Arthur J. Gonzalez is a senior fellow at

New York University School of Law The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest survivin ...

and member of the PROMESA oversight board in charge of resolving the

Puerto Rican government-debt crisis The Puerto Rican government-debt crisis was a financial crisis affecting the government of Puerto Rico. The crisis began in 2014 when three major credit agencies downgraded List of bonds issued by Puerto Rico, several bond issues by Puerto Rico ...

. Before his retirement from the bench, he was chief judge of the

United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York The United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York is the United States bankruptcy court within the Southern District of New York. The Southern District of New York is a major venue for bankruptcy, as it has jurisdiction o ...

. Gonzalez received his undergraduate degree from

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

in 1969. Following graduation, he worked as a

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

public school teacher until 1982, earning a master's degree from the

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls nearly 14,000 students on a campus in the Midwood and Flatbush sections of Brooklyn as of fall ...

School of Education. After earning a

law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Some law degrees are professional degrees that are prerequisites or serve as preparation for legal careers. These generally include the Bachelor of Civil Law, Bachelor of Laws, an ...

in the Evening Program at Fordham in 1982, Gonzalez became an attorney for the Manhattan District Counsel Office of the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...

(IRS). He left the IRS in 1988 and worked as a private lawyer for several firms. During this period, he earned a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

(NYU). In 1991, Gonzalez re-entered government to become an Assistant

United States Trustee The United States Trustee Program is a component of the United States Department of Justice that is responsible for overseeing the administration of bankruptcy cases and private trustees. The applicable federal law is found at and , et seq. I ...

for the Southern District of New York. He was promoted in 1993 to become trustee for New York,

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, and

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

. Judge Gonzalez was appointed bankruptcy judge in 1995.

Significant cases

Gonzalez handled the Chrysler LLC bankruptcy case until his retirement. Wall Street Journal, May 1, 2009
https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/01/business/01judge.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=gonzalez&st=cse New York Times, April 30, 2009] Previously, Gonzalez presided over the bankruptcy proceedings for

WorldCom MCI, Inc. (formerly WorldCom and MCI WorldCom) was a telecommunications company. For a time, it was the second-largest long-distance telephone company in the United States, after AT&T. WorldCom grew largely by acquiring other telecommunicatio ...

, at that point the largest U.S. bankruptcy case (since overtaken by the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008), and

Enron Enron Corporation was an American Energy development, energy, Commodity, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was led by Kenneth Lay and developed in 1985 via a merger between Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both re ...

. The criminal proceedings against the corporate executives of WorldCom and Enron did not originate from the bankruptcy proceedings before Gonzalez via mandatory referral of possible crimes under Title 18 U.S.C. § 3057; in contrast the post petition corporate entities both sought releases and compensation for the benefit of their current and former senior officers.

References

External links

Official biographical profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzalez, Arthur 1940s births Living people Fordham University alumni Fordham University School of Law alumni New York University School of Law alumni United States Trustees Judges of the United States bankruptcy courts Enron scandal Brooklyn College alumni Year of birth missing (living people)