Kenneth N. Klee is a founding member of KTBS and a Professor Emeritus at the UCLA School of Law.

Mr. Klee was admitted to practice in 1975 before the bars of California and District of Columbia. He was admitted to the New York bar in 1996. His preparatory education was at Stanford University where he received his A.B. in Economics, with honors and great distinction, in 1971. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa fraternity. He earned his J.D. degree from Harvard University, graduating cum laude, in 1974.

Mr. Klee served as a contributing editor to Collier on Bankruptcy from 1979 until 1996 and a consulting editor from 1980 to 1996.

From 1997—2014 as a Professor at the UCLA School of Law, Mr. Klee taught courses in bankruptcy and Chapter 11 business reorganizations, contracts, professional responsibility, and a business simulation/clinical course dedicated to the topic of creating value through the renegotiation of business agreements. During the 1995-96 academic year, Professor Klee taught courses in bankruptcy and a seminar in business reorganizations at Harvard Law School as the Robert Braucher Visiting Professor from Practice. As an Adjunct Professor, he taught the course “Chapter 11 Business Reorganizations” at the UCLA School of Law from 1979-94 and in 1997, and at the University of Southern California Law Center in 1983.

Mr. Klee has participated, since 1975, on several hundred programs for the continuing education of the bar in the area of bankruptcy and business reorganizations. He has served twice as a Lawyer Representative to the 9th Circuit Judicial Conference and has served since 2011 on the Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society Advisory Council. Mr. Klee also serves as a member of The American Law Institute and was an Adviser on its Transnational Insolvency Project. In addition, he is a founding member and past Director of the International Insolvency Institute. Mr. Klee is also a past president and member of the Board of Governors of the Financial Lawyers Conference of Los Angeles.  He served from 2011 to 2014 on  the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11. He has served as member of the executive committee of the National Bankruptcy Conference from 1985 to 1988, 1992 to 2000, and 2011—2014. Professor Klee served from 2011 to 2014 as Chair of the National Bankruptcy Conference’s Committee to Rethink Chapter 11. He also served as Chair of the National Bankruptcy Conference’s legislation committee from 1992—2000. Mr. Klee was Associate Counsel, Committee on Judiciary, U.S. House of Representatives 1974—1977, where he was a principal draftsman of the Bankruptcy Code. Since then, he has served periodically as a bankruptcy consultant to the House Judiciary Committee, 1977-1982,  and to the United States Department of Justice, 1983-1984.

Mr. Klee served from 1992—2000 as a member of the Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules of the United States Judicial Conference. In June, 1994, he led a mission to China sponsored by the International Republican Institute to assist in the writing of the Chinese Bankruptcy Laws.

Representative clients of Mr. Klee have included: Jefferson County, Alabama, as a Chapter 9 debtor; 400 South Hope Street Associates L.P., in which he served as lead debtor’s counsel; the debtors in Barney’s Inc., et al., as debtors’ special counsel; the debtors in Anacomp, Inc.; the debtors in Sun World; the debtors in the five administratively consolidated Standard Brands Paint Company cases; the debtor in Financial Corporation of America; the creditors’ committees in the Momentive, +Adelphia, Del Taco, Iridium, Papercraft and Griffin Resorts, Inc. chapter 11 cases; the noteholders’ committee in PG&E National Energy Group, and Marlene Penrod, as appellee before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in In re Penrod; the out-of-court bondholders’ committees in the Charter Medical and Orion Pictures restructurings; the out-of-court Bondholders’ Steering Committee in Primestar; and Pennzoil, in the Texaco Inc. chapter  11 case. Equity investors in 203 N. La Salle Street Assocs.; Boston Chicken Plan Trust as majority equity owner of Einstein/Noah Bagel Corp.; Marshall, as appellee before the Supreme Court of the United States in Stern v. Marshall, 131 S. Ct. 2594 (2011); First Trust and Bank of New York, trustees, as appellees before the New York Court of Appeals and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Chemical Bank v. First Trust (In re Southeast Banking Corp.); Maxwell Communication Corp. PLC, as appellant before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Maxwell Communication Corp. PLC v. Societe Generale, et al; counsel of record for Penrod in AmeriCredit Financial Servs. v. Penrod (In re Penrod), 611 F .3d 1158 (9th Cir. 2010), petition for rehearing en banc denied, 636 F 3d 1175 (9th Cir. 2014), cert. denied, 132 S. Ct. 108 (2011). He also has served as an expert witness in over 50 matters and as The Examiner in Tribune.

