Elizabeth is a litigator and business lawyer who provides value at all stages of a dispute, from pre-litigation training on legal best practices to zealous advocacy in complex business and commercial lawsuits. She represents clients of all sizes and industries—including individuals, mom-and-pop businesses, and publicly traded Fortune 500 companies operating in finance, technology, health care, commercial lending, and insurance, among others.
As a former special education teacher, Elizabeth is first and foremost a problem solver. She successfully crafts creative arguments and negotiates innovative settlements in litigation, working to obtain optimal results for her clients. As a business partner, Elizabeth helps develop legal solutions that ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations within real-world parameters.
Having begun her legal career with the United States Department of Justice's U.S. Trustee Program, where she federally prosecuted bankruptcy fraud and abuse in civil cases, Elizabeth also has extensive experience representing creditors, commercial debtors, and other interested parties in all phases of Chapter 7, 13, 11, and Subchapter V bankruptcy cases and adversary proceedings throughout the United States. She provides additional value by helping clients rework their policies, procedures, and business documents to comply with the Bankruptcy Code, Bankruptcy Rules, and other applicable laws and regulations.
Elizabeth's practice also includes representing commercial lenders and other financial services businesses in litigation involving loan defaults, foreclosures, appointments of receivers, assignments for the benefit of creditors, bankruptcy cases and adversary proceedings, real property and business financing, and consumer protection statutes.
Elizabeth spent several years as a special education teacher in the Chicago suburbs before attending law school. While not working, she enjoys trying new restaurants and exploring the Tampa and Orlando regions with her family and friends.
Education
J.D., magna cum laude, University of Illinois Chicago School of Law, 2016
M.Ed., Special Education, University of Illinois, 2007
B.A., English Language and Literature, Northern Illinois University, 2005
Professional and Community Affiliations
- The Junior League of Tampa
- Tampa Bay Chamber
- Community Outreach Committee Co-Chair, 2021-2022
- The Florida Bar, Business Law Section
- Fellowship Program, 2023-2025
- The Florida Bar, Trial Lawyers Section
- American Bankruptcy Institute
- International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation
- Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Bar Association
- National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges
- NextGen Program, 2023
- International Association of Privacy Professionals
- Hillsborough Education Foundation, Take Stock in Children Mentor, 2019-2023
- Tampa Connection, Class of 2020
Honors
- Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America
- Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law, 2024-2026
- Litigation – Bankruptcy, 2024-2026
- Financial Services Regulation Law, 2026
- Florida Super Lawyers: Rising Star, 2025
Certifications
- Certified Information Privacy Professional for U.S. Private-Sector (CIPP/US)
Representative Matters
- Published Decisions:
- PACCAR, Inc. v. Direct Components, Inc., No. 8:24-cv-1910, 2025 WL 1825818 (M.D. Fla. Jun. 23, 2025)
- Nunez v. Wilmington Savings Fund Society (In re Nunez), 635 B.R. 870 (Bankr. S.D. Fla. 2021)
- In re Tabor, 583 B.R. 155 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 2018)
- Representative Experience:
- Assisted with obtaining a complete defense verdict for client following 12-day federal jury trial for more than $250 million, including punitive damages, brought by a certified class of EB-5 visa program investors. The investor class unsuccessfully asserted the investment project, a power plant, did not generate enough income for investors to receive a return on their collective multimillion-dollar loan investment, and the defendant had breached its fiduciary duties of loyalty and good faith dealings to the investors and breached the partnership agreements between the parties
- Obtained dismissal of claims for more than $3 million that client, a microchip broker, had delivered microchip parts different than the ones plaintiff had agreed to purchase, breached its warranties, and engaged in fraudulent conduct in connection with the sale
- Following trial, obtained favorable judgment for client, a debtor in bankruptcy, that while operating his business and employing union members, client did not commit a defalcation while acting as a fiduciary for employee benefit pension funds pursuant to Bankruptcy Code section 523(a)(4), and the employee union's debt was dischargeable in client's bankruptcy case (Thrower, et al. v. Godwin (In re Godwin), 651 B.R. 392 (Bankr. M.D. Fla. 2023))
- Following trial, obtained favorable judgment for client, a bankruptcy trustee, that the deceased debtor's daughter lacked an interest in certain real property of the bankruptcy estate, and no mutual mistake existed to reform the deeds conveying such real property to the daughter (Chaney v. Lewis, et al. (In re Lewis), 669 B.R. 429 (Bankr. M.D. Fla. 2025))
- Represented ad hoc committee in mega-bankruptcy case pending in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware; prepared and filed thousands of proofs of claim on behalf of committee members, drafted instructions for preparation and submission of thousands of ballots for voting on the plan and communicated extensively with clients and claims agent regarding same; responded to extensive discovery requests, including drafting objections and responses, designing Relativity instructions and rules, communicating and coordinating with co-counsel and clients, and overseeing and managing documents review team
- Represented judgment creditors in enforcement of $52 million judgment, including domesticating foreign judgment and litigating against judgment debtor's action contesting domestication and multiple attempts to impose a stay of enforcement of the domesticated judgment; drafting and analyzing written discovery in aid of execution and depositions of judgment debtor and others to locate judgment debtor's assets; and litigating issues related to garnishments of bank and investment accounts, charging orders, and judgment debtor's asserted exemptions
- Represented a financial services company in an adversary proceeding defending against allegations of bankruptcy stay violations by drafting a summary brief in support of client's defenses, including debtor's counsel's gamesmanship regarding lack of notice of the bankruptcy filing to client and similarly situated creditors; obtained oral ruling fully exonerating client, dismissing adversary proceeding, and providing that the court would review all similar adversary proceedings filed by debtor's counsel and issue a show cause order as to each regarding why they should not likewise be dismissed
- Represented secured lender of a $4.9 million Small Business Administration (SBA) loan in a bankruptcy case and related adversary proceedings in negotiating and drafting an agreement involving a forbearance, sales and operations of multiple businesses, sales of real property, sales of multiple vehicles, conveyance of an easement, use of cash collateral, and modification of the automatic stay
- Represented special counsel to the debtors in multiple mega-bankruptcy cases in the Southern District of New York and the District of Delaware, including drafting employment applications, fee applications and corresponding exhibits and invoices