Jill Nicholson is a partner with Foley & Lardner LLP and chair of the firm's national Bankruptcy & Business Reorganizations Practice. She concentrates her practice in commercial bankruptcy and insolvency matters as well as out-of-court workouts and restructurings, and complex litigation. She is also a member of the firm's Real Estate Practice.
Ms. Nicholson has represented a broad array of clients in bankruptcy and insolvency proceedings, including secured lenders, special servicers, creditors committees, SIPA trustees, bondholder committees, foreign representatives, unsecured creditors, Chapter 11 debtors, indenture trustees, commercial landlords, governmental agencies, and federally chartered entities. Her experience encompasses all facets of bankruptcy and insolvency, including Chapter 11 plan restructuring and related litigation, 363 sales, valuation disputes, single asset real estate, debtor-in-possession financing, tax credit bond finance deals, adversary actions, bankruptcy appeals, assignments for the benefit of creditors, and broker-dealer liquidations. Ms. Nicholson counsels a number of Fortune 500 companies regarding best practices with respect to bankruptcy and insolvency issues, including distressed real estate, commercial lending, special servicing, and automotive restructuring.
Ms. Nicholson is an adjunct professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis where she teaches a course on advanced commercial bankruptcy and corporate restructuring. She is board certified as a business bankruptcy specialist by the American Board of Certification. She was selected as a Leading Lawyer, Finance - Corporate Restructuring, by Legal 500 US 2010. Ms. Nicholson has been named to the list of Illinois Super Lawyers-Rising Stars® (2008 - 2012) for her work in the field of bankruptcy. The Rising Stars® list represents the top 2.5 percent of lawyers under 40 years old in Illinois based upon a survey of Ms. Nicholson's peers. Ms. Nicholson has also been Peer Review Rated as AV® Preeminent™, a mark of excellence in Martindale-Hubbell's peer review rating system.
Ms. Nicholson received her juris doctor degree, with honors, from the University of Illinois College of Law, where she served as an editor of the University of Illinois Elder Law Journal.
Ms. Nicholson is a past vice director of North American Programs for the International Women's Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC), is a past chair of the board of directors of the Chicago Network of IWIRC, and is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Turnaround Management Association, the Chicago Bar Association, and the Illinois State Bar Association.
Ms. Nicholson is admitted to practice in Illinois and New York and before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth and Eleventh Circuits and is a member of the Trial Bar of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.