Consulting Activities

  • Delegate attendee at meeting re “Sovereign Debt Restructuring: Proposal for Reform,” CIGI International Law Research Program, International Insolvency Institute’s 15th Annual Conference, Naples, Italy (June 14, 2015)
  • Testified before the Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law, House Committee on the Judiciary, Regarding H.R. 870, the Puerto Rico Chapter 9 Uniformity Act of 2015 (February 26, 2015)
  • Testified as an expert in depositions and at trial in administrative and judicial proceedings.
  • Testified on behalf of National Bankruptcy Conference on H.R. 764 and H.R. 120 before the Committee on the Judiciary of the United States House of Representatives, April 30, 1997.
  • Motion to Approve Cross-Border Insolvency Protocol, In re Solv-Ex Corporation, U.S.B.C., Dist. N.M. Case, December 29, 1997
  • Argued an appeal for private clients to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit 1998 and to the New York Court of Appeals 1999
  • Testified on behalf of National Bankruptcy Conference on H.R. 833 before the Committee on the Judiciary of the United States House of Representatives, March 17, 1999.
  • Provided consulting legal services within University Regulations to private clients of Counsel to Stutman, Treister & Glatt P.C. until June 6, 1999; and as a member of Klee, Tuchin Bogdanoff & Stern LLP from June 7, 1999 – present
  • Emergency Motion for Order Appointing Official Noteholders’ Committee, In re PG&E National Energy Group, Inc., U.S.B.C., Dist. Md. Case, July 30, 2003
  • Amicus Curiae in Tennessee Student Acceptance Corp. v. Hood, United States Supreme Court, 2003-2004
  • Counsel to the Regents of the University of California, as plaintiff, in the Enron and WorldCom chapter 11 cases, 2003-2004
  • Arbitrator in Official Unsecured Creditors’ Committee of Condor Systems, Inc. v. Behrman Capital II LP February 2005
  • Amicus Curiae in Central Virginia Community College v. Katz, United States Supreme Court, 2005-2006
  • Amicus Curiae in Travelers Casualty & Surety Co. v. Pacific Gas & Electric Co., United States Supreme Court, 2006-2007
  • Amicus Curiae in In re Bear Stearns High-Grade Structured Credit Strategies Master Fund, LTD., Chapter 15 Case No. 07-12383 (BRL), Civil Case No. 07-8730 (RWS), U.S.D.C. S.D.N.Y., November 28, 2007
  • Amicus Curiae in Schwab v. Reilly, No. 08-538, United States Supreme Court, 2009-2010
  • Argued pro bono publicae for Appellee in In re Americredit Financial Services v. Penrod, No. 08-60037, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, November 5, 2009
  • Amicus Curiae in Bullock v. BankChampaign, N.A., No. 11-1518, United States Supreme Court, January 14, 2013 attendee at meeting re “Sovereign Debt Restructuring: Proposal for Reform,” CIGI International Law Research Program, International Insolvency Institute’s 15th Annual Conference, Naples, Italy (June 14,

Service on Editorial Boards

  • Board of Editors, Harvard Journal on Legislation, 1973—74
  • Contributing Advisory Board, “Distressed Business & Real Estate Newsletter,” 1987—present
  • Consulting Editor, “Norton Bankruptcy Law and Practice,” 1998—99
  • Peer Reviewer, “The American Bankruptcy Law Journal,” 2002—present

Service to Educational and Governmental Agencies

  • Teacher, Attorney General’s Advocacy Institute, early 1980’s
  • Teacher, Federal Judicial Center, 1988, 1994
  • Author, “Alternative Single Asset Real Estate Proposals,” National Bankruptcy Review Commission Report, 1997
  • Author, Joint Position Paper on S. 255 to the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, on behalf of the National Bankruptcy Conference, February 24, 1999
  • Member, Standing Committee on Discipline, United States District Court for the Central District of California, 2000-2005
  • Participated by invitation in Special Open meeting of the Bankruptcy Rules Committee’s Subcommittee on Privacy, Public Access and Appeals Concerning Possible Revision of Part VIII of the Bankruptcy Rules and Scope of Rules documentation, March 25, 2009
  • Member, 9th Circuit Merit Screening Committee for the recruitment of bankruptcy judges in the Central District of California, 2010 & 2011
  • Commissioner, American Bankruptcy Institute’s Commission to Reform Chapter 11, 2011—2014

Invited Lectures, Papers at Meetings and Similar Activities

(Partial list. Full list available upon request.)

