LEADERSHIP
THOMAS A. LEE III
MANAGING PARTNER
EDUCATION
College: Villanova University (1983)
Law School: Villanova University School of Law (1986)
BAR ADMISSIONS
New Jersey (1986); Pennsylvania (1986); Florida (1991)
OTHER PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
American Bankruptcy Institute (past Vice Chair of its Consumer Bankruptcy Committee); National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees (NABT); National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees (NACTT); National Creditors Bar Association (NCBA); Pennsylvania Bar Association
After law school, Mr. Lee spent two years practicing in the area of workers’ compensation and other general practice matters in New Jersey. In 1988, he joined Milton Becket & Associates, which later became Becket & Lee. As Managing Partner, Tom focuses on client and industry relations, internal operations,
and analytics. Having represented creditors for over 30 years, Tom is a frequently requested speaker at bankruptcy seminars and conferences for bankruptcy professionals, as well as for bankers and collectors. He also works extensively with trustees and other industry professionals, providing his expertise on bankruptcy related projects of national significance.
SANDRA K. CURTIN
PARTNER
EDUCATION
College: Michigan State University (1984)
Law School: Thomas M. Cooley Law School (1988)
BAR ADMINISTRATION
Pennsylvania (1988); New Jersey (1988)
OTHER PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS:
American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI); National Creditors Bar Association (NCBA)
Ms. Curtin joined Becket & Lee in March 1989. She is AV® rated by Martindale-Hubbell, the highest distinction available. After several years litigating non-dischargeability, preference, and automatic stay actions, Sandy became the lead liaison to one of Becket & Lee’s largest clients, overseeing all aspects of the relationship, including security, operational processes, audit and compliance, and litigation strategy. Sandy’s longstanding tenure with the firm and her thorough understanding of the minute details of both Becket & Lee’s process and the client’s internal systems have been instrumental in meeting the client’s expectations for highest standards of representation.
JOHN D. SHEEHAN
PARTNER
EDUCATION
College: Fairfield University (1987)
Law School: Villanova University School of Law (1990)
BAR ADMISSIONS
Pennsylvania (1990); New Jersey (1990); United States Supreme Court (2010)
OTHER PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI); National Creditors Bar Association (NCBA)
Mr. Sheehan joined Becket & Lee in June 1990 and spent his first years litigating all areas of consumer bankruptcy law on behalf of the firm’s creditor clients. As lead liaison to one of Becket & Lee's large national clients, John currently manages all aspects of the relationship, including operational processes, litigation strategy, and compliance. Concentrating on the claim sale and transfer process, John has overseen the implementation of new technology to streamline and automate the process while retaining the exceptional accuracy that Becket & Lee's clients demand.
John has spoken on issues related to the sale and servicing of unsecured debts in bankruptcy at the University of Texas Consumer Bankruptcy CLE, the Federal Judicial Center Conference on Capital Markets, and the ABI’s Annual Spring Meeting.
_tif.png)
GILBERT B. WEISMAN
PARTNER
EDUCATION
College: Oberlin College (1984)
Law School: University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law (1987)
BAR ADMINISTRATION
California (1987); Florida (1988); Pennsylvania (1990); New Jersey (1991); United States Supreme Court (2010); 4th Circuit Court of Appeals (2012); 8th Circuit Court of Appeals (2008); 9th Circuit Court of Appeals (2009); 10th Circuit Court of Appeals (2009)
OTHER PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS:
National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees (NACTT); National Creditors Bar Association (NCBA)
Mr. Weisman has focused on non-dischargeability litigation since joining the firm in December 1990. More recently, Gil has concentrated his practice on litigation in Chapter 13 cases related to determination of plan payment amount after the 2005 amendments to the Bankruptcy Code. On this subject, he has also been lead counsel for parties or amici curiae in several appellate level cases including at the 4th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th Circuit Courts of Appeal, as well as before other appellate courts throughout the country.
Gil is a widely recognized leader in consumer bankruptcy litigation. He has spoken numerous times on Chapter 13 litigation and related issues to the NACTT, the ABI and state bar association groups, and has authored articles for Norton Bankruptcy Law Adviser, NACTT Quarterly and the ABI’s Consumer Bankruptcy Committee newsletter.
