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New bankruptcy judge starts in Akron
BENJAMIN WHITE
Associate Editor
Published: June 6, 2014
After almost 14 years at Akron firm Brouse McDowell, the newly chosen Judge Alan Koschik will spend another 14 years at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Ohio.
Since starting last month, the new judge said his plate remains full as he learns the nuances of consumer bankruptcy.
“It’s a different grind,” he said. “Maybe I’m even busier than the past several months or year at Brouse.
“The work comes to you here – that’s probably the biggest difference. You don’t have a problem of finding business as you would in the ‘quote-unquote’ real world.”
After his predecessor, former Judge Marilyn Shea-Stonum, retired after 20 years on the bench, Judge Koschik applied to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to fill the vacancy. After a yearlong vetting process, he received the court’s nod.
Throughout his career, which started with a federal appellate clerkship and stints at several powerhouse law firms, Judge Koschik focused on the complex commercial side of bankruptcy. When he attended an orientation for new bankruptcy judges, he found that eight of the nine participating judges did the same.
“It is something to learn, but I’m enjoying the process,” Judge Koschik said.
“I think there are corporate lawyers that look down on consumer bankruptcy, but they really shouldn’t. There’s less money at stake, but they’re very important and also very interesting.”
Judge Koschik grew up in Detroit before earning a bachelor’s degree in economics, a master’s degree in public policy and a juris doctor all from the University of Michigan. A commercial transactions class taught by James White (a professor at UM Law now for 50 years) drew the young student’s attention in bankruptcy.
“It wasn’t what I was expecting, and it piqued my interest – the next semester I took a bankruptcy class from him,” he said. “This is when the bankruptcy code was relatively new, so it was very interesting.”
After graduation, Judge Koschik clerked at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals before joining the bankruptcy practices at two large San Francisco firms. In the 1990s, he and his wife moved back to the Midwest, where he took a position at Cleveland firm Squire Sanders in the litigation department.
Having gained litigation experience, Judge Koschik returned to practicing bankruptcy law at McDonald Hopkins before later lateraling to Brouse in 2000.
Judge Koschik said he still finds his chosen specialty as fascinating as ever, even through its recent ups and downs.
“It involves litigation and it also involves business,” he said. “Most lawyers wind up in one or the other, and bankruptcy is one of the small handful of specialties where you can mix the two – it’s really about 50/50, and I really enjoy it.
“I’m very excited about this job and the challenge,” he said. “Every time I find myself doing anything new, even mundane, I realize I have a smile on my face because I’m enjoying it and I’m enjoying learning.”