Margaret M. Anderson
Margaret (Peg) Anderson, a capital partner, co-chairs the Firm’s Bankruptcy, Restructuring & Creditors’ Rights Group. She represents secured and unsecured creditors in bankruptcy cases and out-of-court restructurings throughout the country. Peg has experience advising buyers and sellers of assets of troubled companies. She also represents bankruptcy trustees, debtors and assignees for the benefit of creditors. Peg acts as outside general counsel for a Concessionaire under a 99-year lease with the City of Chicago.
Peg has extensive experience advising insurance companies in bankruptcy cases. She frequently represents insurance companies in the collection of premium, deductibles, and other amounts owed to them by insolvent companies, especially with respect to amounts due on loss-sensitive policies. She has enforced insurers’ rights to collect amounts due from their bankrupt insureds, often involving claims by the insurers in the tens of millions of dollars, in venues throughout the country, including the United States Supreme Court, in cases such as Verity Health Systems, Trident USA, Barneys New York, Avenue Stores, Payless Holdings, Toys “R” Us, EXCO Resources, hhgregg, Abeinsa Holdings, Exide Technologies, Howard Delivery, Caesars Entertainment Operating Company, Eastman Kodak, Patriot Coal Company, Washington Mutual, Inc., Circuit City Stores, Inc., and WorldCom.
Peg also counsels insurers with respect to the handling of covered claims when their insureds are in bankruptcy. She has represented major insurers in coverage disputes in several prominent chapter 11 cases involving mass tort litigation, including in the Imerys Talc, TH Agriculture & Nutrition, Celotex, Dow Corning and Archdiocese of Portland cases. In addition, Peg counsels insurers and reinsurers in connection with commutation agreements with troubled insurance companies. She has assisted purchasers of books of business from troubled insurance companies in minimizing their operational and financial risks in any subsequent insolvency proceeding involving the seller.
- Acting as general counsel for concessionaire under 99-year Concession and Lease Agreement with the City of Chicago
- Representing insurers in bankruptcy cases filed by their insureds.
- Representing the chapter 7 Trustee of five related hedge funds with debts in excess of $1 billion, including representing the Trustee in fraudulent transfer actions seeking recovery of transfers in excess of $80 million
- Representing several parties alleged to have received in excess of $30 million of preferences and fraudulent transfers in the Brooke Corporation chapter 7 case
- Representing insurers in connection with policy buybacks in several mass tort cases
- Representing a secured lender in chapter 11 case filed by issuer of extended vehicle services contracts
- Howard Delivery Serv. v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co., 126 S. Ct. 2105, 547 U.S. 651 (2006); reversing In re Howard Delivery Service, Inc. v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co., 403 F.3d 228 (4th Cir. 2005)
- Peterson v. Atradius (In re Lancelot Investors Fund), 451 B.R. 833 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 2011)
- TWA Inc. Post Confirmation Estate v. Marsh USA Inc. (In re TWA Inc. Post Confirmation Estate), 305 B.R. 228 (Bankr. Del. 2004)
- In re Dow Corning Corp., 198 B.R. 214 (Bankr. E.D. MI 1996)
Peg has been rated AV® Preeminent by her professional peers through the Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating system. This is a testament from peer legal professionals of the highest level of professional excellence and of unquestionable ethics.
Since 2010, Peg has been selected to the list of Illinois Super Lawyers. In 2012 and 2013, she was also listed among the Illinois Super Lawyers Top 50 Women. Her selection was published in Chicago Magazine. Super Lawyers selects attorneys using a patented multiphase selection process. Peer nominations and evaluations are combined with third party research. Each candidate is evaluated on 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement. Only five percent of lawyers in Illinois are selected for inclusion to the Illinois Super Lawyers list, and are made on an annual, state-by-state basis.
