Jane Rue Wittstein has 33+ years of experience litigating at the trial and appellate levels in state, federal, and bankruptcy courts across the country. She represents both debtors and creditors in chapter 11 cases. Jane's nonbankruptcy experience is also extensive, handling commercial, securities, and product liability litigation for clients in a range of industries including financial services, pharmaceutical, satellite, semiconductor, and automotive, to name a few.
Jane's recent chapter 11 cases include: MF Global Holdings Ltd.; Fresh & Easy; TMST, Inc.; Harry & David; and Davis Petroleum. As counsel to the Plan Administrator in MF Global, Jane secured court approval authorizing Holdings' acquisition of the SIPA estate's remaining assets in August 2015, with a published opinion noting "the Sale Agreement negotiated by these parties represents a creative and novel way to move these cases toward successful conclusions." Additional highlights include successfully mediating a class action settlement in Fresh & Easy, winning a two-day bench trial to terminate Harry & David's underfunded pension plan over the PBGC's objection, successfully defending Evercore and Davis Petroleum in various proceedings up to the Fifth Circuit challenging a prepackaged bankruptcy sale, securing court approval of settlements with the former officers of MF Global and their insurers in 2016 that yielded over $150 million in distribution to creditors, and winning damages for violation of the Barton doctrine from insurers who commenced actions in Bermuda without leave of the Bankruptcy Court.
Jane serves on the National Council of the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.
Experience
Additional Publications
- May/June 2018
Patently Abusive Chapter 11 Cases Filed by Non-Financially Distressed Companies Dismissed for Bad Faith
Speaking Engagements
- April 12, 2012
PLI's Bankruptcy & Reorganizations 2012: Current Developments panel with Judge Drain on Current Jurisdictional and Procedural Issues - Stern v. Marshall and its progeny - April 14, 2011
PLI's Bankruptcy & Reorganizations: Current Developments 2011 Current Jurisdictional and Procedural Issues
- The Ohio State University (J.D. with honors 1985; Order of the Coif; Research Editor, Law Journal); Miami University (B.A. cum laude 1982)
- New York; U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, Southern District of Ohio, and Central District of California; U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third, and Fifth Circuits; and U.S. Supreme Court
Acritas "Star Lawyer" (2018 and 2019)
Legal 500 US (2012): finance-corporate restructuring "recommended lawyer" recognized as a "leading name" in Jones Day's restructuring practice "who is praised for her ‘good street sense’ and ‘comprehensive knowledge’"