Carlton Fields’ Donald Kirk Receives ABA Business Law Section Chair’s Award

Carlton Fields Shareholder Donald R. Kirk, an experienced bankruptcy and commercial litigation attorney, is the most recent recipient of the Business Law Section Chair’s Award. The award is presented annually by the American Bar Association. Kirk received the award on September 16, 2022, via video, during the section’s hybrid annual meeting.

The award is given by the chair of the section in recognition of an individual’s contributions to the group. The dedication and commitment of the award recipient not only strengthens the section, but inspires other members to serve with excellence. Kirk’s involvement in the business bankruptcy committee was cited as a basis for the award, along with his many successes as chair of the section’s publications board. During the first two years of the pandemic, the publication board’s book program exceeded its budget in both gross and net revenues. Under Kirk’s three-year term as chair, the program will have produced more books than any other three-year term in the history of the program.

Watch the video to learn more about this prestigious award, and to witness Kirk receiving the surprise news that he was selected as the award recipient.

At Carlton Fields, Kirk chairs the Bankruptcy and Creditors’ Rights Practice and co-chairs the Business Litigation Practice. He represents clients in high-value insolvency and financial restructuring matters, officer and director fiduciary duty litigation, and commercial litigation. He regularly represents secured lenders, purchasers of assets from troubled companies, debtors, fiduciaries, committees, and other stakeholders in multiparty disputes and reorganizations. Kirk is board certified in Business Bankruptcy by the American Board of Certification, and is a former president of the Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Bar Association. He was co-chair of the Florida Bar’s Proceeding Supplementary Task Force, playing a key role in revising Florida’s proceeding supplementary judgment execution statute. He also chaired the American Bar Association’s successful effort to draft a model asset purchase agreement for bankruptcy sales.