Michael L. Cook

Michael L. Cook is of counsel in the New York office of Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP. He served as a partner in the New York office for 16 years, devoting his practice to business reorganization and creditors’ rights litigation after leading the reorganization practice at another international law firm for 20 years. His clients include professional firms, lenders, acquirers, trustees, creditors’ committees, troubled companies and other parties.

Michael is past chair of the American College of Bankruptcy, which has established the “Michael L. Cook Extraordinary Grant” for legal services organizations that provide pro bono bankruptcy services for indigent consumer debtors. He is also the former chair of the American Bar Association’s Creditors’ Rights Litigation Committee, Lawyers Alliance for New York, and the New York City Bankruptcy Assistance project.

A frequent contributor to major publications, Michael serves as lead editor and contributing author of Bankruptcy Litigation Manual (rev. ed., Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S., 2023); is on the editorial boards of Pratt’s Journal of Bankruptcy Law and The Bankruptcy Strategist; is a contributing author to Collier Bankruptcy Guide (rev. ed., Matthew Bender, 2022) (appeals) and Collier on Bankruptcy (15th rev. ed., 2003) (preferences, fraudulent transfers); and he co- authored Creditors’ Rights, Debtors’ Protection and Bankruptcy (3rd rev. ed., Matthew Bender, 1997) (with NYU School of Law Professor Lawrence P. King). Michael served for 26 years as an Adjunct Professor at New York University School of Law, teaching courses on creditors’ rights, debtors’ protection and bankruptcy. He also taught business law for two years at Lehman College of the City University of New York.

He received his A.B. from Columbia College, Columbia University, and his J.D. from New York University School of Law.