The Essential Attorney’s Guide to Bankruptcy & Restructuring

Presenters

Joao F. Magalhaes, Esq.

Connell Foley LLP, Roseland

Joao F. Magalhães is Of Counsel to Connell Foley, LLP in Newark, New Jersey, where he concentrates his practice in corporate law and general counseling, commercial litigation, bankruptcy and regulatory affairs. As a restructuring professional, Mr. Magalhaes has assisted clients in both out-of-court workout negotiations and formal legal proceedings, representing entities ranging from national going concerns to local nonprofits. As a litigator, he has engaged in federal, state and multistate matters involving issues including contract disputes, debtor/creditor rights, partnership/shareholder disputes, insurance coverage, landlord/tenant disputes, employment/labor laws, tax litigation and legal ethics.

Admitted to practice in New Jersey and New York, and before the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. He is a former member of the District V-B Ethics Committee and the Board of Directors of the Mental Health Association of Essex and Morris, Inc., serves on the Portuguese-American Leadership Council of the United States, Inc., and is a member of the Portuguese American Bar Association.

A lecturer for ICLE, Mr. Magalhaes is a former Barrister of the Bankruptcy American Inn of Court in the District of New Jersey, where he presented and lectured on several topics of significance to bankruptcy and restructuring practitioners. He is a writer and Coordinating Editor for the nationally-published American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) Journal, and is the recipient of several honors.

Mr. Magalhaes received his B.S. from Villanova University, where he was a member of the National Honor Society of Collegiate Scholars, and his J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law. As a law student, he served as Vice President of the Criminal Law Society and as Social Chair for the Corporate Law Society.

Joseph Shapiro, Esq.

Middlebrooks Shapiro, P.C., Springfield

Joseph M. Shapiro is a Partner in Middlebrooks Shapiro, P.C. in Springfield, New Jersey. He concentrates his practice in commercial bankruptcy, individual bankruptcy, creditor/debtor representation and bankruptcy litigation.

Admitted to practice in New Jersey and New York, and before the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, Mr. Shapiro was appointed to the New Jersey State Bar Association Cannabis Law Committee in 2019 and has been a member of the New York State Bar Association, the Association of the Federal Bar of New Jersey and the Turnaround Management Association. In 2012 he served as a volunteer attorney with the Honorable Morris Stern Bankruptcy pro bono project (the Rutgers-Newark Bankruptcy Pro Bono Project).

A lecturer for ICLE, Mr. Shapiro is a former Barrister of the Bankruptcy American Inn of Court and teaches business law to undergraduate students as an Adjunct Professor at Union County College. He has served as a continuing legal education presenter with Marino Legal CLE and as a Judge in the Vincent J. Appruzzese Mock Trial Competition.

Mr. Shapiro received his B.F.A., magna cum laude, from the Savannah College of Art & Design and his J.D. from Seton Hall University Law School. While a law student, he served as a research assistant to Professors Carl H. Coleman and Gaia Bernstein.