Chapter 11 Under Fire: Bad Faith Filings, Motions to Dismiss Under § 1112(b), and Strategic Litigation in an Era of Heightened Judicial Scrutiny

Judith K. Fitzgerald, Esq., Honorable (Ret.) | Tucker Arensberg, P.C

Honorable (Ret.) Judith K. Fitzgerald is a Shareholder at Tucker Arensberg, P.C., bringing more than 25 years of experience as a Bankruptcy Judge to her work as a seasoned litigator, mediator, arbitrator, expert witness, and consultant. She presided over commercial and consumer matters in the Western District of Pennsylvania (chief judge for five years), the District of Delaware, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. She has unique experience in mass tort bankruptcies, having adjudicated more section 524(g) asbestos trust cases than any other bankruptcy judge in the country, and now consults with future claims representatives, plaintiffs’ counsel, insurers, and trustees on emerging cases and trusts.

• Education & Credentials

Judge Fitzgerald earned her JD, BS, and BA from the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. She is admitted to the bars of the District of Columbia and Pennsylvania, and to the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Tax Court, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern, Middle, and Western Districts of Pennsylvania. She has completed multiple mediation training programs, including the 40-hour Bankruptcy Mediation Training course offered by St. John’s University and the American Bankruptcy Institute.

• Recognition & Leadership

Judge Fitzgerald received the CLLA President’s Cup Award (May 2024), the 2020 Bankruptcy Inn Alliance Distinguished Service Award, and the Lawrence P. King Award. She has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America®, Pennsylvania’s Super Lawyers®, Turnaround and Workouts (Top Ten Bankruptcy Jurists of the Year), Law360 (Honorable Mention as one of the most influential bankruptcy judges in history), and the Lawdragon 500 Leading U.S. Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers (2020, 2023, 2025, 2026). Her leadership roles include Former President of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, Past Chair of the Bankruptcy Judges’ Advisory Committee of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, and Former Chair of the Education Committee of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

• Professional Involvement

Judge Fitzgerald is a Distinguished Neutral with FedArb, a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, and a Member of the American Law Institute. She is Co-Founder of the Judith K. Fitzgerald Bankruptcy American Inn of Court and the Western Pennsylvania Network of the International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation, and Founder of the ABI Law Student Writing Competition and Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference. She regularly presents for the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Commercial Law League of America, the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors, the Allegheny County Bar Association, and the American Inns of Court.

• Experience

Before her appointment as a bankruptcy judge in 1987, Judge Fitzgerald served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Western District of Pennsylvania, focusing on complex frauds and criminal tax cases. On the bench, she presided over significant corporate matters including Armstrong World Industries, Federal-Mogul Corporation, Kaiser Aluminum Corporation, Owens Corning, Pittsburgh Corning Corporation, USG Corporation, and W.R. Grace & Co. Since joining Tucker Arensberg, she has served as counsel, expert consultant, expert witness, mediator, arbitrator, and moot judge in matters including Boy Scouts of America, Lehman Brothers Holdings, LTL Management LLC, and Intelsat S.A. She also serves as a Professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, teaching basic and advanced bankruptcy law.

Beverly Weiss Manne, Shareholder| Tucker Arensberg, P.C

Beverly Weiss Manne is a Shareholder at Tucker Arensberg, P.C., serving as an experienced attorney who represents debtors, creditors, lessors, and buyers of assets in bankruptcy cases, non-judicial restructurings, and complex and distressed business and commercial credit matters and other commercial finance transactions. Her practice encompasses Bankruptcy and Reorganization Proceedings, State and Federal Receiverships, Workouts and Loan Restructurings, Forbearance Agreements, Enforcement Actions and Liquidations, Asset Acquisitions, Agricultural Lending and Agribusiness Issues, Negotiable Instrument Issues, Letters of Credit, Supply Agreements Terms, Contract Analysis, Marcellus and Energy, Mechanics Liens, and Municipal Insolvency.

• Education & Credentials

Beverly earned her JD from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and her BA, magna cum laude, from the University of Pittsburgh, where she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. She is admitted to the bars of Maryland and Pennsylvania, and to the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Federal Claims, U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Third and Fourth Circuits, and the U.S. District Courts for the District of Maryland, the Eastern, Middle, and Western Districts of Pennsylvania, and the Western District of Michigan.

• Recognition & Leadership

Beverly has been recognized in Pennsylvania’s Super Lawyers® (Bankruptcy: Business), The Best Lawyers in America® (Bankruptcy & Creditor-Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law), and Martindale Hubbell “AV® Preeminent” Preeminent Women Lawyers (Inaugural Edition, 2011–Present), and has been named to the Lawdragon 500 Leading U.S. Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers list in 2023, 2025, and 2026. Her leadership roles include serving on the Tucker Arensberg Board of Directors (1988–2014), as Chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Business Law Section (2022–2023), as Former President of the Board of Directors of TMA International (2004–2009), and as Founding Member and Former President of the Tri-State Network of the International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation.

• Professional Involvement

Beverly is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and the Allegheny County Bar Foundation, and served on the CLLA Bankruptcy Section Executive Council through 2023. She is active in the Allegheny County Bar Association’s Bankruptcy and Commercial Law Section (Member, Former Chair, Former Council Member) and the Pennsylvania Bar Association, where she serves on the Leadership Council, Shale Energy Law Committee, UVTA Committee, and Transactions Act Committee. She is also a member of the American Bar Association, American Bankruptcy Institute, Anti-Defamation League (Pittsburgh), RNLA Council, the Judith K. Fitzgerald Western Pennsylvania Bankruptcy American Inn of Court (Founding Member, Past President, Executive Committee), and previously served on the Board of Directors of the Turn Around Management Association’s Pittsburgh Chapter.

• Experience

Prior to joining the firm, Beverly was Assistant Counsel at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of General Counsel, Regions I, II, and III (12 states and 2 territories), representing its agencies in the origination and enforcement of business, industrial, agricultural, and housing loans made and guaranteed by the Farmers Home Administration, Commodity Credit Corporation, Food and Nutrition Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Federal Crop Insurance Corporation. Her representative bankruptcy and receivership experience spans numerous jurisdictions and includes matters such as AHERF, Bethlehem Steel, City of Harrisburg Chapter 9, Endo International plc, Lehman Brothers, Lyondell Chemical Company, Mallinckrodt PLC, Pittsburgh Corning Corporation, and Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. She also serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, teaching Payment Systems (2002–present) and previously Secured Transactions (1998, 2004–2009).

SESSION 1 – Proving and Defeating Bad Faith Under § 1112(B) | 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Examine the statutory framework, totality-of-the-circumstances tests, and post-LTL financial distress analysis governing § 1112(b) dismissals. Master burden-shifting dynamics, evidentiary standards, expert testimony strategies, and balanced creditor and debtor playbooks for litigating contested bad-faith motions.

BREAK | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

SESSION 2 – Remedies, Emerging Trends, and Ethical Risk | 2:10pm – 3:10pm

Analyze remedy selection between dismissal, conversion, and trustee appointment under the best-interests standard. Explore mass tort filings, Texas Two-Step scrutiny, venue challenges, appellate intervention, Rule 9011 sanctions exposure, and fiduciary duties in high-profile Chapter 11 strategy.