From: Chicago, Illinois

Our March 2010 Member of the Month, Melanie Pennycuff, is an attorney with the Law Offices of Barry Kreisler.  Barry and Melanie consider themselves to be a “hands on, personal attention” firm. They do not use paralegals and they pride themselves on responding personally to each telephone call.  Melanie is with each bankruptcy client from their first meeting through their discharge.  Melanie’s favorite part of her practice is being able to provide almost instant relief to people who feel that the world is caving in on them: “When a client leaves my office telling me that just meeting with me gives them hope for the future, it makes my day.”

Melanie also handles consumer protection matters, and now that she has been practicing bankruptcy law for a few years, she has started to include more “post-discharge” issues as a regular part of what she does.
Approximately 95% of Melanie’s time is spent on bankruptcy cases.  She is also available to handle appellate work in a wide variety of cases, which she has found provides a nice change of pace from straight bankruptcy practice.

Melanie won her first case – a bankruptcy case – in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Although not in an area ordinarily dealt with by consumer bankruptcy attorneys, the case clarified the law on equitable subordination of secured creditor claims in Chapter 7 bankruptcies. The case citation is: 546 F.3d 883 (7th Cir. 2008).

Melanie has become an active NACBA participant since joining in 2006 and has valued her membership: “I filed my first post-BAPCPA case at the end of August 2006. It took me almost three months after that to join NACBA. I cannot believe that I waited so long. I actively (almost compulsively) participate on the listserv, which is hands down the very best CLE available. My position is that if you are a consumer bankruptcy attorney, you are doing your clients a disservice if you are not a NACBA member. If you are a NACBA member, you are doing yourself a disservice if you do not participate on the listserv, where some of the best brains in bankruptcy are ready, willing, and able to assist in brainstorming any issue that could arise in a bankruptcy case.

Ever the diplomat, Melanie offered this observation when asked to describe some of her more memorable cases: “I have some colorful clients. Unfortunately, my best stories are the ones I can’t repeat.”

When not consumed with clients and their cases, Melanie’s spare time is spent happily catering to the needs of her animals, Bismarck the Great Dane and Kaiser the Cat. Bismarck is also the unofficial office mascot and accompanies Melanie to work on a regular basis. Although larger than many of Melanie’s clients, Bismarck’s presence seems to have a soothing effect on them.

Melanie received her bachelor’s degree, Magna Cum Laude, from Franklin College in Indiana. She went on to receive her J.D. Cum Laude from Indiana University School of Law – Indianapolis, where she served on the Board of Editors of Volume 32 of the Indiana Law Review.