Rob Pfister is a bankruptcy litigator.
He counsels clients and serves as their advocate in disputes at all stages – from investigation, negotiation, and pre-filing strategy through complaint, discovery, trial, final judgment, and appeal in courts and tribunals across the country.
Over more than two decades, Rob has tried cases before judges, juries, and arbitrators in both state and federal forums. He has authored briefs and presented argument at all levels of the judicial system, and he has provided advice and counsel on a range of bankruptcy, restructuring, and insolvency-related matters to clients around the country.
Notable Representations
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Two trial wins in the 3M / Aearo bankruptcy.
In re Aearo Technologies LLC, 2023 WL 3938436 (Bankr. S.D. Ind. 2023) (dismissing multi-billion-dollar mass tort bankruptcy case as an abuse of the Bankruptcy Code), and 642 B.R. 891 (Bankr. S.D. Ind. 2022) (denying request to protect non-debtors). The American Lawyer, September 2022 (opens in a new tab) -
Oral argument before the en banc Ninth Circuit.
In re Flores, 735 F.3d 855 (9th Cir. 2013) (en banc). Watch the argument (opens in a new tab) -
Four trials in the Jefferson County, Alabama chapter 9 case, the then-largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.
E.g., In re Jefferson County, Alabama, 474 B.R. 228 (Bankr. N.D. Ala. 2012) (denying relief-from-stay motions concerning hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue servicing billions of dollars in debt), 469 B.R. 92 (Bankr. N.D. Ala. 2012) (finding county eligible for bankruptcy relief), Bennett v. Jefferson County, Alabama, 899 F.3d 1240 (11th Cir. 2018) (reversing district court’s erroneous refusal to dismiss confirmation appeal as equitably moot). -
Securing a judgment and unprecedented joint opinion from twenty sitting bankruptcy judges that the federal Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional.
In re Balas & Morales, 449 B.R. 567 (Bankr. C.D. Cal. 2011) (opens in a new tab). The Supreme Court reached the same conclusion two years later in United States v. Windsor, 570 U.S. 744 (2013) (opens in a new tab).Read the opinion (opens in a new tab) Los Angeles Times, June 2011 (opens in a new tab)
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Principal authorship of the successful certiorari petition and merits briefing in Travelers Indemnity Co. v. Bailey, 557 U.S. 137 (2009) (opens in a new tab).
Certiorari petition (opens in a new tab) Certiorari reply (opens in a new tab) Merits brief (opens in a new tab) Merits reply (opens in a new tab)
Experience
Rob has an AV® Preeminent™ peer review rating from Martindale-Hubbell. He volunteers at the Los Angeles County Superior Court, and was appointed (opens in a new tab) as an Appellate Lawyer Representative to the Judicial Conference by the Judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He authored Marriage Equality in Bankruptcy Court: Joint Petitions for Same-Sex Couples, 32 Cal. Bankr. J. 109 (2012) (opens in a new tab), and is an active member of:
Credentials
- State bars
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- Connecticut 2001
- Indiana 2002
- New York 2003
- California 2006
- Courts
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- All state and federal courts in California, Indiana, New York, and Connecticut
- The Supreme Court of the United States See the Journal of Proceedings for Monday, November 15, 2004 (opens in a new tab)
- The U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third, Seventh, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits
- Prior practice
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- KTBS Law LLP (f/k/a Klee, Tuchin, Bogdanoff & Stern LLP), Partner 2010–2023
- Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, Litigation Associate, then Counsel 2003–2010
- Law Clerk to the Hon. Janet Bond Arterton, U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut 2001–2003
- Service
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- Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society (opens in a new tab), Board Member 2019–present
- Education
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- New York University School of Law, Juris Doctor 2001
- Indiana University Bloomington, Bachelor of Arts, History, with distinction 1998 Phi Beta Kappa