On February 17, 2022, Deborah Piazza, Michael Brownstein, Jill Makower, and Scott Markowitz were featured in the Law360 article, “2nd Circ. Upholds Sale Of Church By Ch. 11 Trustee.” The article delves into the Bankruptcy team’s victory in the Second Circuit decision, which upheld a district court decision denying a Bronx church's attempt to overturn the appointment of its Chapter 11 trustee and the sale of its property.

Jill Makower, Michael Brownstein, and Scott Markowitz represented the trustee, Deborah Piazza. In January 2020, Deborah was appointed trustee and put the property up for auction in July 2020, and a sale order was entered by the bankruptcy court. The church requested the court to overturn Piazza's appointment as trustee and void the sale in August 2020, alleging they violated the Bankruptcy Code, the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, and the First Amendment. The bankruptcy court denied the motion and the district court denied the church's request to overturn the appointment, stay the sale, and remove the reference to the district court. The church appealed to the Second Circuit, and Deborah argued she had not violated the church's religious freedom and that its objections had been filed too late.

Read the article here.