  • “Bankruptcy and the Supreme Court – 1801 through 2014” (with Whitman L. Holt), Commercial Law League of America, National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, Miami, Florida (presented September 28, 2015)
  • Professor Klee has participated in over 300 invited lectures since 1975
  • “An Overview of Municipal Bankruptcy,” Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association, Los Angeles, California (presented January 20, 2015) 
  • “Bankruptcy and the Supreme Court: 1801—2014”  (with Whitman L. Holt), Financial Lawyers Conference, Los Angeles, California (presented January 8, 2015)
  • Participated on panel with Robert J. Keach, Prof. Michelle M. Harner and Alert J. Togut re “Report from the ABI Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11,” American Bankruptcy Institute, Winter Leadership Conference, La Quinta, California (presented December 6, 2014)
  • Participated on panel with Hon. Frank J. Bailey, Michael J. Gearin, Eric Mendelsohn and Adrienne Walker re “Public Pensions in Bankruptcy:  Where Are We Now?  Where are We Headed?” American Bankruptcy Institute, Winter Leadership Conference, La Quinta, California (presented December 5, 2014)
  • Participated on panel with Thomas Bennett, Foster Clark, Harriet Welch re “Municipal Bankruptcies,” American College of Bond Counsel, Chicago, Illinois (presented September 17, 2014)
  • Participated on a panel with Erwin Chemerinsky re “Important Supreme Court Decisions From Recent Terms” Los Angeles County Bar Association, Los Angeles, California (presented August 11, 2014)
  • Speech “Financial Restructuring for Non-profits; The Threshold for Survival and Demise,” for Reserve Officers Association of the United States, Long Beach, California (presented July 24, 2014)
  • Participated on a panel with Hon. Christopher M. Klein, Hon. Brian A. Tsuchida, Erwin Chemerinsky and Lee Epstein re “The Behavior of Federal Judges,” Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference, Monterey, California (presented July 14, 2014), read more
  • “Stern v. Marshall and Other Hot Topics in Bankruptcy,” Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Ninth Circuit, Pasadena, California (presented November 21, 2013)
  • “A Guide to Government Insolvency Proceedings,” for the Chancery Club, Los Angeles, California (presented November 21, 2013)
  • Participated on a panel with Hon. Mary D. France, David M. Brownstein, and Patrick Darby re “Potholes in the Yellow Brick Road:  Restructuring Municipal Debt In and Out of Chapter 9,” 87th Annual National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, Atlanta, Georgia (presented November 1, 2013)
  • Speech and written materials re “Stern v. Marshall and Other Hot Topics in Bankruptcy,” at Tenth Circuit Bench & Bar Conference, Colorado Springs, Colorado (presented August 30, 2013)
  • Presented a slideshow and conducted a discussion with Daniel J. Bussel re “Performance of Fulcrum Securities as a Success Metric in Bankruptcy,” at Bankruptcy Success Modeling Conference, Los Angeles, California (presented February 15, 2013)
  • Keynote speech on “Hot Topics in Bankruptcy Law,” 20th Annual Southwest Bankruptcy Conference, American Bankruptcy Institute, Las Vegas, Nevada (presented September 14, 2012)
  • “Rethinking Restructuring Systems,” International Insolvency Institute’s 12th Annual Conference in Paris, France (presented June 20, 2012)
  • Participated on a panel with Hon. Thomas Fulton, Hon. Steven Rhodes, Hon. Paulette Delk, James Bailey III, and Prof. Christopher Frost on “Stern v. Marshall, Municipal Bankruptcies and Other Hot Topics,” 2012 Sixth Circuit Judicial Conference, Lexington, Kentucky (presented April 26, 2012)

Media Appearances

(Partial list. Full list available upon request.)

