Lecturer Bios
Norma E. Ortiz, Esq.
Norma E. Ortiz has been practicing bankruptcy law since graduating from N.Y.U. School
of Law in 1987. She has a broad and diverse background and handles a wide variety of
bankruptcy cases. Norma honed her skills in business bankruptcy Chapter 11 cases by serving
as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Trustee’s Office, and clerking for the
former Chief Bankruptcy Judge of the Southern District of New York Arthur J. Gonzalez.
She
joined her father’s law firm and expanded her bankruptcy practice to include personal
bankruptcy cases. Norma also helps those in need of representation in bankruptcy lawsuits and
creditors in bankruptcy cases.
Norma believes strongly in helping others and has dedicated time to teaching other
lawyers and clients about the benefits of bankruptcy. She has lectured on bankruptcy issues for
the Bar Association of the City of New York, the American Bar Association, the Puerto Rican Bar
Association, the Practicing Law Institute, Brooklyn Law School, Law Line, and numerous other
organizations.
She has also volunteered her time to serve as the Chair of the Bankruptcy
Committee of the N.Y.S. Bar Association’s Business Law Section, as a member of the Chapter 11
Lawyer’s Advisory Committee to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of New York, as a
member of the Second Circuit’s Committee on Civic Education, and co-chairs the Bankruptcy
Committee for the Queens County Bar Association and NYCLA.
James P. Pagano, Esq.
James P. Pagano (“JPP”) is engaged in the practice of law in the areas of bankruptcy, insolvency
and creditor’s rights and real estate transactions. (the “Practice Areas”)
After graduation from FORDHAN UNIVERSITY with a B. A. in 1971, he graduated from NEW YORK
LAW SCHOOL (“NYLS”) in 1975. He was admitted to practice before the courts of the State of New York,
and to the District Courts of the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York in 1976.
He is also admitted to the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and to the United States Supreme
Court.
His experience in bankruptcy began upon his appointment as an Assistant Attorney General of the
State of New York, working in the Litigation Bureau, representing state agencies in bankruptcy
proceedings and in the Consumer Frauds & Protection Bureau, representing consumers in cases where
businesses had filed for bankruptcy,
He then moved to a law firm, where a retired Professor of Bankruptcy Law at NYLS was the senior
partner.
Attorneys from that law firm, including JPP, thereafter joined a law firm, where a retired Bankruptcy
Judge was a senior partner.
In 1984, he commenced his own practice, where he continues to work in the Practice Areas.
He is currently the Co-Chair of the Bankruptcy Law Committee at the New York County Lawyers
Association (“NYCLA”) and the Queens County Bar Association. He previously served in that position at
NYCLA
He is a member of the NYLSA Alumni Association Board of Directors.
He is a Past President and a member of the Board of Directors of the Columbian Lawyers of the
County of Queens.
He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Apartment Corporation in which he resides
