Welcome New Trustee

helblingLauren A. Helbling comes to the Chapter 13 world from private practice where she served as a Chapter 7 panel trustee. Helbling was appointed as a Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Northern District of Ohio on October 1, 2017. Helbling was appointed subsequent to the retirement of Craig Shopneck who served the Cleveland district for fifteen years.

Helbling is an Ohio State graduate, receiving a B.S. in finance, cum laude. She received her juris doctorate from Cleveland Marshall College of Law in 1987. She began her legal career as a ‘gator’ (litigator) for the law firm of Porter, Wright, Morris & Arthur. She served consecutive Law Clerkships. One for the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas and one for the Honorable Judge Randolph Baxter.

After earning her stripes, so to speak, she opened her own practice in 1997 and was appointed as a Chapter 7 Panel Trustee. She was also appointed Chapter 11 Operating Trustee in the A.E.M.M. Properties, Inc. bankruptcy.

Helbling was awarded as one of The Best Lawyers in American, Bankruptcy Law, for 2016 and 2017.

She is co-author with the Honorable Christopher M. Klein of The Emerging Harmless Innocent Omission Defense to Nondischargeability Under Bankruptcy Code Section 523(a)(3)(A): Making Sense of the Controversy Over Reopening Cases and Amending Schedules to Add Omitted Debts. And she is the author of What Constitutes a Timely Response to a Complaint? A Close Review of Bankruptcy Rules 7004, 7012 and 9006.

Helbling is a frequent speaker at continuing legal education seminars on bankruptcy law issues for a variety of professional groups including the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, United States Trustee, and the Ohio Association of Magistrates.

MotorcycleIn her personal life, Helbling is a speed freak . . . no, not drugs . . . boats and motorcycles. She is married to her husband Ken. They spend much of their free time boating on Lake Erie and the Keys. Perhaps we can persuade them to bring the boat to Miami for NACTT 2018! When getting to the water is an obstacle, they hop on their motorcycles and go wherever the wind takes them.

Welcome to the Chapter 13 world, Lauren.

No Author Biography has been linked to this Article.

Related Articles

July 14, 2019
By John P. Gustafson, United States Bankruptcy Judge, Northern District of Ohio, Western Division A. Property Acquired After The Filing Of The Chapter 13 Case: The Different Approaches. 1. Property Acquired Post-Petition vs. Property “Vesting In The Debtor”. Click here for Part 2 The broad issue of what becomes property of the Chapter 13 estate post-petition involves consideration of two...
Members
October 18, 2020
By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Trustee (Nashville, TN) There is no requirement to show a change in circumstance in order to modify a Chapter 13 plan pursuant to § 1329. Whaley v. Guillen (In re Guillen), 2020 WL 5015287 (11th Cir. Aug. 25, 2020) (Marcus) Case Summary Rachel Guillen filed a Chapter 13 petition in August of 2015....
Members
June 23, 2019
By Henry E. Hildebrand, III and Sloan Hastings Section 521(a)(7) requires a chapter 7 debtor to file a statement of intention for “debts secured by the property of the estate.” The debtor must choose to (1) reaffirm the debt, (2) surrender the collateral, or (3) redeem the collateral. Reaffirming the debt contractually binds the debtor to pay the debt even...
Members
May 2, 2021
By Cathy Moran, Esq., (Redwood City, CA) I don't know just what makes Parker such a treat for me, but it delivers multiple thrills to my bankruptcy lawyer heart. It's a stay violation case with a BIG sanctions award. It's a clearly, simply written opinion that lays out the circuit law on multiple issues. It hits hard at HOA hubris....
Members
September 20, 2020
By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Three-month delay in completing bare-bones petition. When the Chapter 13 debtor filed a skeletal petition, her motion for more time to complete schedules, statement and plan was denied, with no cause found for extending time after three-month delay, and show cause hearing was set to determine if case should be dismissed with 180-day...
Members
Copy of Hildebrand-2016
February 19, 2023
When case converts from Chapter 13 to Chapter 7, the Chapter 7 trustee is not limited to the valuation of the debtor’s home as stated on the original schedules and may capture the increase in equity resulting from the property’s appreciation. (Dales) In re Adams, 2022 WL 2079725 (Bankr. W.D. Mich. June 9, 2022) Case Summary Matthew and Katherine Adams...
Members
August 25, 2019
By Gretchen D. Holland, Standing Chapter 13 Trustee for the Greenville/Spartanburg Division of South Carolina The Bankruptcy Code does not – and thus a trustee cannot – require a debtor to treat nondischargeable student loan debts in a separate class from other general unsecured claims under § 1322(b)(1), even when including them all in the same pool will result in...
Members
April 18, 2021
Bankruptcy Courts Grapple with the “COVID-19 Discharge” APPENDIX B Side-by-Side Comparison of 11 U.S.C. § 1328(b)-(i) and 11 U.S.C. § 1141(d)(5)(B)-(C) 11 U.S.C. § 1328(b)-(i) Discharge 11 U.S.C. § 1141(d)(5)(B)-(C) Effect of Confirmation (b) Subject to subsection (d), at any time after the confirmation of the plan and after notice and a hearing, the court may grant a discharge ....
Members
rummler
May 21, 2023
(The DuPage County Bar Association grants permission to reprint all or part of this article, Chapter 13 Saves the World! by Arthur Rummler, Volume 29, Issue 9, May 2017 edition of the DCBA Brief. Copyright 2017, DCBA Brief, All Rights Reserved.) We are pleased to reprint an article referred to recently by Director Twomey of the Executive Office for United...
February 7, 2021
By Ken Siomos, Staff Attorney for Marsha L. Combs-Skinner (Newman, IL) The December 2020 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, more commonly known as the second covid-19 stimulus bill, contains a few bankruptcy related provisions, but none stood out more with respect to Chapter 13 than the newly created § 1328(i). This provision provides that a court may grant a full 1328(a)...
Members