From: Charlotte, North Carolina

Our May 2008 Member of the Month, Susanne Robicsek (NC), has been a solo practitioner since 1993, concentrating in consumer debtor bankruptcy law. Her practice is located in an historic Charlotte neighborhood in a 1927 bungalow that she bought and restored in 2001. Her dog Tanner is featured prominently on her website and goes to work with her every day, earning her keep by reassuring clients that they will be just fine.

Susanne's law career started in Greensboro , where she clerked for a bankruptcy judge. She then moved to private practice in a bankruptcy boutique firm in Winston-Salem, where she did consumer and business work in Chapter 7, 11, 12 and 13, as well as Chapter 7 Trustee representation. She then joined a bankruptcy firm in her hometown of Charlotte, and went solo when the firm dissolved in 1993.

Susanne is the incoming Chair of the North Carolina Bar Association State Bankruptcy Council for 2008-2009. She is also a founding member of The Bankruptcy Law Network (www.BankruptcyLawNetwork.com), a diverse and unaffiliated group of bankruptcy lawyers and consumer advocates bringing bankruptcy information to the Internet.

Susanne had wanted to be an architect her entire life, and received a B.E.D. in Architecture from the North Carolina State University School of Design. Then, as she was about to graduate from the NC School of Design, she realized that the job would not prove to be as romantic as the study was. So she went to law school to pursue a career in construction litigation, graduating from Wake Forest University School of Law. Susanne found that the switch from design to law was much easier than people think - both are areas where problem-solving is the key. After receiving her J.D., Susanne was hired as (it turned out, the last) law clerk to the Honorable Rufus Reynolds, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge (MDNC). Judge Reynolds was the longest-sitting bankruptcy judge in the United States and was instrumental in the development of bankruptcy as we know it today, especially Chapter 13. Judge Reynolds also sat in the District of South Carolina, where he covered conflict cases for the one sitting South Carolina judge. One such case ended up guiding Susanne into bankruptcy - a "religious calling," so to speak. Susanne was hired to help him with the famed P.T.L. ("Praise the Lord") bankruptcy case, so she attributes her migration from construction law to bankruptcy law to Jim and Tammy Faye Baker, Rev. Jerry Falwell, or divine intervention - "depending on how you look at it."

Susanne recalls that on one of the visits she made with the Judge to the P.T.L. Heritage USA grounds, Jim Bakker's father followed the judge into the restroom. Apparently the father, wanting to defend his son from the allegations of Jessica Hahn et. al., cornered the judge in an effort to speak his mind, not letting Judge Reynolds leave the restroom. "I was reprimanded by Judge Reynolds for not coming into the men's room at PTL after I admitted that I saw Mr. Bakker follow the judge in. I replied to the judge that while case workups, writing orders and briefs, performing legal research, serving as a chauffeur and dinner companion were all part of my job description, following him into the men's restroom was not!"

A member of NACBA since 1998, Susanne has been active in NACBA's legislative activities, being in contact with government officials regarding the law changes via personal meetings, correspondence, email and phone, and as a participant in NACBA's annual Capitol Hill Meetings in Washington DC. "I believe that the practice of law is best shared, and not done in isolation. Without the friends and colleagues I have met through NACBA, my legal practice would be so much less interesting than it is now, and my knowledge so much more limited. Get involved, meet each other, help whomever you can, and attend the next Capital Hill Meeting - you won't be sorry."

Susanne is a proud aunt to four nieces and a nephew, all of whom live in Charlotte. Susanne serves on various legal committees for the Mecklenburg County and North Carolina Bar Associations, and volunteers with and is on the Board of the Dilworth Community Development Association for Historic Dilworth, the neighborhood in which her office is located. Susanne helped organize the neighborhood she lives in and serves as the neighborhood liaison with other Charlotte neighborhood groups. She has been active with Camp Thunderbird, a YMCA Camp on the NC/SC border, a camp she attended and worked at for many years.