Michael A. McConnell

Biography

Michael A. McConnell returned to Kelly Hart & Hallman LLP as a partner in its Business Reorganization and Bankruptcy practice group in 2006. Since his graduation from the University of Texas School of Law in 1975, Mr. McConnell has gained a wide variety of experience in several practice areas of civil law, both as an attorney in private practice and as a member of the judiciary. A former U.S. Bankruptcy Judge from the Northern District of Texas, Mr. McConnell has represented secured and unsecured creditors, trustees, committees, and debtors in some of the most significant bankruptcy cases in this region. He has served as a Chapter 11 Operating Trustee and Chapter 11 Examiner in several complex Chapter 11 cases. He has also been involved in a variety of business, litigation, and commercial law engagements.

Mr. McConnell has served in a number of consulting/testifying expert witness engagements in both federal and state court. He has also mediated a number of controversies involving business and commercial law issues of all types, and serves as a member of the panel of arbitrators for the American Arbitration Association’s Large Complex Cases.

Mr. McConnell was named in “Best Lawyers in America”, 1989-2006, and in Chambers and Partners USA, America’s Leading Business Lawyers, 2003-2006. Texas Monthly noted Mr. McConnell as a "Texas Super Lawyer" in Bankruptcy and Workouts and one of the Top 100 Super Lawyers in Texas in 2006. Mr. McConnell and his wife, Patti, have raised three sons, Kevin, Ryan, and Colin. In addition to his professional practice, Mr. McConnell has served on the Advisory Board for the Fort Worth Opera and is a Past Commodore of the Fort Worth Boat Club.

Education & Honors

• Loyola University of the South, B.A., 1969
• University of Texas School of Law, J.D., 1975
• Circuit Trustee, Treasurer and member of the Executive Committee, National Foundation of American Inns of Courts
• Member, The American Law Institute
• Fellow, American College of Bankruptcy
• Named a Texas Super Lawyer in Bankruptcy and Workouts and one of the Top 100 Super Lawyers in Texas by Texas Monthly, 2006
• Named in Best Lawyers in America, 1989-2006
• Named in Chambers and Partners USA, America’s Leading Business Lawyers, 2003-2006
• Named a Texas Super Lawyer, Law & Politics, 2008
• Selected as a Top Attorney in Fort Worth, Texas Magazine, 2008 and 2009
• Named a Super Lawyer in Bankruptcy Practice, Super Lawyers Corporate Counsel Edition

Admission & Affiliations

• Texas, 1975
• Supreme Court of the United States, 1997
• Supreme Court of Texas, 1976
• United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, 1980
• United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, 1981
• United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, 1987

Publications & Speeches

• Whether to Declare Bankruptcy: A Difficult Decision, Winning Legal Strategies for Bankruptcy and Restructuring, Aspatore Books Publisher, Dec. 2005
• "Ethics in Bankruptcy Law. Representing the Debtor in Bankruptcy Cases: More Mines in the Minefield?" The Bencher (a publication of the American Inns of Court), Sept./Oct. 2005
• Numerous articles in connection with the Annual Bankruptcy Conference of the University of Texas School of Law in the Advanced Bankruptcy Course of the State Bar of Texas