Barbara A. Hart

Practice Areas

Barbara A. Hart is a Board-Certified specialist in Business Bankruptcy Law and a shareholder with Stichter, Riedel, Blain & Postler, P.A. (SRBP), one of Florida’s leading firms focused on bankruptcy, restructuring, insolvency, and complex commercial litigation. Based in Tampa, she is widely recognized for her work representing businesses, lenders, developers, fiduciaries, and individuals in sophisticated restructuring and insolvency matters throughout Florida and the Southeast.

For more than two decades, Barbara has concentrated her practice on bankruptcy, workouts, restructuring, distressed asset transactions, receiverships, assignments for the benefit of creditors, and complex commercial litigation. She regularly advises clients on matters involving financially distressed businesses, contested insolvency proceedings, commercial loan disputes, and asset recovery strategies. Her experience spans a broad range of industries, including commercial real estate, hospitality, healthcare, retail, industrial development, and entertainment-related assets.

Barbara is particularly known for her ability to develop practical and creative solutions in complex restructuring engagements. She has represented debtors, committees, secured and unsecured creditors, financial institutions, developers, trustees, and court-appointed fiduciaries in both state and federal courts. Her work frequently involves the sale and disposition of distressed assets, negotiation of business workouts, Chapter 11 reorganizations, foreclosure litigation, and the resolution of high-value commercial disputes.

Her representative experience includes serving as lead or co-counsel in significant Chapter 11 proceedings, commercial foreclosure actions, and restructuring matters involving hotel developments, large-scale industrial properties, healthcare enterprises, shopping centers, restaurants, warehouses, undeveloped land, and other complex commercial assets. She has also represented developers and borrowers in the restructuring and resolution of construction and commercial loans ranging from several million dollars to more than $100 million.

Barbara joined SRBP in 2009 after building substantial experience representing both debtors and creditors in bankruptcy proceedings, out-of-court workouts, and commercial litigation. Prior to joining SRBP, she served as a law clerk to the Honorable K. Rodney May of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida, providing her with valuable insight into bankruptcy jurisprudence and court administration.

Barbara is highly regarded by clients and peers alike for her legal acumen, responsiveness, and practical judgment. She has been recognized in Chambers USA for Bankruptcy/Restructuring in Florida, listed in Best Lawyers in America since 2018, selected to Florida Super Lawyers for bankruptcy and insolvency matters, recognized in Florida Trend’s Legal Elite, and named among Lawdragon’s 500 Leading U.S. Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers. She holds Martindale-Hubbell’s AV Preeminent rating and has served in numerous leadership positions, including President and Chair of the Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Bar Association, Chair of the IWIRC Florida Network, and Chair of the District-Wide Steering Committee for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Publications

Publications and Speaking Engagements

Moderator- Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Bar Association “Secrets of a Former Banker, The Life Cycle of a Tabled Loan”

Panelist, Best Practices in Florida, “Judgment Collection”

Panelist, American Law Institute, “Tips for Handling the Complex Real Estate Transaction.”

Panelist, Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Bar Association, “Commercial Real Estate Leases and other Variable Contract Rights in Bankruptcy”

"Defendants Beware: The Middle District Declines Jurisdiction over ABC Action" (co-authored)

"Property of the Estate: Some Close Questions" (co-authored)

"Two Worlds Collide: The Interplay Between State and Bankruptcy Courts" (co-authored)

Professional Memberships

Chair, Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Bar Association (2023-2024)

President, Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Bar Association (2022-2023)

Chair, District-wide Steering Committee (2020 and 2021)

Vice President, Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Bar (2021-2022)

Secretary, Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Bar Association (2020 – 2021)

Treasurer, Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Bar Association (2019 – 2020)

Florida Network Chair, International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (2018 – 2020)

Board of Directors, Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Bar Association (TBBBA) (2016 – 2018)

Board of Directors, International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation, Florida Network (2016 – 2021)

Former Chair, TBBBA Credit Abuse Resistance Education (C.A.R.E) Program

Member, American Bankruptcy Institute

Member, Hillsborough County Bar Association

Member, Florida Bar Business Law Section

Expert in these Jurisdictions

The Florida Bar (all State courts)

United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida

United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida

United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit

Work Highlights

Listed, Florida Super Lawyers Top 50 Women Lawyers, 2017-2018, 2026

Board Certified in Business Bankruptcy Law

The Legal Elite 500

Fellow, American Bar Foundation

Rated “AV” (highest rating) by Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory

Listed, Chambers and Partners USA; Bankruptcy/Restructuring in Florida: North & Central.

Listed, Best Lawyers 2018-2026 in the areas of Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law and Litigation – Bankruptcy

Listed, Florida Trend’s “Legal Elite” in the area of “Bankruptcy and Workout Law” 2016-2025

Listed as Florida “Super Lawyer,” in the area of bankruptcy/insolvency practice in “Florida Super Lawyers” 2015-2026

2021 Trailblazer Award, Excellence Awards IWIRC – Florida Network

Listed Top Lawyer in Banking and Finance Litigation, by Tampa Magazine in Tampa, 2016-2025

Recognized by The Supreme Court of Florida for exceptional pro bono service in 2015-2019

Listed among the 500 Leading U.S. Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers in the 2022-2026 Editions of Lawdragon

Industry Sector Expertise

Ms. Hart has served as lead or co-counsel for debtors in Chapter 11 cases, and for both plaintiffs and defendants in complicated, commercial actions. Some of these are listed below:

1 Global Capital, LLC and 1 West Capital, LLC, representation of official committee of unsecured creditors

Estate of Hall, representation of curator

Naples Diagnostic Imaging Center – representation of Receiver

HRK Holdings, LLC and HRK Industries, LLC- confirmed Chapter 11 reorganization of a 675 acre industrial development site.

Represented a national sports league in commercial litigation

St. Pete Beach Properties, LLC- confirmed Chapter 11 reorganization of a hotel development project and resolution of disputes with Cadence Bank.

Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (In Special Liquidation)- representation of Special Liquidator as plaintiff in foreclosure action related to Channelside Bay Plaza and as defendant in an eviction action by the Tampa Port Authority.

Representation of numerous real estate developers in resolution of construction loans ranging from $1 million dollars to over $100 million dollars.

The Villas Condominiums Association, Inc. v. Villas Funding Company, Inc., et al., – successfully defended $15 million dollar Negligent Misrepresentation Claim Against Manager of Condo Converter and Officer through appeal to the Florida Second DCA

Universal Health Care Group Inc.

Education