Michelle H. Bass
Michelle H. Bass is a senior attorney at Wolfson Bolton PLLC, where she manages the consumer bankruptcy practice group.
Michelle represents both debtors and creditors in consumer bankruptcy proceedings.
She primarily represents individual consumer debtors in Chapter 7 liquidation, as well as Chapter 13 and Chapter 11 reorganizations. Representative clients span from small business owners and high net-worth / high income-earning individuals, to individuals seeking to prevent foreclosure or repossession of secured collateral. This includes individuals who qualify to reorganize under Sub Chapter V of the recently enacted Small Business Reorganization Act under Chapter 11. She also represents both debtors and creditors in divorce-related bankruptcy proceedings, and is a frequent speaker on the intersection of bankruptcy and family law disputes.
She has been extremely successful in practice stopping foreclosures, stripping secured liens, and cramming down loans on collateral for individuals seeking to reorganize under Chapters 13 and 11.
She has successfully defended appeals in the Federal Eastern District for the State of Michigan and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Education:
University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, J.D.
University of Michigan, B.A.
Undergraduate Thesis completed in Contemporary American History
Admitted:
- Michigan
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Michigan
- U.S. Court Of Appeals 6th Circuit
More About Michelle
Honors
- Michigan Lawyers Weekly 2019 Women in the Law
- Super Lawyers Rising Star, 2014 – 2020
Speaking Engagements
- Shapero Cup Regional Moot Court Competition, Guest Judge, 2020
- OCBA/CBA Bankruptcy Seminar "When Worlds Collide," May 2019
- "The Ethics of Representing the Vulnerable Client Population," ABI's Central States Bankruptcy Workshop, June 2019
- "State vs Federal Exemptions," ABI's Steven W. Rhodes Detroit Consumer Bankruptcy Conference, November 2019
- "For Richer or for Poorer: When Divorce and Bankruptcy Law Collide," 18th Annual Family Law Institute ICLE, November 2019
- Intersection of Family Law & Bankruptcy, ICLE, 2016
- Intersection of Family Law & Bankruptcy, Cooley Law School, 2011 - Present
- Western District of Michigan Debtors Bar Seminar, 2017
Pro Bono
- Tamarack Camps, Vice President Board of Directors, 2020
- Tamarack Camps, Board of Directors, 2018 - Present
- Tamarack Camps, Board Secretary, 2014 - 2017
- Tamarack Camps, Board Member, 2010 - 2017
- JARC, Board Member, 2012 - 2018
- Kadima, Board Member, 2011 - 2014
Professional Involvement
- Oakland County Bar Association; Professional Development Committee liaison to the Debtor/Creditor Committee, 2020
- American Bankruptcy Institute; Consumer Committee Membership Relations Director 2019-2020; Consumer Committee Newsletter Editor, 2020
- International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation (MI-IWIRC) Michigan Network Co-Chair, 2017 - 2021
- Consumer Bankruptcy Association, Member, 2008 - Present
- Oakland County Bar Association, Member
Prior Employment Positions
Gold, Lange & Majoros, P.C.,
2008-2017
Giarmarco, Mullins & Horton, P.C.,
Law Clerk, 2007
Honorable Chief Judge Bernard A. Friedman for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan,
Judicial Intern, 2006
