Solving Difficult Problems with Creative Solutions
Jessica is a shareholder and member of the firm’s Banking, Receivership, and Creditors’ Rights Practice Group, where she concentrates on bankruptcy, receiverships, and insolvency matters. Jesscia represents receivers, creditors, financial institutions, and businesses in state and federal court, including Chapter 128 receiverships. She also assists lenders and borrowers with workouts, forbearance agreements, and commercial loan transactions.
Jessica serves as Chair of the Milwaukee Bar Association’s Bankruptcy Section and on the boards of the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Bankruptcy, Insolvency, and Creditors’ Rights Section and the Wisconsin Network of the International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation. Within the firm, Jessica applies her attention to detail in leading the “Grammar Squad.” Before joining the firm, she clerked for the Honorable G. Michael Halfenger of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.
Jessica Assists Clients With
- State and federal court receiverships, including Chapter 128 receiverships
- Bankruptcy and adversary proceedings
- Purchasing and selling assets of distressed businesses
- Post-judgment collections
- Preference and fraudulent conveyance actions
- Workouts and forbearance agreements
- Commercial loan transactions
- Commercial litigation
- Appeals
Experience/Representative Client Work
- Represents court-appointed receivers and other fiduciaries—including special masters, conservators, trustees, and trust protectors—in receiverships, shareholder disputes, divorces, foreclosures, and other state and federal court actions.
- Advocates for creditors in adversary proceedings and other contested matters in bankruptcy court.
- Litigates and defends preferential and fraudulent transfer claims in bankruptcy and receivership proceedings.
- Represents secured and unsecured creditors, landlords, and businesses in receiverships, commercial evictions, collections, and other complex commercial litigation.
- Advises and represents buyers acquiring distressed assets through receivership and bankruptcy proceedings.
- Counsels creditors on lien perfection, enforcement, and other complex issues arising under Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code.
- Represents financial institutions and borrowers in negotiating commercial loan transactions, forbearance agreements, and workouts.
Professional Associations and Affiliations
- Chair, Milwaukee Bar Association–Bankruptcy Section
- Board Member, State Bar of Wisconsin–Bankruptcy, Insolvency, and Creditors’ Rights Section
- Board Member, International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation–Wisconsin Network
- Turnaround Management Association Chicago/Midwest Chapter
- American Bankruptcy Institute
- Eastern District of Wisconsin Bar Association
- American Bar Association
Court Admissions
- Wisconsin
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Wisconsin
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin
Awards/Distinctions
- Selected for inclusion in Wisconsin Super Lawyers Rising Stars, Law & Politics and Milwaukee Magazine, 2022–present
- 2023-24 State Bar of Wisconsin G. Lane Ware Leadership Academy Participant
- 2022 State Bar of Wisconsin Leadership Summit Participant
- 2020 Wisconsin Pro Bono Honor Society Member
- Note & Comment Editor, Wisconsin Law Review
- University of Wisconsin Pro Bono Society Member
- Turnaround Management Association Chicago/Midwest Chapter Student Intern Competition – First Place
- University of Wisconsin Law School Best Brief Competition – Finalist
Articles/Presentations
- Co-Presenter, “Constitutional Issues in Chapter 128 Receiverships,” Annual Constitutional Law Symposium 2023, December 2023
- Co-Presenter, “Things Fall Apart: Conversion and Reopening,” Annual Debtor-Creditor Bankruptcy Update 2023, November 2023
- Co-Presenter, “Secured Debt in Commercial Cases–Interest Rates, Values, Cram Down,” 2023 BICR Section Educational/Social Retreat, February 2023
- Presenter, “Ponzi Schemes & Fraudulent Transfer Litigation: Where Winners Become Losers,” O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong & Laing S.C., March 2022
- Co-Presenter, “Distressed Asset Sales in Chapter 128 Receiverships,” O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong & Laing S.C., November 2020
- Co-Presenter, “Federal Tax Liens,” O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong & Laing S.C., February 2020
- Co-Presenter, “Vendors’ Rights in Bankruptcy,” O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong & Laing S.C., December 2019
- Co-Presenter, “Considerations Involving Involuntary Bankruptcy,” O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong & Laing S.C., October 2019
Community Involvement
- City of Milwaukee Chief Election Inspector
- State Bar of Wisconsin Continuing Legal Education Committee Member
