Paul Steven Singerman

Practice Areas

Paul Singerman is co-chair of Berger Singerman. His extraordinary attentiveness to and empathy for clients have helped him earn a reputation as one of the most effective restructuring lawyers in the state of Florida. Paul’s other practice areas include complex bankruptcy and commercial litigation, representation of fiduciaries in fraud cases, corporate governance, and distressed business mergers and acquisitions.

Prior to his legal career, Paul was in business for eight years. His business experience informs his approach to problem-solving in legal matters. The clients with which he works appreciate his sensitivity to the business challenges they face. His understanding for many clients dealing with lawyers and legal issues - primarily litigation related - is viewed as costly and a distraction and is often very stressful. Paul routinely urges clients to focus on their self-care in working through material legal challenges to most effectively contribute to the best outcome of the case or matter and set the right tone at the client’s business.

Paul has been significantly involved in some of the highest-profile and most significant restructuring matters in Florida for over three decades. He represented Piper Aircraft Corporation in its extraordinarily successful chapter 11 case filed in 1991. Starting in 2000, he was lead counsel to the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the CHS Electronics case, and post-confirmation, he was lead counsel to the Liquidating Trustee. Starting in 2009, Paul was lead counsel to the Chapter 11 trustee in the $1.3 billion Ponzi scheme case of the Rothstein, Rosenfeldt & Adler law firm. This case is the only Ponzi scheme case in the United States in which unsubordinated unsecured creditors received full payment on their claims. In that same year, he commenced the representation of the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the chapter 11 case of Taylor Bean & Whitaker, then the largest non-bank mortgage originator in the country. That case involved more than $11.5 billion in claims.

Most recently, Paul served as lead counsel to the court-appointed receiver in the tragic case of the collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium building, which resulted in 98 deaths. Additionally, he is serving as general counsel to James S. Feltman, the court-appointed receiver in the case filed by Citizens Bank N.A., against Elliot S. Smerling who was engaged in a massive fraudulent scheme over a number of years involving federally insured banks with losses exceeding over $136 million.

Above all, Paul strives to listen to and be sensitive to the needs of his clients. He has a daily meditation practice, and every day seeks to be better in all of his efforts than he was the day before.

Professional Memberships

- Fellow, The American College of Bankruptcy

- Fellow, American Bar Foundation

- Member, The American Law Institute

- Member, American Bankruptcy Institute

- Member, Commercial Law League of America

- Member, The Spellman-Hoeveler American Inn of Court

- Member, Miami-Dade County and American Bar Associations

- Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce

- Mount Sinai Medical Center, Advisory Board of Trustees, Executive Board of Trustees

- The Florida Bar, Member, Executive Council of the Business Law Section, Member, Pro Bono Committee

Publications

-Singerman, P. S., Homer, I. M., Guso, J., & Jarvinen, C. A. (2019, May 8). United States: Restructuring & Insolvency (3rd edition). Restructuring & Insolvency (3rd edition).

- Singerman, P. S., Homer, I. M., Guso, J., & Jarvinen, C. A. (2020, June 7). United States: Restructuring & Insolvency (3rd edition). Restructuring & Insolvency (4th edition).

- Singerman, P. S. (2021, February 16). Avoid bankruptcy: 7 tips to save a financially distressed business during a pandemic. South Florida Business Journal. https://partners.bizjournals.com/doing-business-in-florida/avoid-bankruptcy-7-tips-to-save-a-financially-distressed-business-during-a-pandemic/

-Singerman, P. S., Homer, I. M., Guso, J., & Jarvinen, C. A. (2022, July 26). United States: Restructuring & Insolvency. The Legal 500: Country Comparative Guides. https://www.legal500.com/guides/chapter/united-states-restructuring-insolvency/

-Singerman, P. S., Homer, I. M., Guso, J., & Jarvinen, C. A. (2022, December 5). United States: Restructuring & Insolvency. The Legal 500: Country Comparative Guides. https://www.legal500.com/guides/chapter/united-states-restructuring-insolvency/