Charlene D. Davis is a director at Bayard. Her practice focus is corporate bankruptcy and commercial litigation. She regularly represents creditor committees, trustees, debtors and creditors in large bankruptcy cases. She is also an experienced federal litigator and former Assistant United States Attorney. Charlene joined the firm in 1988 and currently serves as chair of the firm’s executive and marketing committees.
Charlene is AV Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell.* She has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America since 2013 in the area of bankruptcy and creditor debtor rights/insolvency and reorganization law and the area of bankruptcy litigation. Charlene has also been recognized as a leading lawyer in bankruptcy and restructuring by Chambers USA each year from 2009 through 2018 and Lawdragon 3000 each year from 2009 through 2013, and designated a Delaware Super Lawyer in the areas of bankruptcy and creditor/debtor rights in the Philadelphia magazine from 2007-2010, and 2018.
Charlene served as a member of the Special Masters Panel, appointed by the United States District Court in Delaware from 2012 - 2016. In 2014, Charlene worked with the Federal Probation Office in Delaware and Widener University Delaware Law School to establish a Federal Re-entry Legal Assistance Program. She currently volunteers her services as its legal supervisor.
Charlene is past chair of the Bankruptcy Law Section of the Delaware State Bar Association; past President of the Delaware Chapter of the Federal Bar Association; and a former member of the Advisory Committee to the United States District Court for Delaware. From 1996 through 1998, she was a member of the Advisory and Bench and Bar Relations Committees for United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. From 1989 through 1997, she served on the United States District Court Blue Ribbon Panel as a criminal defense attorney for indigent defendants. In 1996, the judges of District Court named her as a recipient of the first Caleb R. Layton Service Award.
Charlene authored a chapter related to appellate practice in Federal Practice Guide-Federal Appellate Procedure Third Circuit (Lawyers Cooperative Publishing, 1997).
*AV Preeminent and BV Distinguished are certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies. Ratings reflect the confidential opinions of members of the Bar and the Judiciary. Martindale-Hubbell ratings fall into two categories: legal ability and general ethical standards.
News
2019 Best Lawyers List Includes 8 Bayard Attorneys
Bayard Attorneys Receive Recognition at Federal Re-Entry Court Ceremony
Twelve Bayard Attorneys Named to 2018 Delaware Super Lawyers List
Bayard, P.A. Recognized in 2018 Chambers USA Guide
6 Bayard Attorneys Named to 2018 Best Lawyers List
Legal Updates
Judge Silverstein Holds that Adversary Proceeding is Essentially a Proof of Claim Objection that Should Proceed in Bankruptcy Court
Judge Gross Decides that Creditor Committee’s Derivative Standing to Sue on Behalf of Debtors Does Not Entitle it to Debtors’ Attorney-Client Communications Without Showing Insolvency
Judge Walrath Applies Pleading Standards for Dismissal for Failure to State a Claim to Avoid a Preference to Grant in Part and Deny in Part a Motion to Dismiss
Judge Carey Dismisses One and Declines to Hear a Second Request by the Debtors to Determine Tax Liability
Judge Silverstein Denies a Motion to Bar Joinder in an Involuntary Petition Where the Alleged Debtor Failed to Prove the Original Petition was Filed in Bad Faith
Publications
Boom for Bankruptcy Law
Delaware Business (May/June 2009).
The Future of Key Employee Retention Plans and Their Treatment in the Delaware Bankruptcy Court
Financier Worldwide: Americas Restructuring & Insolvency Review 2007 (2007).
Are You In The Vicinity of Insolvency? Serving More Than One Master
Financier Worldwide: Americas Restructuring & Insolvency Guide 2004/2005 (2004).
