• University of Michigan Law School, Ann Arbor, MI, LL.B. 1959
  • University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, B.A. 1956, with distinction
    • Phi Beta Kappa
    • Phi Eta Sigma
  • Michigan, 1959
  • U.S. District Court Eastern District of Michigan, 1959
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit, 1968
Photo of Wallace M. Handler
Wallace M. Handler
  • Senior Status
  • Southfield
  • t: 248.746.2780
  • f: 248.746.2760
Overview
Clients & Experience
News & Insights
Affiliations
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Wallace M. Handler has been in practice for 60 years in the areas of Creditor/Debtor Rights and Bankruptcy.

Wallace counsels business clients and individuals in financial management of their companies and personal assets. He represents debtors, creditors, creditors’ committees and other interested parties in insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings, and advises on the formation and implementation of liquidation, reorganization and recovery plans, both in and out of court. He is often retained as special counsel on creditors' rights issues in all types of proceedings.

He frequently serves as an Oakland County and Federal Bankruptcy Mediator. He is also the founding Co-Chairman of the Bankruptcy Mediation Panel for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan and a member of the Bankruptcy Court Committee for revision of Chapter 11 Rules.

Wallace has been frequently recognized for legal excellence by his colleagues, peers and clients. Since 1983, he has been continually listed in the Creditors' and Debtors' Rights and Bankruptcy Sections of The Best Lawyers in America® by Woodward White, Inc.  He has been awarded the ranking of Michigan “Super Lawyer,” by Thomson Reuters every year since 2006.  Wallace also has been awarded and maintains the Martindale AV rating which is the highest rating available. He was the recipient of The Barbara J. Rom Award For Bankruptcy Excellence in November 2015.

He is a former adjunct professor at the University of Detroit College of Law, and a guest lecturer on bankruptcy and a moot court judge at the University of Michigan Law School. He is a member of the Commercial Law League of America and the American Bankruptcy Institute.

Since 1964, Wallace has been actively involved in numerous committees of the Jewish Welfare Federation. He has been a member of the Board of Directors and President of the Congregation Shaarey Zedek, one of the largest conservative congregations in the Midwest, and has served in various positions of leadership continuously over the last 20 years. He was also a past member of the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Foundation of Detroit and the Home for the Aged and a past member of the Board of Governors of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.

Representative Clients

  • PM Group
  • DT Manufacturing
  • Park Family Health

Representative Matters

  • Attorney for Creditors Committee-Michigan Health Care Corporation (large health care conglomerate)
  • Attorney for Debtor- LGW Management Associates, North Oakland Radiology, P.C., North Oakland Radiology Group, P. C, North Oakland Radiology of Southfield, and North Oakland Radiology-Waterford PC
  • Attorney for Creditors Committee - Elias Brothers Restaurants, Inc. (national restaurant chain)
  • Attorney for Plan Proponent - American Monitor Corporation
  • Attorney for Creditors Committee Nu-Trax, Inc. (formerly Chatham Supermarkets, Inc.)
  • Attorney For Debtor, Friendship Manor Nursing Home
  • Attorney for Debtor - Shore Pointe Associates (Nursing Home)
  • Trustee (Chapter 11) Calderone-Curran Ranches, Inc.
  • Trustee (Chapter 11) Greatmark Western Packing Company
  • Attorney for Creditors Committee - Dearborn Manufacturing Co.
  • Attorney for Creditors Committee - NMD, P.C. (major local law firm)
  • Attorney for Debtor - Woodland Meadows Limited Partnership (apartment complex) ($20,000,000.00 project)
  • Attorney for Debtor - Mystic Creek Golf Club Limited Partnership
  • Attorney for Debtor - Huntington Meadows Limited Partnership
  • Attorney for Principal Shareholder - Simplified Employment Services, et al
  • Attorney for Debtor - WR2, Sterile Technologies and Waste Reduction by Waste Reduction, Inc.
  • Attorney for Debtor – Boulder Pointe Golf Club (Loan workout)

News & Insights

Professional & Community Affiliations

  • Commercial Law League of America, Bankruptcy Section, Member
  • American Bankruptcy Institute
  • Detroit Bar Association
    • Debtor/Creditor Committee, Member
  • Oakland County Bar Association
    • Member, Debtor/Creditor Committee
  • Oakland County Circuit Court, State of Michigan
    • Member, Mediation Panel Member
  • Jewish Foundation of Detroit
  • United States Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of Michigan
  • Eastern District of Michigan,
    • Vice Chairman, Local Bankruptcy Rules, Revision Committee