, [5] employees, and management of LyondellBasell are still pending as of early 2013. [6] [4] [7] [8]

After leaving the court, Gerber joined the New York law firm of Joseph Hage Aaronson, and taught as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Columbia. [9]

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References

  1. Trevino, Fernando. "ABI Panel 1 - "Hot Topics in Bankruptcy: Conflicts in the Courts."". Bankruptcy Law Review / American Bankruptcy Institute . Archived from the original on 11 March 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
  2. "Judge Robert E. Gerber". United States Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  3. Checkler, Joseph. "Creditor Lawsuit Could Undo Elements of 2009 GM Bailout". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  4. 1 2 Trevino, Fernando. "ABI Panel 2 - "Hot Topics in Bankruptcy: Fraud Claims, Safe Harbor, LBOs and LyondellBasell"". Bankruptcy Law Review / American Bankruptcy Institute . Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  5. "Get Sued for Owning a Stock?". Motley Fool . Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  6. "Chapter 11: An Imperfect Vessel in a Perfect Storm (A Reprise)". Bankruptcy Law Review. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  7. Brown, Nick. "UBS had right to bar Highland from Lyondell financing". ThomsonReuters News and Insight. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  8. Ovide, Shira (3 May 2011). "Lyondell Lawsuit Casts a Pall Over LBOs". WSJ Deal Journal. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  9. "Robert Gerber". www.law.columbia.edu. Retrieved May 5, 2023.