Robert J. Pfister

Founding Partner

Contact

Email:  rpfister@pslawllp.com

10250 Constellation Boulevard, Suite 2300
Los Angeles, California 90067

Direct Dial:  (310) 414-4902

201 North Illinois Street, Suite 1600
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204

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 the last 22 years, 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

Two trial wins in the 3M / Aearo bankruptcy, see 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)

(American Lawyer)

Oral argument before the en banc Ninth Circuit, see In re Flores, 735 F.3d 855 (9th Cir. 2013) (en banc)

(YouTube)

Four trials in the Jefferson County, Alabama chapter 9 case, the then-largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, see, 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, see In re Balas & Morales, 449 B.R. 567 (Bankr. C.D. Cal. 2011)

(LA Times)

Principal authorship of the successful certiorari petition and merits briefing in Travelers Indemnity Co. v. Bailey, 557 U.S. 137 (2009)

Contact

Email: rpfister@pslawllp.com

10250 Constellation Boulevard, Suite 2300
Los Angeles, California 90067

Direct Dial: (310) 414-4902

201 North Illinois Street, Suite 1600
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204

Experience

Rob has an AV® Preeminent™ peer review rating from Martindale-Hubbell.  He volunteers at the Los Angeles County Superior Court, and was appointed as an Appellate Lawyer Representative to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference by the Chief Judge of the Ninth Circuit. Rob serves on the Board of the Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society and chairs the group’s oral history committee. He authored Marriage Equality in Bankruptcy Court: Joint Petitions for Same-Sex Couples, 32 Cal. Bankr. J. 109 (2012), and is an active member of the following professional organizations:

Admissions

  • All State and Federal Courts in California, Indiana, New York, and Connecticut
  • The U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Second, Third, Seventh, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits

Education

  • New York University, J.D., 2001
  • Indiana University, BA., 1998

Prior Legal Employment

  • Klee, Tuchin, Bogdanoff & Stern LLP, Counsel (2010) & Partner (2011-2023)
  • Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, Associate (2003-2009) & Counsel (2010)
  • United States District Judge Janet Bond Arterton, Clerk (2001-2003)