South Square is a leading set of commercial law barristers. Our members have acted in many of the most important restructuring, insolvency, banking, commercial, company and fraud-related disputes of recent times. We are regulated by the Bar Standards Board.

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Hon James M. Peck

Date and Place of Birth +

27/09/1945
New York, U.S.A.

Citizenship +

U.S.A.

Languages (Written & Spoken) +

Written – English
Spoken – English

Tertiary Qualifications: +

Date	Name of Tertiary Institution
June 1967	Dartmouth College, B.A.
January 1971	NYU School of Law, J.D.

Professional Qualification/Memberships: +

Date	Details
1971	Admitted to practice in New York State
1990	Admitted to practice in Southern District of New York

2022 – present	Chair of Business Bankruptcy Advisory Committee of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York
2014-2024	Chair ADR Practice and Cross-Border Insolvency Practice, Morrison & Foerster LLP
2023	Member Singapore International Arbitration Centre’s Panel of Arbitrators
2023	Leader of ADR discussion at INSOL International’s Tokyo ADR Colloquium
2016	Member advisory committee of Asian Business Law Institute
2015	Member by invitation of Panel of Recognized International Market Experts in Finance (P.R.I.M.E. Finance)
2006-2014	United States Bankruptcy Judge, Southern District of New York
2014	Rapporteur for World Bank’s Insolvency and Debtor/Creditor Regimes Working Group on the Treatment of Financial Contracts
2013	Judicial Steering Committee Co-Chair, INSOL International Judicial Colloquium, The Hague
2013	Inducted into American College of Bankruptcy as Judicial Fellow (currently member of Judicial Nominating Committee)
2007-2010	Former member Board of Governors, National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges
2009	Inducted into International Insolvency Institute (executive committee member 2013 to 2018 and President 2016-2017)
Various Dates	American Bankruptcy Institute, past Judicial Chair of ABI New York City Conference, Co-Chair ABI Committee on Bankruptcy Safe Harbors, Speaker at ABI Views from the Bench

Current and Past Working Experience and Dates: +

Date	Details
2014–2024	Senior Of Counsel, Morrison & Foerster LLP
2006–2014	Bankruptcy Judge, United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York
1990-2006	Partner, Schulte Roth & Zabel (New York)
1980-1990	Partner, Duane Morris (Philadelphia)
1975-1980	Associate, Duane Morris (Philadelphia)

Other Appointments and Dates +

Date	Details
2012-2017	Adjunct Professor of Finance, part time, NYU Stern School of Business Administration

Honours and Awards: +

Date	Details
	Bankruptcy Judge Who Presided Over Lehman cases during Global Financial Crisis
2024	International Judge Singapore International Commercial Court
2023	Invited by Singapore International Arbitration Centre to participate in panel on insolvency related arbitration
2019	Invited by Singapore Supreme Court to present speech on mediation in insolvency cases
2019	Invited to speak at Turnaround Management Association in Sao Paolo, Brazil
2009-2019	Invited to participate as panelist in annual conferences organized by International Insolvency Institute in New York (2009, 2011 and 2017), Rome (2010), Paris (2012). Naples (2015), Tokyo (2016) and Barcelona (2019)
2017	Invited by National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges to chair panel on schemes of arrangement with Judge Nick Segal of the Cayman Grand Court and Judge Richard Snowden of the UK Court of Appeal (Las Vegas, NV)
2017	Outstanding Contribution Award presented by International Insolvency Institute at its annual meeting in New York
2017	Facilitator of workshop on insolvency related mediation techniques as guest of Singapore Mediation Centre
2017	Invited by Singapore Academy of Law to speak at conference on adoption by Singapore of the Model Law on Cross Border Insolvency (Singapore)
2016	Invited to present the Morrison Lecture at the Annual Meeting of the California Bar Association
2016	Invited by NCBJ to moderate panels on developments in international insolvency (Chicago, IL)
2015	Invited to give lecture on Lehman Brothers to Insolvency Lawyers Association Annual Meeting in London
2015	International Bar Association (invited panelist in Mexico City)
2015	Invited by INSOL international to visit Nepal as part of three member delegation to lecture on basics of chapter 11 practice at conference of the Nepalese Insolvency Practitioners Assn.
2014	Invited by INSOL International to train judges from the Caribbean region during Cayman offshore Judicial Colloquium
2014	Invited to University of Pennsylvania Law School to speak on valuation issues in chapter 11
2014	Invited by Singapore Academy of Law to speak at conferences on Singapore as a potential insolvency hub jurisdiction for insolvency (Singapore)
2014	Facilitator of workshop on insolvency related mediation techniques as guest of Singapore Mediation Centre
2013	Invited by Federal Reserve to speak as panelist on resolution planning in Washington, D.C.
2012	Invited by NCBJ to moderate panels on the role of investment funds in chapter 11 (Tampa, FL)
2012	Invited to Boston College Law School to speak on valuation in chapter 11 as part of an expert panel organized by American College of Bankruptcy
2010	Invited to give keynote addresses at INSOL Europe Conference (Venice, Italy) and TMA conference (Auckland, New Zealand)
2009	Invited to present speech on Global Financial Crisis at The World Bank
2009	Invited by Judge Luciano Panzani to speak on Lehman chapter 11 case to an audience of Italian insolvency practitioners and academics (Alba, Italy)
2008	Invited to speak at National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges on Systemic Risk (Scottsdale, AZ)
On a number of occasions over the years	Invited to give guest lectures to students in bankruptcy law classes at Harvard, Columbia, NYU, University of Chicago and Fordham

Area of Legal Expertise +

Bankruptcy
Creditors Rights
Business Restructuring
Financial Contracts and Derivatives
Mediation and Dispute Resolution

Publications: +

Date	Details
October 7, 2022	Editor, Art of the Ad Hoc (Edition 3)
December 3, 2020	Editor, Art of the Ad Hoc (Edition 2)
November 26, 2017	Editor, Art of the Ad Hoc (Edition 1)

Contact

+44 (0)20 7696 9900 Email

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Events

June

South Square & RISA Bermuda Conference – 2025

05/06/2025

November

South Square & RISA Cayman Conference – 2025

20/11/2025

More events

News

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03/07/2025

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24/06/2025

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South Square Digest

South Square Digest is our quarterly review of news, cases, judgments and articles covering all our practice areas.

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