Robert P. Handler

Robert P. Handler, CTP is a managing member of Commercial Recovery Associates, LLC in Chicago and has more than 35 years of professional experience in commercial financial transactions, with most of his involvement in managing turnaround situations and other financially and operationally distressed businesses. He has handled business reorganizations, acquisitions and mergers, and has acted in several fiduciary capacities such as independent director, federal and state court-appointed receiver, bankruptcy trustee, trustee/assignee for the benefit of creditors and CRO across the country, in various parts of the world, and in a wide variety of industries. As a founding member and general counsel to the specialty commercial lending divisions of each of Bank of America and The CIT Group, Mr. Handler was responsible for the growth and success of each company’s commercial loan portfolio. In this role, he was charged with his company’s initiation, structuring, documentation and administration of all loans to financially distressed companies. Mr. Handler also previously practiced law in a commercial litigation firm, where he was engaged in all aspects of bankruptcy litigation on behalf of secured creditors, creditors’ committees and debtor clients. He is a subchapter V trustee and a member of ABI, the Turnaround Management Association and the Chicago Bar Association. Mr. Handler actively participates in and/ or chairs various panel discussions nationwide concerning current issues in receiverships, turnarounds, bankruptcy and commercial financial transactions. He is also a regular contributor to the annual editions of Strategic Alternatives For and Against Distressed Businesses, published by Thomson Reuters, which discusses assignments for the benefit of creditors in Illinois. Mr. Handler received his B.A. from Grinnell College and his J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law.