The Commercial Law Committee of the Missouri Bar has selected Husch Blackwell partner Gary Barnes to receive the 2019 Michael R. Roser Excellence in Bankruptcy Award.
Since 1994, the annual award has recognized “an attorney who manifests the highest standard of excellence in bankruptcy practice, who contributes distinctively to the development and appreciation of bankruptcy law, and who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of bankruptcy practice or administration.”
The award is presented by the Commercial Law Committee of the Missouri Bar and recipients are selected by a special selection subcommittee consisting of past recipients and attorneys representing different geographical areas throughout the state in a variety of practice sizes.
A member of Husch Blackwell’s Financial Services & Capital Markets industry group, Barnes has long been considered a leading bankruptcy law practitioner. He is recognized as a Local Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation and listed in Best Lawyers in America in bankruptcy and creditor debtor rights/ insolvency and reorganization law. He is a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy.
Barnes has acted as national and regional insolvency counsel representing secured lenders, landlords, lessors, preference defendants, buyers in Section 363 sales and creditors’ committees in commercial financial restructurings and bankruptcy. Most notably, he represented the unsecured creditors’ committee in the Farmland Industries Chapter 11 bankruptcy—one of the twenty largest bankruptcy cases in the world at the time—in which ultimate payment to the unsecured creditors in the case was more than 100% of the allowed unsecured claims. He has also served as a panel trustee in the Western District of Missouri in Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings for approximately 30 years.
“Michael Roser was such a brilliant bankruptcy attorney, taken from us far too early,” said Barnes. “I am honored and humbled to be recognized with the award that bears his name. Mike set a high standard for all of us for professionalism and civility in the practice of law.”
Barnes has long maintained an active civic life outside of private practice. He currently serves as Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of William Jewell College and is a former member of the Board of Directors of Missouri Boys State. Since 2007, he has served on the Advisory Board of the Assistance League of Greater Kansas City, an organization that annually clothes more than 2,500 schoolchildren.
The award will be presented at the Midwestern Bankruptcy Institute in Kansas City, Missouri, on October 4, 2019.