Experience
Justin Mertz heads the Bankruptcy team at Michael Best, focusing on Chapter 11 cases. His practice primarily involves representing debtors, creditors, secured lenders, and committees.
Justin also assists with other insolvency matters, general corporate litigation, and real estate transactions.
Justin negotiates complex contracts, performs the financial and cash flow analyses that inform successful business strategies and decisions, and represents clients in general litigation matters, including real estate and condominium disputes, shareholder disputes, and other business litigation. His extensive courtroom experience comprises cases in both federal (bankruptcy, district, and appellate levels) and state courts.
• In re Tailored Brands (d/b/a The Men’s Wearhouse), represented a creditor in litigating payment on an administrative expense claim involving an executory contract with the debtor.
• In re Southern Foods Group, LLC, represented several creditors in the Dean Foods bankruptcy case.
• In re Sivyer Steel Corporation, represented the Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the bankruptcy case of a steel foundry, which included the sale of substantially all debtor assets.
• In re Cranberry Growers Cooperative, represented a Wisconsin cranberry farmers’ co-op through its Chapter 11 case, including multiple appeals to the district court and an appeal and oral argument in the Seventh Circuit.