  • American Bankruptcy Institute, podcast interview “Professor Klee and Bankruptcy and the Supreme Court” November 13, 2014, read more
  • Quoted in Credit Slips’ “Don’t Give Me So Much That You’ve Given Me Nothing – Remembering M. Caldwell Butler’s Contribution to Bankruptcy Law,” August 4, 2014
  • Quoted in CardHub’s “Bankruptcy: What It Is, When to File, FAQ & More” article on the Bankruptcy Process, January 29, 2014Interviewed for, and featured in, the Wall Street Journal “The $1,000-an-Hour Lawyer Moonlights as Energy Healer,” August 27, 2013, read more
  • WAPI 100.5 FM – The Matt Murphy Show radio interview discussing Disclosure Statement and Chapter 9 of Jefferson County, Alabama August 7, 2013, read more
  • Fox 6 W8RC News interview “JeffCo Wins Major Victory In Bankruptcy Court,” August 6, 2013, read more
  • CBS 42 interview “Judge Approves Latest Step in Jefferson Co. Bankruptcy Plan,” August 6, 2013, read  more
  • ABC News 3340 Focus@4:00 interviews “Judge Approves Disclosure Statement, JeffCo Bankruptcy Exit on Track,” August 6, 2013, read more
  • Quoted in NPR podcast “Can Bankruptcy Boost Broke Detroit,” discussing chapter 11 filing of Detroit, Michigan, July 19, 2013, read more
  • American Public Media – Marketplace Business podcast “Detroit Recovery From Bankruptcy Won’t Be Like GM’s,” interview discussing chapter 9 filing of Detroit, Michigan, July 19, 2013, read more
  • WDET Morning Edition & All Things Considered, podcast interview “Chapter 9:  What to Expect From Someone Who’s Been There,” discussing chapter 9 filing of Detroit, Michigan, July 19, 2013, read more
  • LexisNexis® Bankruptcy Law Community Podcast: Kenneth Klee and Ancela Nastasi on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in RadLAX Gateway Hotel LLC v. Amalgamated Bank, August 15, 2003, read more
  • PBS Television, Tom Jennings, “Front Line,” discussing the role of Wall Street in the collapse of Jefferson County, Alabama, May 1, 2012
  • NBC Television Evening News, Alabama’s 13, “Judge Officially Approves Jefferson County Chapter 9 Bankruptcy,” March 5, 2012, read more
  • Weld for Birmingham, Jefferson County Bankruptcy: Kenneth Klee, November 9, 2011, read more
  • NBC Television Evening News, KNBC Channel 4 Los Angeles, “Accusations Fly in Dodgers Bankruptcy Case Filings,” October 25, 2011, read more
  • NBC Television Evening News, Alabama’s 13, “Jefferson County Commissioners Meet with Bankruptcy Attorneys,” July 21, 2011, read more

Awards, Honors & Commendations

(Partial list. Full list available upon request.)

  • Distinguished Service Award, American College of Bankruptcy, March 13, 2015
  • Included in “The Best Lawyers in America,” 2015 edition and being included for at least 25 years
  • Named by Who’s Who Legal in August 2014 as one of the top ten insolvency & restructuring attorneys in the world
  • Named by The Legal 500 as one of the top nine leading attorneys in the municipal bankruptcy field for 2014
  • Named by Chambers and Partners as a “Band 1” Attorney in Bankruptcy/Restructuring for both California and Nationwide, 2014
  • Inducted into the Turnaround Management Association’s Turnaround, Restructuring, and Distressed Investing Industry Hall of Fame, 2013
  • Named by The International Who’s Who of Insolvency & Restructuring Lawyers 2013 as one of the top ten most highly regarded insolvency and restructuring attorneys in the world
  • Distinguished Service Award for 2013, The Bankruptcy Inn Alliance, June 21, 2013
  • Named by Who’s Who Legal in August 2012 as one of the top ten insolvency & restructuring attorneys in the world
  • Named by the Daily Journal in 2011 as one of California’s Top 100 Lawyers
  • 2010 Editors’ Prize (shared with Prof. Dan Bussel), American Bankruptcy Law Journal, August 17, 2010
  • Champion of Consumer Rights Award, National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, San Francisco, CA, April 30, 2010
  • Named by Best Lawyers as Los Angeles Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Lawyer of the Year for 2010

