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

Publications

Speaking Engagements

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, 2018 - Present
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