Jane Rue Wittstein

Jane Rue Wittstein has more than 35 years' experience litigating at trial and appellate state, federal, and bankruptcy courts across the country. She represents both debtors and creditors in chapter 11 cases. Jane's nonbankruptcy experience is also extensive, handling commercial, securities, and product liability litigation for clients in industries including financial services, energy, pharmaceuticals, satellites, semiconductors, and automotive.

Jane's bankruptcy proceedings include MF Global Holdings Ltd., NII Holdings, Harry & David, and Davis Petroleum. As counsel to MF Global's Plan Administrator, Jane successfully challenged the constitutionality of Congress's 2018 increase of US Trustee quarterly fees (reaching a favorable settlement after the Supreme Court's decisions in Siegel v. Fitzgerald, 596 U.S. 464 (2022) and Office of United States Trustee v. John Q. Hammons, 602 U.S. 487 (2024)); obtained court-approved settlements in 2016 yielding over $150 million in distributions to creditors from former officers of MF Global and their insurers; won damages for violation of the Barton doctrine from dissenting insurers who commenced actions in Bermuda without leave of the Bankruptcy Court; and secured approval acquiring the SIPA (Securities Investor Protection Act) estate's remaining assets in 2015, with the court noting this "represents a creative and novel way to move these cases toward successful conclusions." Additional highlights include winning summary judgment and prejudgment interest for NII against AT&T in October 2020, winning a bench trial to terminate Harry & David's underfunded pension plan, and successfully defending Evercore and Davis Petroleum in various proceedings through the Fifth Circuit challenging a prepackaged bankruptcy sale.