L. Katie Mason
Wisconsin
Quarles & Brady LLP
411 East Wisconsin Avenue
Suite 2400
Milwaukee, WI 53202
Tel: (414) 277-3018
Email:
katie.mason@quarles.com
Web:
www.quarles.com
Katie advises manufacturers, trade creditors, landlords, and financial institutions in business litigation, commercial litigation, and all aspects of bankruptcy proceedings, receiverships and workouts. She has extensive experience litigating contested matters and adversary proceedings in bankruptcy court, including contested Chapter 11 plan confirmation, use of cash collateral, claims litigation, fee disputes, preference avoidance, fraudulent transfer actions, non-dischargeability, and issues arising in “free and clear” sales under the Bankruptcy Code.
Katie regularly represents clients in the sale and purchase of distressed assets under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code, Chapter 128 of the Wisconsin Statutes, and Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code.
Representative Experience:
- Successfully prevented unwanted assignment of patent licensor’s patent license agreement as part of a bankruptcy sale.
- Obtained bankruptcy court order finding that purportedly “free and clear” bankruptcy sale of debtor’s assets did not operate to extinguish real estate owner’s recorded right of first refusal due to lack of due process.
- Argued key landlord administrative claim issue in In re Specialty Retail Shops Holding Corp., resulting in court order requiring debtor to make immediate payment of certain lease obligations to landlords.
- Successfully defended and obtained dismissal after trial of lawsuit filed by bankruptcy debtor against financial institution, wherein debtor sought to prevent client’s foreclosure of properties owned by entities in which debtor held an ownership interest.
- Successfully defended hundreds of preference and fraudulent transfer actions arising under bankruptcy and state law.
Education and Honors
- University of Wisconsin Law School (J.D., magna cum laude, 2006)
- University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (summa cum laude, 2003)
Bar Admissions
- Wisconsin
- Illinois
Court Admissions
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Wisconsin
- Wisconsin Super Lawyers – Rising Stars, 2012,
2014-present - Best Lawyers in America (Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law; Litigation – Bankruptcy), 2016-present
- Recognized as Best Lawyers® 2023 Milwaukee Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Litigation – Bankruptcy “Lawyer of the Year”
- Wisconsin Super Lawyers®, Bankruptcy: Business, 2021
Our Bankruptcy, Restructuring & Creditor’s Rights Group works closely with clients to craft legal solutions consistent with their individual business objectives. We strive to understand their respective industries and unique operations, complementing these insights with our top-level knowledge of the law. We define the relevant options, discuss those alternatives in clear terms, and help our clients with the implementation of the most effective solutions.
Many of our attorneys have developed singular experience in a wide array of businesses and industries. By applying lessons that we have learned in the past to existing matters, we can provide substantial efficiency in our representation. Further, our attorneys have significant experience as litigators — rather than handing off the courtroom phase of a case to another team, we are able to handle virtually every aspect from start to finish, including trials and appeals.
Our team has presented bankruptcy-related programs on behalf of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA), and several of our partners founded the first NITA bankruptcy litigation program in the early 1990s.
Across the country, Quarles is a firm of choice for lenders, borrowers, and other parties involved in any aspect of receiverships, foreclosures, and bankruptcy proceedings. Our clients include secured and unsecured creditors, debtors, lessors, bondholders, equity interests, committees representing creditors or equity holders, trustees, examiners, post-petition financiers, and prospective acquirers of businesses or assets. Furthermore, we represent nearly every sector of the economy, including airlines, equipment leasing and finance, gaming, health care, hotels and hospitality, manufacturing, real estate, retail, intellectual property, transportation, and utilities.
For over 125 years, Quarles & Brady LLP has provided quality legal services to a wide range of industries on a national stage. We’ve strived to learn our clients’ businesses—to see the horizons through their eyes. We don’t just counsel, but invest in the success of each client, partnering with them to achieve their business goals. This dedication and investment is what sets Quarles & Brady apart: we provide a true partnership, in every sense of the word.
Quarles & Brady is a multidisciplinary AmLaw 200 legal services provider with approximately 475 attorneys practicing at the top of the profession in Chicago, Indianapolis, Madison, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Naples, Phoenix, Tampa, Tucson, and Washington, D.C. Our national presence allows us to draw upon a group of highly skilled attorneys from all across the country to ensure the right people are working on our clients’ matters. We have extensive experience working with the full industrial gamut, from cutting-edge technology to traditional manufacturing, and we have developed an extensive network of relationships with international legal counsel around the world, allowing us to effectively handle important matters for our clients on a global scale. The firm is led by a diverse team of lawyers and professional staff.
Our clients include major national and multinational corporations, technology companies, educational and research institutions, municipalities and government agencies, charitable organizations, industry executives, and high-net-worth individuals. They are industry leaders in technology, energy, financial services, health care, insurance, pharmaceuticals, real estate, and manufacturing, to name just a few.