Stephen E. Leach

Leach Photo

Partner



Practice Areas

Experience

Steve Leach co-chairs the Bankruptcy and Creditors' Rights Practice. For over 30 years, Steve has advised and represented creditors, debtors, trustees, and committees in bankruptcy reorganizations and liquidations, out-of-court workouts, and business dissolutions. Steve regularly appears before the bankruptcy and other federal and state courts of Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. Much of his practice involves advising businesses and their creditors on strategies and options available under the federal Bankruptcy Code and state creditors' rights laws.

Steve has been an adjunct professor of bankruptcy law for over two decades at American University's law school in Washington, D.C., and is also on the adjunct faculty of The Catholic University of America's law school where he teaches Creditors' and Debtors' Rights.

Mr. Leach is a former Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee and a past chair of the District of Columbia Bar's Business Bankruptcy Committee. He serves on the panel of mediators of the United State Bankruptcy Court for the District of Columbia, and has acted as both a court-appointed and private mediator in numerous bankruptcy cases in the Washington, D.C. area.

Prior to forming LTB in 2003, Steve had been a partner with Venable LLP, Tucker Flyer, P.C., and Zuckerman Spaeder LLP. Before entering private practice, he served as a Trial Attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice and a Trade Regulation Attorney with the Federal Trade Commission.

Education

  • JD, Stanford University Law School (1976)
  • BA, magna cum laude, Yale University (1972)

Certification

  • Certified in Business Bankruptcy by the American Board of Certification of the American Bankruptcy Institute since 1993

Recognition and Honors

  • Best Lawyers in America - Bankruptcy & Creditors' Rights
  • Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating: "AV - Preeminent"
  • Virginia Super Lawyers - Bankruptcy
  • Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers - Bankruptcy
  • Washingtonian Magazine - "Top Lawyer" in Bankruptcy
  • Harry L. Carrico Pro Bono Service Award from Legal Services of Northern Virginia

Memberships

  • American Bankruptcy Institute
  • Maryland Bankruptcy Bar Association
    • Program Speaker
  • Northern Virginia Bankruptcy Bar Association
    • Program Speaker
  • Virginia Bar Association
    • Program Speaker
  • Walter F. Chandler Bankruptcy Inn of Court – Washington, D.C.

State Bar Admissions

  • Virginia
  • Maryland
  • District of Columbia
  • California (inactive)