Bankruptcy lawyer to be honored

Newport Beach resident Marc Winthrop will be honored by the Orange County Bankruptcy Forum tonight with the annual Peter M. Elliott award for his work as a bankruptcy attorney at his Newport firm.

The award was named for Judge Peter M. Elliott, a longtime bankruptcy judge at the Orange County courthouse in Santa Ana.

Elliot “really exemplified the attributes that a lawyer ought to have — professionalism, scholarship, concern for the community,” said Chris Blank, president of the Orange County Bankruptcy Forum.

The forum and its relatively secret awards committee evaluate nominations for the criteria it thinks Elliott demonstrated during his judgeship.

Winthrop, 58, has worked in the city of Orange for about 30 years and often had opportunities to appear before Elliott in court.

After a few years knowing the young lawyer, Elliott asked him to teach a course with him on Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Winthrop called the gig a “huge step” in his career.

“We had a very good relationship up to that point, and it really sort of elevated my practice and my career really,” Winthrop said. “He plucked me out of obscurity.”

Winthrop prides himself on helping businesses and individuals dig themselves out of a financial hole.

“The goal of course is to restructure, get the creditors paid and hope you have a good outcome and that people don’t get hurt too badly because of financial problems,” Winthrop said. “We are obviously trying to save the company and save the jobs.”

He’s helped restructure a number of businesses, including small private companies, large, publicly traded businesses such as Irvine Ranch Market in Costa Mesa, school districts — including the Newport-Mesa Unified School District — and hospital chains.

Winthrop teaches for the State Bar of California and the American Bankruptcy Institute.

He is a fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy.