Aaron J. Malo, Esq.

Aaron J. Malo is a partner in Sheppard Mullin’s Finance and Bankruptcy Practice Group in CostaMesa, Calif., and leads the firm’s Bankruptcy Litigation team. He primarily represents creditors, including lending institutions, equity groups, financial services corporations, equipment lessors, landlords and real estate developers. Mr. Malo has experience in all aspects of bankruptcy and workout proceedings, and has served as lead trial counsel for significant jury and bench trials in both state and federal courts.He frequently writes, teaches and lectures on bankruptcy, litigation and creditors’ rights issues. Previously, he taught bankruptcy law at the Orange County campus of Golden Gate University’s GraduateSchool of Taxation. Mr. Malo is committed to community service and the provision of pro bono legal services. He has served on the Public Law Center’s board of directors since 2006 and on that organization’s executive board since 2013, and he served as president of the PLC’s board of directors in 2017.Mr. Malo leads the Orange County office’s pro bono efforts, in which capacity he helped pioneer anew collaboration between Sheppard Mullin, the Public Law Center and Children’s Hospital of Orange County that serves the families of ill children seeking treatment. He also has handled significant probono cases protecting the interests of veterans, immigrants and exploited persons. In 2021, Mr. Malo received the Anti-Defamation League’s Marcus Kaufman Jurisprudence Award, a recognition presented annually to attorneys who make outstanding contributions to the legal profession and to the community.In 2019, he received the Peter M. Elliott Award, an award given annually to a lawyer who demonstrates substantial knowledge of bankruptcy law, possesses the high level of honesty, integrity and ethics, and who serves to improve access to justice. In addition, he served a four-year term as a lawyer representative to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference (2010-14), has served on the Orange County BankruptcyForum’s board of directors since 2007, was among the founding members of the Central District ofCalifornia Bankruptcy Bar Advisory Committee (founded in 2009), joined the board of directors of theOrange County chapter of the Federal Bar Association in 2019, and was recently reappointed to serve a second term on the Central District of California Attorney Admissions Fund Board. Mr. Malo received his undergraduate degree with departmental honors from Stanford University in 1992 and his J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1995, where he was managing editor of theHastings International & Comparative Law Review.