ALANE A. BECKET
OF COUNSEL
EDUCATION
College: Pennsylvania State University (1987)
Law School: Widener University School of Law (1992)
BAR ADMISSIONS
Pennsylvania (1992); New Jersey (1992); United States Supreme Court (2008)
OTHER PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI); National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees (NACTT); National Creditors Bar Association (NCBA); The American College of Bankruptcy
Ms. Becket joined Becket & Lee in 1991. She is AV® rated by Martindale-Hubbell, the highest distinction available. In addition to having been a Managing Partner at Becket & Lee, focused on client and industry relations, she concentrates on litigation strategy and has been lead counsel in some of the most successful and influential decisions on claim litigation in consumer cases over the last 20 years.
Recognized by industry peers as an asset to the bankruptcy community, Alane has been honored to serve in a variety of substantive roles over the years. In April 2021, she was appointed Chair of the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Board of Directors after having recently finished her term as President (April 2019-April 2020). Prior to being elected President, Alane served on ABI’s Executive Committee as Vice President of Publications beginning in 2014. Alane was on the ABI Board of Directors for over 13 years and served as Co-Chair of its Consumer Bankruptcy Committee.
In March 2020, Alane was formally inducted as a Fellow in the 31st Class of The American College of Bankruptcy. This selective, invitation-only fellowship is extended to professionals “based on a proven record of the highest standards of expertise, leadership, integrity, professionalism, scholarship, and service to the bankruptcy practice and to their communities.”
She also currently serves the National Creditors Bar Association as Co-Chair of both the Bankruptcy Section and the Professional Standards and Grievance Committee. Prior to these positions, she was appointed to NCBA’s Board of Directors in 2015 and re-elected in 2016, having served through 2018.
In addition, Alane lectures extensively on consumer bankruptcy issues for a variety of professional organizations, including the ABI, the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, the Federal Judicial Conference, the NACTT, the Commercial Law League of America, NCBA, and a host of local and regional creditor organizations. She has authored articles for many of the same organizations, as well as the Norton Institute on Bankruptcy Law. Alane co-authored the revised edition of the ABI treatise Consumer Bankruptcy: Fundamentals of Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code (Third Edition) and served as Editor of the Fourth Edition published in 2017. Alane also served as Editor for the 2011, 2012 and 2013 editions of The Best of ABI – The Year in Consumer Bankruptcy. In 2016, Collection Advisor magazine named her as one of the “25 Most Influential Women in Collections” in its September/October cover story. In 2018, Collection Advisor once again recognized Alane among her peers, this time in its September/October cover story on the “20 Most Powerful Women in Collections”.
WILLIAM J. BECKET
OF COUNSEL
EDUCATION
College: Temple University (1990)
Law School: Widener University School of Law (1995); Certificate of Achievement in Secured Transactions
BAR ADMINISTRATION
Pennsylvania (1995)
OTHER PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS:
American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI); National Creditors Bar Association (NCBA)
Beginning in 1995, Mr. Becket has represented Becket & Lee’s clients in a variety of bankruptcy related litigation. His focus includes preference defense, automatic stay violation defense, student loan discharge defense, and representation of secured creditors in all aspects of consumer bankruptcy. Some of his significant cases include:
Howe v. Creditors Interchange Receivables Mgmt., LLC (In re Howe), No. 09-0010, 2009 Bankr. LEXIS 2778 (Bankr. E.D. Pa. May 27, 2009) (finding that creditor bank falls outside the ambit of the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and cannot be vicariously liable for acts of a debt collector).
Armstrong v. Access Group (In re Armstrong), 394 B.R. 43 (Bankr. M.D. Pa. 2008) (denying, for failure to show undue hardship, the debtor a discharge of her student loans).
Rowell v. Chase Manhattan Auto. Fin. Corp. (In re Rowell), 359 F. Supp. 2d 645 (W.D. Mich. 2004) (opining that a bank’s repossession of an automobile was not a violation of the automatic stay because the lender’s conduct was neither egregious nor intentional, given the questionable notice of the bankruptcy and the prompt return of the car to the debtor who could show no damages resulting from the temporary repossession).
MBNA Am. v. Locke (In re Greene), 223 F.3d 1064 (9th Cir. 2000) (determining that debtors’ payment to a credit card lender could not be avoided by the trustee because it was made outside the relevant statute’s ninety day time limit which was unaffected by extensions to such limits afforded in other contexts by bankruptcy’s procedural rules).
In re Patti, No. 98-17719DWS, 1999 Bankr. LEXIS 400 (Bankr. E.D. Pa. Apr. 15, 1999) (affording relief from the automatic stay to creditor who showed that the collateral was not necessary for the production of the debtor’s income).
In re Gates, 214 B.R. 467 (Bankr. D. Md. 1997) (denying a motion to reconsider an order allowing an oversecured (based on replacement value) claim in full, rather than in the amount of the trade-in value as asserted by the debtor).