Education
- University of California at Santa Barbara (B.A., with high honors, 1977)
- Hastings College of Law, University of California (J.D. 1981)
Bar and Court Admissions
- 1981, California
Kenneth H. Brown
Kenneth Brown, resident in the firm’s San Francisco office, has extensive experience in bankruptcy and commercial litigation. He has represented and advised debtors, unsecured creditors, secured creditors, insurers, creditors’ committees, and trustees in large complex chapter 11 and chapter 15 cases and in related litigation in both state and federal court. Ken leads the firm’s litigation team in representations of the sex-abuse survivor committees in the chapter 11 bankruptcy cases involving the Roman Catholic Church. These matters involve the intersection of the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (“RFRA”) with the Bankruptcy Code and focus on recovering assets transferred by the debtor prior to filing bankruptcy as part of an asset-protection scheme to shield assets from the claims of victims of sex abuse. The representations also require expertise in identifying, analyzing, and prosecuting claims against the management of the debtor for allowing or facilitating the sexual misconduct and abuse. Ken led the team that obtained a judgment in one of these cases worth in excess of $100 million. Ken also specializes in defending employers in WARN Act class-action litigation and advising them on the intersection of the WARN Act and bankruptcy. Ken also has extensive experience representing professional firms and their principals in dissolutions and bankruptcies.
Ken is a former director of the Bay Area Bankruptcy Forum, a former member of the State Bar of California Business Law Section Subcommittee on Debtor/Creditor Relations and Bankruptcy, and frequently serves as a mediator for the Bankruptcy Dispute Resolution Program for the Northern District of California and the San Francisco Bar Association. He holds an AV Preeminent Peer Rating, Martindale-Hubbell's highest recognition for ethical standards and legal ability. He has been listed in every edition of Best Lawyers in America since 2018 for his work in Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law and Litigation - Bankruptcy. He is a graduate of U.C. Santa Barbara and received his J.D. at Hastings College of the Law, where he was articles editor for the Hastings Law Journal.
Representations
- Law firm bankruptcies: Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison; Heller Ehrman, Landels Ripley & Diamond
- Creditors' committees in Boy Scouts of America; TK Holdings Inc. (Takata Americas); The Weinstein Company ; USA Gymnastics
- Committees in Catholic church bankruptcies: Christian Brothers Institute; Archdiocese of Santa Fe; Archdiocese of Milwaukee; Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks; Catholic Diocese of Wilmington; Diocese of Great Falls; Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester; Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego
- Cross-border case: Katsumi Iida
Professional Affiliations
- Director, Bay Area Bankruptcy Forum (2001-)
- Mediator, San Francisco Bar Association, Early Settlement Program (1997-2003)
- Bankruptcy Dispute Resolution Program, United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California (1994-)
- Member, State Bar of California Business Law Section Debtor/Creditor Committee (1999-2002)
Programs and Lectures
Lecturer, American Bankruptcy Institute; Association of Insolvency & Restructuring Advisors; Bar Association of San Francisco; Santa Clara County Bar AssociationNews
- August 15, 2024
- August 17, 2023
- August 18, 2022
- August 19, 2021
- October 2020
- August 20, 2020
- August 15, 2019
- August 16, 2018
- August 15, 2018
- August 15, 2017
- January 7, 2016
- Court Reinstates $60mm Fraud Lawsuit and Takes Case Away From Judge RandaMarch 9, 2015
- January 2013
- The Economist, August 2012
- September 2011
- July 29, 2011
- May 2011
- March 25, 2011
- June 2010
Publications
- 356 American Bankruptcy Trustee Journal 30 (No. 3 Summer 2019), September 2019
- 27 ABI Journal No. 3 at 26 (April 2008), April 2008
- "Discovery in Debt Collection Actions," in Debt Collection Practice in California (2d ed. 2000)
- "Tenants in Distress: Pitfalls and Opportunities for the Retail Landlord," Shopping Center Business (1998).
- "Law Firm Break-Ups and Bankruptcies," 3 Legal Malpractice Report (No. 2 1992)
- Co-author, "Dissolutions of Professional Firms Under State Law," in program materials for the Third Annual Northwest Bankruptcy Institute (1989)
Events
- Bar Association of San Francisco Commercial Law & Bankruptcy SectionWebcast, September 8, 2020
- Business, Commercial and Bankruptcy Section of the Bar Association of San Francisco Barristers ClubSan Francisco, May 7, 2019
- Bar Association of San FranciscoSan Francisco, March 8, 2016
- Bay Area Bankruptcy ForumApril 28, 2011
- ABI Mid-Atlantic Bankruptcy ConferenceHershey PA, August 7, 2009