Attorney Profiles

Michael O’Leary

Michael O’Leary, Esq. devotes his entire practice to consumer bankruptcy law, handling cases under Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 for individual persons, married couples and small businesses. In addition to having filed several thousand consumer bankruptcy cases for clients and having counseled many thousand more, Michael O’Leary served as a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Trustee in the Poughkeepsie (NY) Bankruptcy Court for seventeen (17) years (ie., 1994 thru 2011), and administered well over ten thousand (10,000) Chapter 7 cases while serving in said capacity. Mr. O’Leary has established a well-deserved reputation as an attorney who capably and successfully represents his clients throughout the bankruptcy process. Having practiced consumer bankruptcy law for over thirty (30) years, Michael O’Leary brings to each case that he handles a very broad and deep understanding of consumer bankruptcy practice, and with this broad experience he is uniquely able to navigate his clients through the bankruptcy process.

Martindale-Hubbell® rating:

BV Distinguished

Education:

Middletown (NY) High School
SUNY at Binghamton (BA)
Buffalo Law School (JD)

Member of:

Hudson Valley Bankruptcy Bar Association, President
National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys
American Bankruptcy Institute
Capital Region Bankruptcy Bar Association
Federal Court Bar for Southern District of New York
New York State Bar Association
Orange County Bar Association
Middletown Bar Association

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Michael (Mike) Pinsky

Mike Pinsky was first admitted to practice law in 1984 and has practiced almost exclusively in the area of bankruptcy law since 1986. He first practiced in Houston, Texas during the ‘80’s oil patch/real estate depression, and later in Atlanta, Georgia. During his 8 years in Atlanta, Mike first worked for a spinoff from large firm Alston and Bird, and then for a long-established mid-sized bankruptcy boutique law firm. His clients in Texas and Atlanta included banks, savings and loan associations, credit unions, real estate developers, individual real estate investors and owners, and Freddie Mac, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation.

Moving back to New York in 1995, Mike entered individual private bankruptcy practice, representing individuals, small businesses, and three of the Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustees who served in the Poughkeepsie Bankruptcy Court. In 1999, Mike filed a successful Chapter 11 reorganization case for the financially strapped Ellenville Community Hospital, and was instrumental in helping to preserve the only local hospital serving the residents of southern Ulster County. He represented the trustee of the Granit Hotel, one of the last great Catskill hotels then left standing. Mike represented the late, great Levon Helm, the iconic drummer for and founder of The Band in a Chapter 11 case. That case successfully reorganized his finances and prevented the foreclosure of the Barn, his Woodstock home, famous for hosting the Midnight Rambles, which Rolling Stone magazine called ‘the best jam session in America’. Mike continued to represent Levon as his personal attorney until his untimely death in 2012.

After the real estate debacle and great recession of recent years, Mike has represented many homeowners struggling to hold onto their homes, including some who were the victims of outright mortgage origination fraud or mortgage servicing fraud. In one case involving a foreclosure rescue scam, he successfully represented a couple whose home equity was stolen from them, settling litigation that resulted in the return of their home, the restoration of most of their equity and greatly improved payment terms for a reduced mortgage balance. In another exceptional case involving outright appraisal fraud and mortgage origination fraud, Mike helped a Sullivan County couple prevent foreclosure and get a very favorable settlement involving the forgiveness of a significant amount of loan principal, and the mortgage company defendant’s payment of 2 years of real estate taxes as well as the clients’ attorney’s fees.

Mike also handles the loss mitigation matters for the firm, and regularly appears in Bankruptcy Court representing Chapter 13 clients seeking to modify their mortgages.

Education:

B.A. cum laude in Urban Studies, College of Charleston, S.C. 1980
J.D., with honors, University of Texas at Austin, 198
Member, Texas Law Review, 1982 – 1984

Professional Associations, etc.:

Admitted to the Bar in New York in 1995
Member, National Association of Consumer Advocates (“NACA”)
Member, National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (“NACBA”)
Member, Hudson Valley Bankruptcy Bar Association (“HVBBA”)
New York State Bar Association
American Bar Association
Middletown Bar Association

Bankruptcy lawyers with offices in Middletown, New York serving Orange County, Sullivan County, Ulster County, Dutchess County, Rockland County, Westchester County and Putnam County and communities including Newburgh, Port Jervis, Goshen, Monticello, Liberty, Ellenville, New Paltz, Kingston, Poughkeepsie, White Plains and New City.

This Law Firm proudly practices Bankruptcy Law, helping clients file cases under Chapters 7, 13 and 11. According to the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, we are considered to be a Debt Relief Agency.