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Michelle H. Bass

PRACTICE LEAD – Consumer Bankruptcy

Michelle Bass | Wolfson Bolton Kochis PPLC
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Michelle H. Bass

PRACTICE LEAD – Consumer Bankruptcy

Michelle H. Bass is a partner at Wolfson Bolton Kochis PLLC, where she manages the consumer bankruptcy practice group.

As an American Board Certified Consumer Bankruptcy attorney, Michelle represents both debtors and creditors in consumer bankruptcy proceedings.

She primarily represents individual consumer debtors in Chapter 7 liquidations and Chapter 13, Chapter 11, and Chapter 11 Sub V reorganizations. Representative clients span from small business owners and high net-worth / high income-earning individuals, to individuals seeking to prevent foreclosure or repossession of secured collateral. This includes individuals who qualify to reorganize under Sub Chapter V of the recently enacted Small Business Reorganization Act under Chapter 11. She also represents both debtors and creditors in divorce-related bankruptcy proceedings, and is a frequent speaker on the intersection of bankruptcy and family law disputes.

She has been extremely successful in practice stopping foreclosures, stripping secured liens, and cramming down loans on collateral for individuals seeking to reorganize under Chapters 13 and 11.

She has successfully defended appeals in the Federal Eastern District for the State of Michigan and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

  • University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, J.D.
  • University of Michigan, B.A.
    • Undergraduate Thesis completed in Contemporary American History
  • Michigan
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan
  • U.S. District Court, Western District of Michigan
  • U.S. Court Of Appeals 6th Circuit
  • DBusiness Magazine’s Top Lawyers (2025); Bankruptcy & Creditor/Debtor Rights Law
  • The Best Lawyers in America (2010 – 2025); Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights
  • Leading Lawyers (2023-2024)
  • Michigan Super Lawyers Super Lawyer (2023-2024)
  • Certified by the American Board of Certification in Consumer Bankruptcy Law, September 2021
  • Michigan Lawyers Weekly – Women in the Law, 2019
  • Michigan Super Lawyers Rising Stars (2014 – 2022)
  • Crains 2021 Notable Women in the Law
  • “Pre-Confirmation Chapter 13 Issues”, Panelist, Consumer Bankruptcy Association Detroit, November 2024
  • “No Bankruptcy For You! Alternatives for Dealing with Student Loans”, Panelist, Federal Bar Associate for the Western District of Michigan’s 35th Annual Bankruptcy Section Seminar, July 29, 2023
  • “Ethical Dilemmas in Consumer Practice and How to Handle Them: Where Do You Draw the Line?” American Bankruptcy Institute’s Winter Leadership Conference, December 2022
  • “Put Up Your Dukes! 13 Discharges with Unpaid Secured Creditors,” 47th Annual Southeastern Bankruptcy Law Institute, April, 2021
  • “Trending Bankruptcy Issues,” ABI’s Consumer Practice Extravaganza, November, 2021
  • “The New Normal: Navigating Virtual/Hybrid Practice,” ABI’s Consumer Practice Extravaganza, November, 2022; “Ethical Dilemmas in Consumer Practice and How to Handle Them: Where Do You Draw the Line?,” ABI’s Winter Leadership Conference, December, 2022
  • Bankruptcy Bootcamp: Motion Practice and Contested Matters, ICLE 2021.
  • So You Want to be a Consumer Bankruptcy Attorney, Panelist, ABI’s Consumer Practice Extravaganza, November, 2021.
  • Intersection of Family Law & Bankruptcy, Cooley Law School, 2011 – Present.
  • Chapter 7 & Chapter 13 Discharge, Panelist, Southern Bankruptcy Law Institute, May, 2021.
  • Shapero Cup Regional Moot Court Competition, Guest Judge, 2020.
  • “State vs Federal Exemptions,” ABI’s Steven W. Rhodes Detroit Consumer Bankruptcy Conference, November 2019.
  • “For Richer or for Poorer: When Divorce and Bankruptcy Law Collide,” 18th Annual Family Law Institute ICLE, November 2019.
  • “The Ethics of Representing the Vulnerable Client Population,” ABI’s Central States Bankruptcy Workshop, June 2019.
  • OCBA/CBA Bankruptcy Seminar “When Worlds Collide,” May 2019.
  • Western District of Michigan Debtors Bar Seminar, 2017.
  • Intersection of Family Law & Bankruptcy, ICLE, 2016.
  • American Bankruptcy Institute 40 Under 40 Steering Committee Member, 2023, 2024.

  • Western District Federal Bar Association Bankruptcy Seminar Planning Committee Member, 2024.

  • Oakland County Bar Association Debtor/Creditor Committee Chair, 2021 – 2023; Professional Development Committee liaison to the Debtor/Creditor Committee, 2020-2021.

  • American Bankruptcy Institute Consumer Bankruptcy Committee Co-Chair, 2021-2023; Newsletter Editor 2020-2021; Membership Relations Director 2019-2020.

  • International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation (MI-IWIRC) Michigan Network Co-Chair, 2017 – 2021.

  • Consumer Bankruptcy Association, Member, 2008 – Present.

  • Oakland County Bar Association, Member.
  • Temple Israel, Board of Trustees Member, 2022-present
  • Tamarack Camps, Vice President Board of Directors, 2020 – 2024
  • Tamarack Camps, Board Secretary, 2014 – 2017
  • Tamarack Camps, Board Member, 2010 – Present
  • JARC, Board Member, 2012 – 2018
  • Kadima, Board Member, 2011 – 2014
  • Gold, Lange & Majoros, P.C., 2008-2017
  • Giarmarco, Mullins & Horton, P.C., Law Clerk, 2007
  • Honorable Chief Judge Bernard A. Friedman for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Judicial Intern, 2006
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