Leona Mogavero is a Principal of the firm and concentrates her practice in the area of creditors’ rights and bankruptcy. She has extensive experience representing financial institutions and other lenders in the negotiation and documentation of commercial loan workouts and restructures, as well as in enforcement and asset recovery. Her practice has included enforcement of security interests in a wide range of assets, with a particular emphasis on real estate collateral, and she appears in state and federal courts in debtor/creditor litigation. She also has experience in real estate transactional matters.
Ms. Mogavero serves as a Subchapter V (of Chapter 11) Bankruptcy Trustee, having been selected by the Office of the U.S. Trustee, U.S. Department of Justice, to serve as one of the initial pool of 250 Subchapter V Trustees throughout the United States.
Ms. Mogavero’s bankruptcy practice also includes the representation of various parties, primarily secured creditors, in both commercial and consumer bankruptcies. She has litigated numerous contested matters in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Ms. Mogavero is a frequent speaker at seminars for financial professionals and attorneys regarding loan workouts, collections, and bankruptcy. She been recognized for her leadership in the practice of law by LawDragon (500 Leading U.S. Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers, 2020) and by Best Lawyers in America (Bankruptcy and Creditor and Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law, 2021 and 2022).
Areas of Practice
Notable Transactions
- Recently served as trustee in the Subchapter V bankruptcy of an international fashion design company and helped facilitate confirmation of a consensual plan of reorganization in that case.
- Currently representing the mortgage lenders in the ongoing bankruptcies of two New Jersey shore-area commercial real property owners/managers in connection the lenders’ mortgages securing debt in excess of $5,000,000.00.
- Currently represents a national bank in the work out of an $8 million real estate loan secured by a twelve-acre suburban property and office building and a regional bank in the work-out of a $16 million construction loan secured by a mixed-use development property.
Bar Admissions
- Pennsylvania
- Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
- U.S. District Court Eastern District of Pennsylvania
- U.S. Court of Appeals 3rd Circuit
Education
- University of Pennsylvania Law School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- J.D. – 1983
- LaSalle College
- B.A. maxima cum laude – 1980
Classes/Seminars
- “Boot Camp: Foreclosure and Loan Workout Procedures”, NBI Continuing Legal Education Seminar, 2014, 2015 and 2016
- “How To….Protect the Bank and Assist the Borrower When Tax Liens Exist”, Risk Management Association’s Program
- “Collecting Judgments”, PBI Commercial Litigation Institute, 2015
- “Pennsylvania Foreclosures and Workouts”, NBI Continuing Legal Education Seminar, 2013 and 2015
- “Ultimate Guide to Commercial Real Estate Law”, NBI Continuing Legal Education Seminar, 2015
- “Real Estate Transactions From A – Z”, NBI Continuing Legal Education Seminar, 2017
- “Collection Law: The Ultimate Guide”, NBI Continuing Legal Education Seminar, 2017
- “Collection Law from Start to Finish”, NBI Continuing Legal Education Seminar 2018 and Webinar 2021
- “Advanced Real Estate Transactions”, NBI Continuing Legal Education Seminar, 2019
- “FDCPA and Collection Law”, NBI Continuing Legal Education Seminar, 2019
- “Debt Collection Boot Camp”, NBI Continuing Legal Education Webcast, 2021
Professional Associations and Memberships
- Pennsylvania Bar Association, Member
- Philadelphia Bar Association, Member
- American Bankruptcy Institute, Member
- Risk Management Association, Member
- Eastern District of Pennsylvania Bankruptcy Conference, Member
- International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC), Philadelphia Chapter, Board Member
- Turnaround Management Association, Member
