rseltzer@cwsny.com 212.356.0219 |
Richard M. Seltzer joined the firm in 1981, and became a Partner in 1987. Mr. Seltzer has devoted much of his career to the representation of unions and benefit funds in employer bankruptcy proceedings, including on creditors committees and in Section 1113 and 1114 litigation. He also represents unions in a wide variety of other labor law, employee benefit, and internal union matters. Prior to joining Cohen, Weiss and Simon LLP, he served for six years as an Assistant District Attorney in appeals and trial bureaus of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. Mr. Seltzer is the author of an article on labor law in the bankruptcy context published in The Air and Space Lawyer. He also co-authored (with former partner Thomas Ciantra) an article on labor injunctions in employer bankruptcies published in the American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review. He has served as a lecturer or panelist at approximately forty conferences on labor and bankruptcy topics before such groups as the American Bankruptcy Institute, American Bar Association, Practising Law Institute, National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, Cornell Law School, and The International Foundation of Employee Benefit Funds. He was elected as a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and serves as the representative for the Second Circuit Fellows on the College’s Distinguished Law Student Awards Committee. Mr. Seltzer was named as a Super Lawyer for Bankruptcy Law on the New York Metro Annual List of Super Lawyers magazine for 2020 and 2021. He has represented unions in such major Chapter 11 bankruptcies as Eastern Airlines, US Airways, Northwest Airlines, LTV, Kaiser Aluminum, Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, Fairway Markets, Libbey Glass, Frontier Communications, and McClatchy Newspapers. Mr. Seltzer received a B.A. magna cum laude, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and an M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1972. He graduated from Columbia Law School in 1975, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. |
My Philosophy
Bankruptcy is largely a foreign process for unions and funds. We take pride in clearly and carefully explaining the bankruptcy process to our clients. We then use our experience to work with them to obtain the best possible results in difficult circumstances.
Industry Affiliations
- American College of Bankruptcy
- AFL-CIO Union Lawyers Alliance
Awards and Recognition
- Elected as a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy
Off the Clock
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Interests
He loves classical music and opera, gardening, biking, and spending time with his grandchildren.