A significant portion of Mary Jo’s practice is representation of entities purchasing assets from bankruptcy estates and entities with contracts, real estate leases, intellectual property licenses, supply agreements, and other business relationships with debtors or potential debtors. She litigates a wide variety of bankruptcy matters, including lift stays, plan confirmations, claim objections, contract and lease assumptions and rejections, preferences, and fraudulent transfers. Mary Jo also has represented several Canadian debtors in the transportation industry in ancillary bankruptcy proceedings in the United States. She has represented the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation in bankruptcy cases.

Prior to Arent Fox, Mary Jo served as a law clerk to the Honorable Beryl McGuire and the Honorable John W. Creahan, US bankruptcy judges for the Western District of New York. She also worked at a major New York law firm.

Mary Jo was an adjunct professor of bankruptcy and creditors rights at the Georgetown University Law Center. She is currently on the Advisory Board for the American Bankruptcy Institute – Georgetown University Law Center’s “Views from the Bench” program. She was a member of the District of Columbia Local Bankruptcy Rules Committees in 1996 and 2011, and she served on the Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee panel for the District of Maryland.

Chambers USA has recognized Mary Jo as a leading bankruptcy and restructuring lawyer in Washington, DC annually from 2006 through 2012. In its December 2004 and December 2008 issues, Washingtonian named Mary Jo a “Top Lawyer” in bankruptcy law. She was selected by her peers to be included in the 2006 through 2012 editions of The Best Lawyers in America. Mary Jo also lectures on asset sales, intellectual property licenses, and various bankruptcy issues.