Editors

  • “Norton Bankruptcy Law and Practice,” (2d ed. consulting editor), Deerfield, IL: Clark Boardman Callaghan (since 1993)
  • “Collier on Bankruptcy,” (15th ed. contributing editor 1979, consulting editor 1980—1996)

Books

  • 8“Bankruptcy and the Supreme Court: 1801—2014” (with Whitman L. Holt). (West Academic, 2015)
  • “Bankruptcy and the Supreme Court,” (Lexis-Nexis Publishing Co., 2008) (with Treister, Trost, Forman, Levin)
  • “Fundamentals of Bankruptcy Law,” (ALI-ABA 4th ed. 1996; Supplement, 1998) (with Treister, Trost, Forman, Levin)
  • Teacher’s Manual to accompany “Business Reorganization in Bankruptcy” (1997)
  • “Business Reorganization in Bankruptcy:  Cases and Materials,” (with Mark Scarberry, et al.). (Prior editions:  West Publishing Co., 1996; 2d ed. St. Paul:  West Group, 2001; 3d edition Thomson/West, 2006) (4th ed. ThompsonReuters/West, 2012)
  • American Casebook Series (with Scarberry, Newton, Nickels)
  • “Fundamentals of Bankruptcy Law,” (ALI-ABA 3d ed. 1993)
  • “Fundamentals of Bankruptcy Law,” (ALI-ABA 2d ed. 1988)
  • “Fundamentals of Bankruptcy Law,” (ALI-ABA 1986)

Treatise Chapters

  • “The Bankruptcy Aspects of Franchising,” in Franchising vol. 13A (by Glickman, City: publisher), (1986 and updated periodically)
  • “Collier on Bankruptcy,” (author of various segments 1979—85)

Law Review Articles

(Partial list. Full list available upon request.)

  • “Rethinking Chapter 11,” (with Richard Levin), Norton Journal of Bankruptcy Law and Practice 465 (2012),
  • “Recalibrating Consent in Bankruptcy,” (with Daniel Bussel), 83 Am. Bankr. L.J. 663—748 (2009); 6 UCLA J. Scholarly Perspectives  (2010) (with Daniel J. Bussel).  Reprinted in Legal Scholarship Network: UCLA School of Law, Law-Econ Research Paper No. 10—02, Available at SSRN: read more
  • “Asset-Backed Securitization, Special Purpose Vehicles and Other Securitization Issues,” (with Brendt C. Butler), 35 U.C.C. Law Journal 23—67 (September 2002) 
  • “Sovereign Piracy,” (with Gaurang M. Gulati), 56 The Business Lawyer 635—51 (February 2001). Reprinted in 3 Legal Scholarship Network: UCLA School of Law Research Paper Series (Sep. 12, 2001), available at http://www.ssrn.com
  • “State Defiance of Bankruptcy Law,” (with James O. Johnson & Eric Winston), 52 Vanderbilt Law Review 1527—1606 (November 1999)
  • “Adjusting Chapter 11: Fine-Tuning the Plan Process,” 69 American Bankruptcy Law Journal 551—72 (1995)
  • “Creditors’ Committees Under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code,” (with K. John Shaffer), 44 South Carolina Law Review 995—1066 (1993) (symposium issue)
  • “Tax Procedure Considerations in Chapter 11 Reorganizations,” 20 Taxation for Lawyers 289—94 (1992)
  • “Cram Down II,” 64 American Bankruptcy Law Journal 229—44 (1990)
  • “The Scope of the Chapter 11 Discharge,” 15 ALI—ABA 83—98 (1990)
  • “Timbers, Ahlers, and Beyond,” Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law 1—27 (1989) (Part I) (symposium issue)
  • “Ignoring Congressional Intent: Eight Years of Judicial Legislation,” (with Merola) 62 American Bankruptcy Law Journal 1—36 (1988)
  • “Collective Bargaining Agreements in Bankruptcy,” 10 ALI—ABA 41 (1986)
  • “Legislative History of the New Bankruptcy Law,” 28 De Paul Law Review 941—60 (1979); Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law 21 (1979); 54 American Bankruptcy Law Journal 275—97 (1980)
  • “All You Ever Wanted to Know About Cram Down Under the New Bankruptcy Code,” 53 American Bankruptcy Law Journal 133—71 (1979)