Charles Tatelbaum focuses his practice on bankruptcy and creditors’ rights, complex business litigation, Uniform Commercial Code transactions and litigation and other types of secured transactions, and domestic and international letters of credit. He is a certified specialist in business bankruptcy law by the American Board of Certification, accredited by the Florida Bar.

He represents secured and unsecured creditors, as well as creditors’ committees, throughout the United States in complex business litigation, bankruptcy proceedings and products liability defense based on warranty. He also represents secured and unsecured creditors in distressed business transactions and litigation.

He represented the major motor vehicle floor plan lender in the largest motor vehicle dealer bankruptcy in U.S. history, recovering more than $150 million, which constituted payment in full of principal, interest, attorney fees and costs. In addition, the court awarded a $300,000 substantial contribution fee to the represented lender.

As of a result of his prior work with the U.S. State Department in eastern Europe to develop bankruptcy laws in Croatia and Slovakia, Mr. Tatelbaum is also able to handle business and insolvency issues that develop in foreign countries.

He is well versed in dealing with all aspects of domestic and international letters of credit from the transactional stage through litigation.

Mr. Tatelbaum, as counsel to the National Association of Credit Management (NACM) and Vice President of Research for the American Bankruptcy Institute, authored a number of the provisions of the bankruptcy law changes that were signed into law in April 2005.

Mr. Tatelbaum regularly represents Fortune 150 companies and has been featured as a consultant on 60 Minutes and Good Morning America, as well as on NPR’s All Things Considered and Morning Edition. Mr. Tatelbaum joined Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP in April 2011. Previously he was a partner in Yoss LLP’s Ft. Lauderdale office and chair of the Yoss Creditors’ Rights, Bankruptcy and Secured Transactions Practice Group.

Mr. Tatelbaum is a former adjunct professor at the University of Maryland School of Law where he taught a course titled “Debtors’ and Creditors’ Rights” and “Uniform Commercial Code.” In addition, he was an instructor for the Annual Credit Congress of NACM from 1985 through 2000.

He is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute and previously held a number of leadership positions, including Board member, member of Executive Committee, secretary and vice president. Mr. Tatelbaum is a member of the Board of Directors of the Miami chapter of the British American Business Council.

Mr. Tatelbaum has been named to multiple editions of "The Best Lawyers in America," was named “Most Effective Lawyer in Bankruptcy” in 2007 by the Miami Business Review, and was named to the Super Lawyers list by Super Lawyers magazine (Florida edition, 2006).

He holds AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell, its highest rating for ethics and legal ability. Mr. Tatelbaum was the editor for the Credit Manual of Commercial Laws published by the NACM from 1993 through 1999 and columnist for NACM’s Business Credit from 1990 through 2000. He also was the editor of the American Bankruptcy Institute Newsletter from 1986 through 1991.

Mr. Tatelbaum has authored and contributed to many articles, including:

• "The Other Shoe Drops: Pleading Standards [in bankruptcy preference cases] Get Tougher," The National Law Journal, May 2012.
• Co-author, “First Circuit Raises Troubling Questions: Rosciti v. Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania,” The Bankruptcy Strategist, Volume 29, No. 7, May 2012.
• Co-author, “A Dilemma Created by the Absolute-Priority Rule in Individual Chapter 11 Cases: A Non-Uniform Approach,” Westlaw Journal Bankruptcy, Volume 7, Issue 23, March 18, 2011.
• “Claw-backs in Ponzi Schemes,” South Florida Daily Business Review, 2011.
• Co-author, Bankruptcy Rules and Forms Handbook, 2 volumes, Wiley Publishing, 1992.
• Co-author, NACM Bankruptcy Reorganization Guide, National Association of Credit Management, 1991.
• Contributing author, Bankruptcy Practice and Strategy, Warren, Gorham and Lamont, 1987.
• Contributing author, Collier’s Practice Guide on Bankruptcy, 1981.
• Contributing author, Bankruptcy Code Manual, Commercial League of America, 1980, 1987, 1995.
• “Exercising on a Judgment,” Maryland Institute for Continuing Legal Education Manual, 1980.
• “The New Bankruptcy Code,” Maryland Institute for Continuing Legal Education Manual, 1978, 1979, 1980.
• “Consumer Bankruptcies,” Maryland Institute for Continuing Legal Education Manual, 1974.
• “The New Bankruptcy Code,” Maryland Bar Journal, Spring 1979.
• “The Proposed Bankruptcy Reorganization,” The Florida Bar Journal, August 1974.
• “The New Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure,” Maryland Bar Journal, January and April 1974.
• “New Balance and the Rights of Creditors and Debtors: The Effect on Maryland Law," University of Baltimore Law Review, Spring 1973.

Mr. Tatelbaum has spoken to many organizations and clients on bankruptcy and insolvency topics. Mr. Tatelbaum is currently chair of the Board of Directors for Friends of WLRN, a National Public Radio and public television affiliate. He previously held a number of leadership positions within the organization. In 2007, the organization named him Volunteer of the Year.

Mr. Tatelbaum is a member of the Board of Directors and former treasurer for Temple Bat Yam. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Rio Vista Civic Association.

Mr. Tatelbaum is a member of the Board of the South Florida Chapter of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers. Chuck and his wife are 2011 graduates of Clown U, sponsored by the Big Apple Circus. They participated as clowns in the 2011 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York.

He is the Member Chair of the Wine Committee of the Fort Lauderdale Tower Club, a private (nondiscriminatory) dining club. In that capacity, Chuck hosts a monthly wine tasting as well as writing a monthly column on wines for the Tower Club Newsletter.