Deborah C. Swenson / Biography
Before retirement, Deb Swenson provided clients with practical, cost effective legal advice in the area of commercial bankruptcy and commercial litigation. In bankruptcy matters, she assisted clients who had customers that had filed bankruptcy matters no matter where they arose in the United States. Her philosophy is based upon the belief that clients shouldn’t have to pay the cost to reinvent the wheel to repeatedly educate attorney after attorney about a legal issue that is common to their business. Instead, she used her knowledge of her clients’ businesses to work as a team with a specially chosen local counsel to bring about positive results without the high cost of travel. Her practice was unique as over the last 20 years she developed relationships with counsel in all 50 states, enabling her to provide clients with a one-stop process to have their commercial bankruptcy and commercial litigation matters handled efficiently and effectively.
She enjoyed providing these services to clients across the country. Clients included Fortune 500 companies in the transportation, staffing and services industries. She also worked on appellate matters in the Minnesota Court of Appeals, the Minnesota Supreme Court and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Of special interest to her is the defense of avoidance actions, including preference and fraudulent transfers. During her long legal practice she defended corporations in hundreds of avoidance actions in over 40 jurisdictions.
Deb also worked to protect her clients’ interests in bankruptcy through an active motion practice, including relief from the automatic stay and other motions in the bankruptcy courts throughout the United States. She also served as a liquidating trustee in a Minnesota Chapter 11 liquidation case involving former franchisee.
Deb is rated AV Preeminent® for the highest level of professional excellence by Martindale-Hubbell.
Education
- Stanford Law School, J.D., 1995
- University of Minnesota, B.A., summa cum laude, 1992
News + Articles
Vaccine law: where it came from, how it works
The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 established the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program after lawsuits against manufacturers threatened to cause vaccine shortages. See 42 U.S.C. §§ 300aa-1 to -34. In an effort to maintain a supply of vaccines,...
The Ins and Outs of Legal Malpractice Claims
Phil Cole and Richard Thomas, Burke & Thomas, presented a webcast series on the ins and outs of legal malpractice claims. The series took place at noon on three Fridays throughout May 2017 and presented by Minnesota CLE. Friday, May 12, 2017 Legal Malpractice:...
Advice from an all-too personal experience: so your identity is stolen…Now what do you do?
You check your mailbox. No mail. Seems strange. The next day you receive calls from credit card companies checking on your applications. Next you receive letters from credit card companies. No applications were made by you. You wonder if this is a phishing expedition...
How to protect your children’s inheritance from divorce, creditors, and lawsuits
As divorce rates rise and society becomes increasingly litigious, asset protection has become an increasingly important aspect of estate planning. While most people understand the more common estate planning goals such as probate avoidance and limiting estate tax...
Five tips for updating your estate plan during or after divorce
Divorce is a difficult process, no matter how amicable the split. Between property division, potential custody disputes, and escalating legal bills, no one wants to think about more legal hoops to jump through. While updating your estate plan during a divorce may be...
Contests Over Wills and Trusts: The Interaction Between Testamentary Capacity and Undue Influence
After a person dies, there can be many disagreements among the heirs and beneficiaries over the Will or Trust of a decedent. Two of the most common issues raised are: 1) whether the decedent had “testamentary capacity” when they signed a document; and 2) whether they...