TAMPA, FL – Steven M. Berman, partner at Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP, has been appointed to the Advisory Board of the American Bankruptcy Institute.  In addition, Mr. Berman will speak at the 34th Annual Judge Alexander L. Paskay Seminar on Bankruptcy Law and Practice March 4-6, 2010 at the Hyatt Regency Tampa, Tampa, Florida.  Mr. Berman will discuss Chapter 11 Confirmation Strategies, Including Gift Plans, Class-Skipping and Third-Party Releases.  The American Bankruptcy Institute is a multi-disciplinary, non-partisan organization dedicated to research and education related to bankruptcy and insolvency.

Mr. Berman has over 19 years of experience and has focused his practice as a business bankruptcy litigator representing creditors, trustees, committees and business entities litigating disputes in bankruptcy court.  He is Board Certified by the American Board of Certification in both Creditors' Rights Law and Business Bankruptcy Law, is a member of both the Florida and California Bars and is admitted to practice in all Florida state courts, all California state courts, all federal courts in the Southern, Middle and Northern Districts of Florida, the federal courts in the Southern and Central Districts of California and the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Mr. Berman received his J.D. from University of Florida Levin College of Law and his B.S. in Multinational Business Operations from Florida State University.

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Founded in 1925, Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP is a full service law firm with 215 attorneys practicing in Toledo and Columbus, Ohio; Tampa and Sarasota, Florida; and Charlotte, North Carolina.