Michael J. O'Connor, Attorney

MICHAEL J. O'CONNOR (AV Rated)
Michael J. O'Connor is a 1973 graduate of Siena College, a 1976 graduate from Western New England College where he earned his J.D., and a 1978 graduate of the University of Dublin, Trinity College, Ireland, with a Masters in Business Administration.

Michael is a Board Certified Commercial and Consumer Bankruptcy Specialist (American Bankruptcy Board of Certification). He was admitted to the New York State and federal bars in 1978 and is also admitted to practice before the U.S. Tax Court and the U.S. Court of International Trade.

Michael is the recipient of the American Jurisprudence Award (1976), the Distinguished Service Award from the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York (1989), and the President's Award for Pro Bono Services, New York State Bar Association (1989 and 1993). He has frequently lectured on bankruptcy issues for the New York State Bar Association, the National Association of Chapter 13 Trustee's Conventions, the New York State Credit Union League and the Southeastern Bankruptcy Law Institute in Atlanta, GA (2003).

Michael is a Chapter 7 Trustee and was appointed to the Chapter 7 Trustee Panel for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of New York (1986), the Northern District of New York Local Rules Revision Committee (1993, 1998, 2000), and was chairman of the Judicial Merit Selection Committee for the Northern District of New York (1994). He also was appointed a member of Committee on Character and Fitness, Third Judicial District of New York, 2009.

Michael is a contributing editor (N.Y.S. exemptions) of West's Bankruptcy Exemption Manual (2003).

• GMAC v. Valenti 1997