- “Bankruptcy and the Impact of the Automatic Stay” Conference of Consumer Finance Law Quarterly Report, Vol. 65, Nos. 3 and 4, Page 333, Fall and Winter 2011
- “Troubled Companies and Troubling Ethical Issues: A Proactive Approach for Avoidance of Potential Malpractice Liability,” ABA Section of Business Law Spring Meeting, 2009
- “How to Complete a Proof of Claim for Non-Bankruptcy Practitioners,” ABA Webinar, April 7, 2009
- “Post-Bankruptcy Treatment of Insured Claims,” 17 J. Bankr. L. & Prac. 6 Art. 3 (December 2008)
- “The Creditor That is Always There – The Insurance Company,” 17 J. Bankr. L. & Prac. 4 Art. 1 (July 2008)
- “How the Bankruptcy of an Insured Impacts Handling of Insured Claims,” Presentation for Gallagher Bassett, June 18, 2018, Speaker
- “How the Bankruptcy of an Insured Impacts Handling of Construction Defect Claims,” Zurich American Insurance Company, CDPL National Training Program, September 17, 2015, Speaker
- “Restaurant Bankruptcies – ‘Should I Make a Reservation Now?’” ABA Section of Business Law, Business Bankruptcy Committee Fall Meeting, October 10, 2014, Program Chair and Author
- “Jargony – Insurance Basics for Business Lawyers,” ABA Section of Business Law Spring Meeting, April 10, 2014, Moderator
- “You Can’t Say That! – When Lack of Standing or Equitable Mootness Limits Your Ability to Speak,” ABA Business Section, Business Bankruptcy Committee, Fall Meeting, October 26, 2012, Program Chair
- “Are the Boundaries of Section 546(e) Really Safe?,” ABA Section of Business Law Webinar, September 12, 2012, Moderator
- “Liability Lessons from Law Firm Dissolutions,” ABA Legal Services Division National Legal Malpractice Conference, September 6, 2012, Speaker
- “Magistrates and Federal Courts After the Supreme Court Speaks in Stern v. Marshall,” ABA Annual Meeting, August 4, 2012, Program Chair and Author
- “Strength in Diversity: Empowering All Lawyers to Thrive in the Workplace,” ABA Section Business Law Spring Meeting, March 24, 2012, Speaker
- “Don’t Bet on It: Quirky Security Interest Enforcement Problems in Bankruptcy Cases,” ABA Section Business Law Spring Meeting, March 22, 2012, Speaker
- “How to Get Sanctioned Without Really Trying – The Perils of Litigating for Estate Fiduciaries,” ABA Business Section, Business Bankruptcy Committee, Fall Meeting, October 13, 2011, Program Chair and Author
- “Special Ethical Considerations for Forensic Accountants,” Illinois CPA Society – 2011 Forensic Accounting Conference, June 8, 2011, Speaker
- “Questions You Never Used to Ask: Emerging Ethical and Liability Concerns in Commercial Loan Workouts,” ABA Section Business Law Spring Meeting, April 16, 2011, Program Chair
- “Protecting the Creditors’ Rights During Bankruptcy,” National Business Institute, February 28, 2011, Speaker
- “Too Broke to Pay Attention: Managing Risks in Bankruptcy Practice,” Aon Law Firm Symposium, October 20, 2010, Speaker
- “Doing Hard Time in Delaware and New York – Ethical and Practical Issues for Bankruptcy Lawyers Appearing in Cases Outside Your ‘Home’ State,” ABA Business Section, Business Bankruptcy Committee, Fall Meeting, October 16, 2010, Moderator
- “Don’t Borrow Trouble: Ethical Traps to Avoid in Representing Troubled Company,” ABA Business Section Fall Meeting, November 21, 2009, Moderator and Program Chair
- “Bankruptcy for Non‐Bankruptcy Attorneys: What Every Family Law, Criminal Law, Real Estate and Litigation Attorneys Should Know if a Party Files Bankruptcy,” ABA Annual Meeting, August 1, 2009; repeated as a teleconference, September 24, 2009, Speaker and Author
- “Asserting and Defending Claims in Business Bankruptcy Cases,” ABA Section of Business Law Webinar, Part I (April 7, 2009) and Part II (May 12, 2009), Moderator, Panelist, Author
- “Caught in the Cross‐Fire: Liability and Ethical Dilemmas for Directors and Advisors of Troubled Companies,” ABA Section of Business Law Spring Meeting, April 18, 2009, Program Chair
- “Almost Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Tricky Proof of Claim Issues and Objection Landmines for the Unwary,” ABA Business Section, Business Bankruptcy Committee, Fall Meeting, September 24, 2008, Panelist
- “Do the Trade Winds Blow Fair or is BAPCPA Full of Hot Air? – Treatment of Trade Creditors Under BAPCPA,” ABA Business Section, Business Bankruptcy Committee, Fall Meeting, October 12, 2007, Program Co‐Chair
- “How High is Your Proof?‐‐Requirements of a Valid Proof of Claim,” ABA Section of Business Law Spring Meeting, March 16, 2007, Speaker
- “Non‐Traditional Risk Transfer Options,” Mealey’s 5th Annual Advance Insurance Coverage Conference, January 22‐23, 2007, Speaker
- “Bankruptcy Issues Faced by Insurers,” Insurance Society of Philadelphia, September 27, 2006, Speaker
- “The Insurance Litigator in Bankruptcy Court,” DRI’s Insurance Coverage and Claims Institute, May 4, 2006
- “Class Conflicts: Struggles between Junior and Senior Debt Security Holders,” ABA Section of Business Law Spring Meeting, April 7, 2006, Speaker
- “Bankruptcy of the Policyholder,” Mealey’s 4th Annual Advance Insurance Coverage Conference: Top 10 Issues, January 23‐24, 2006, Speaker
Peg is Chair of the Insurance Subcommittee of the Business Bankruptcy Committee of the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association. She formerly acted as Chair of the Claims and Priorities Subcommittee and Professional Ethics in Bankruptcy Cases Subcommittee of the Business Bankruptcy Committee. Peg is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, an honor limited to one-third of one percent of the lawyers in America.
- Fellow of the American Bar Foundation
- American Bar Association
- State Bar of Texas
- American Bankruptcy Institute
- International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation
- Turnaround Management Association
- Ignatian Spirituality Project, Director 2014-present, Chair since 2018
- Lawrence Hall Youth Services, Trustee, 2012‐2014
- Charis Ministries, Director, 2006‐2011
- Chicago Hope Academy, Director, 2007‐2011
- Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, Director, 1999‐2005
- Loyola Academy, Trustee, 1993‐1999