Partner, Binham, McCutcheon, LLP

Eric Brunstad focuses on bankruptcy litigation and appellate matters. He has argued five cases in the U.S. Supreme Court, including his recent 9-0 victory for Travelers in Travelers Casualty & Surety Co. v. Pacific Gas & Electric Co., no. 05-1429 (counsel of record for petitioner); and his recent 5-4 victory for Citizens Bank in Marrama v. Citizens Bank of Massachusetts, no. 05-996 (counsel of record for respondent). In addition to his arguments, he has prepared numerous Supreme Court briefs, and has argued and/or briefed a broad variety of bankruptcy issues in many of the U.S. Courts of Appeals (including matters en banc), as well as numerous U.S. District and Bankruptcy Courts across the country.

Other representative Supreme Court cases in which Eric has been involved include Marshall v. Marshall, no. 04-1544 (2006) (counsel of record for respondent); Central Virginia Community College v. Katz, no. 04-885 (2006) (co-counsel for respondent); Howard Delivery Service Inc. v. Zurich American Insurance Co., no. 05-128 (2006) (counsel of record for amici curiae); Rousey v. Jacoway, 544 U.S. 320 (2004) (co-counsel for petitioners); Till v. SCS Credit Corp., 541 U.S. 465 (2004) (counsel of record for respondent); Tennessee Student Assistance Corp. v. Hood, 541 U.S. 440 (2004) (counsel of record for amicus curiae); Kontrick v. Ryan, 540 U.S. 443 (2004) (co-counsel for respondent); Lamie v. United States Trustee, 540 U.S. 526 (2004) (co-counsel for petitioner); Hartford Underwriters Ins. Co. v. Union Planters Bank, N.A., 530 U.S. 1 (2000) (counsel of record for petitioner); Federal Communications Commission v. NextWave Personal Communications Inc., no. 01-653 (2002) (special bankruptcy appellate counsel); Archer v. Warner, no. 01-1418 (2002) (counsel of record for amicus curiae); Connecticut National Bank v. Germain, 503 U.S. 249 (1992) (associate counsel for petitioner).

Representative appellate cases in the courts of appeals in which Eric has been involved include In re Oakwood Homes Corp., 449 F.3d 588 (3d Cir. 2006) (counsel of record for appellant); In re Smart World Technologies, LLC, 423 F.3d 166 (2d Cir. 2005) (counsel of record for amicus curiae); In re J.G. Furniture Group, Inc., 405 F.3d 191 (4th Cir. 2005) (counsel of record for amicus curiae); In re Vickie Lynn Marshall, a/k/a Anna Nicole Smith, 392 F.3d 760 (9th Cir. 2004) (counsel of record for appellant); In re Charter Oak Assocs., 361 F.3d 760 (2d Cir. 2004) (counsel of record for appellee); In re Combustion Engineering, Inc., 391 F.3d 190 (3d Cir. 2004) (counsel of record for appellant); In re Kmart Corp., 359 F.3d 866 (7th Cir. 2004) (counsel of record for appellant); Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Cybergenics Corp. v. Chinery, 330 F.3d 548 (3d Cir. 2003) (en banc) (counsel of record for amicus curiae).

Representative bankruptcy court cases in which Eric has been involved include In re Enron Corp., In re Kmart Corp., In re Pacific Gas and Electric Co., In re Federal-Mogul Corp., In re The IT Group, Inc., and In re Guy F. Atkinson Co.

In addition to his practice, Eric teaches courses on bankruptcy law, business reorganizations, secured transactions, commercial transactions, and argument and reason at the Yale Law School, where he began teaching in 1990. He has also taught at the Harvard Law School. He has published and lectured widely on a variety of bankruptcy issues, is a contributing author to the Collier treatise on bankruptcy law, is the chair of the ABA Business Bankruptcy Committee, and his scholarly work has been quoted by several courts, including the Supreme Court. Eric is also a member of the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on the Federal Bankruptcy Rules and is a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy.

Awards & Honors

• Leading lawyer in Appellate law, The Best Lawyers in America, 2008

Memberships

• Member, Connecticut Bar Association
• Member, American Bar Association (Member, Section of Business Law and Chair, Business Bankruptcy Committee)
• Member, Hartford County Bar Association
• Member, American Bankruptcy Institute
• Member, Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on the Federal Bankruptcy Rules

ADMISSIONS

• Admitted to practice in Connecticut and New York
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
• USDC, District of Connecticut
• USDC, Eastern District of Michigan
• USDC, Eastern District of New York
• USDC, Southern District of New York
• U.S. Supreme Court
• U.S. Court of Federal Claims

Education

• University of Michigan Law School, Juris Doctor, 1986
• Connecticut College, Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, 1983