Mairo Named Chair of Gibbons’ Restructuring & Creditors’ Rights Group

On Jan 17, 2025

Newark-based law firm Gibbons P.C. has appointed John S. Mairo as chair of the Financial Restructuring & Creditors’ Rights (FRCR) Group. Mairo, whose practice focuses on commercial litigation, workouts, financial reorganizations, and creditors’ rights, was most recently with Porzio, Bromberg & Newman, P.C., serving as both chair of the Commercial Practice Group and co-chair of the Bankruptcy and Financial Restructuring Department.

At Gibbons, Mairo takes the baton from Robert K. Malone, now FRCR chair emeritus, who has led the group since 2019. In his new role, Mairo will apply his proven leadership skills to continuing the practice’s notable growth under Malone and building on the group’s proficient teamwork.

“Gibbons is a great and well-established firm, and I am excited and honored to receive this wonderful opportunity to join its legal team and take its Bankruptcy practice to even greater heights,” said Mairo. “I have worked with many Gibbons attorneys over the years and look forward to working more closely with them, particularly those in the firm’s Corporate, Real Property, and Litigation practices, which complement the FRCR Group.”

Mairo has represented an extensive slate of clients that comprises debtors, secured lenders, creditors’ committees, landlords, administrative agents for syndicates of lenders, foreign representatives, and more. Throughout his decades-long career, he has handled mid-size to multibillion-dollar bankruptcy matters on both national and international scales, securing favorable settlements, proposing beneficial recovery plans, and successfully litigating cases that have enabled his clients’ businesses to thrive and prosper. His significant experience has included complex restructuring cases and antitrust multidistrict litigation.

Mairo is an INSOL International Fellow and committee member of the INSOL Insolvency Practitioners Group and is one of only three bankruptcy attorneys in the Third Circuit selected for induction this March as a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy. He is listed in Chambers USA Guide to America’s Leading Lawyers for Business for Business/Bankruptcy/Restructuring; Thomson Reuters New Jersey Super Lawyers®; and The Best Lawyers in America® for Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Litigation – Bankruptcy, and Commercial Litigation. In 2020, Best Lawyers® featured him as “Lawyer of the Year” for Litigation/Bankruptcy in the Newark area.

“We are thrilled to welcome John on board, and I am very pleased to pass the baton to him,” remarked Malone. “I have known John for many years, and he is a tremendous addition to our firm. I look forward to working with John, and I am confident he will excel as the Group’s new leader in advancing the goals and objectives of the Bankruptcy practice for years to come.”

Added Peter J. Torcicollo, Gibbons’s managing director, “We are happy to welcome John to the Gibbons family. With his extensive experience and broad knowledge, he is highly qualified to steer the FRCR Group as it enters a new era of leadership.”

In addition to his previous roles with Porzio, Bromberg & Newman, Mairo’s background includes associateships at several private practices, as well as a clerkship with the Hon. Rosemary Gambardella, Bankruptcy Judge for the District of New Jersey. He is an appointed mediator for and a member of the Lawyers Advisory Committee of the Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, which has recognized him for his pro bono service. Additionally, Mairo is certified in business bankruptcy law by the American Board of Certification.

Mairo earned his J.D. from Seton Hall Law School, where he was managing editor of the Seton Hall Journal of Sport Law, and a B.A. with honors from Boston College. He is admitted to practice in the states of New Jersey and New York, as well as the United States Supreme Court and various New Jersey and New York district courts.

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