Catherine Hopkin is an experienced associate in the Bankruptcy/Creditors’ Rights Department. She had primary responsibility for the representation of several small business debtors in Chapter 11 proceedings that resulted in successful plan confirmations. She also represents lenders in commercial and residential foreclosures as well as tax sale foreclosures involving properties primarily located in Baltimore City.
Representative Cases
- Assisted the Debtors in a Chapter 11 reorganization involving the pre-emption of a local statute. Ms. Hopkin was a key member of the team that worked with the county government to enact new legislation that now permits a financial hardship exception to the existing legislation. As a result, the Debtors were able to successfully reorganize. The creditors are slated to receive 100 cents on the dollar, and even the county, which had previously opposed the reorganization, will receive substantial revenue from the fees associated with the new legislation;
- Negotiated a Section 363 sale of all a debtor’s assets in a liquidation of a restaurant in Howard County with nearly 50 employees;
- Negotiated and treated leases with third parties, including numerous electrical supply contracts with government agencies and national entities, in a reorganization of a wholesale electric distribution supply company; and
- Represented a creditors’ committee with respect to avoidance and recovery actions, including preference actions.
Leadership
Ms. Hopkin is deeply involved in the community. She currently serves on the advisory committee for the Academy of Law at the National Academy Foundation-Baltimore (NAF-Baltimore) as well as the Board of Directors of Baltimore Academies, Inc., an affiliate of NAF-Baltimore. NAF-Baltimore is a high school located in Baltimore City that allows high school students citywide to major in fields related to their specific academy while completing the basic state requirements for the high school diploma. The programs are jointly funded by the Baltimore City Public Schools System, the business community, private foundations, and the National Academy Foundation.
Ms. Hopkin also provides pro bono services through the Debtor Assistance Project (DAP), a bankruptcy clinic formed to assist current and potential pro se debtors. DAP’s goal is to reach out to debtors and provide them with experienced counsel as they navigate the bankruptcy process. DAP is a collaboration among the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the Maryland State Bar Association Consumer Bankruptcy Section, the Bankruptcy Bar Association of Maryland, the Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland, the Maryland Volunteer Lawyer Service, and other local organizations.
Ms. Hopkin graduated from the University of Maryland School of Law, cum laude, where she was associate editor of the Journal of Health Care, Law, & Policy. Ms. Hopkin began her legal education at New York Law School. While attending New York Law School, she was a John Marshall Harlan Scholar, a member of the law review, and a research assistant to Professor Kenneth C. Kettering focusing on debtor/creditor law and secured transactions.
Hide Full Bio »