Deirdre Carey Brown, pllc is Of Counsel in the Firm’s Houston office, and practices in the areas of bankruptcy, business reorganizations and workouts, creditor’s rights, construction and commercial litigation in State and Federal Courts. Ms. Brown has been included in Texas Super Lawyers list, part of Thomson Reuters, of top-rated Bankruptcy Attorneys since 2016 and recognized in the 2024 Best Lawyers® (BL Rankings, LLC d/b/a Best Lawyers and Co., LLC). Ms. Brown is Board Certified in Business Bankruptcy by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and sits on the TBLS-Bankruptcy Law Exam Commission.
Associations:
- Turnaround Management Association, Houston Chapter – Board of Directors
- International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation – Houston Chapter – Board of Directors
- Commercial Real Estate Women – Houston Chapter
- American Bankruptcy Institute
- Texas Women Lawyers – Past President
Education
- Tulane University School of Law, J.D.
- Michigan State University, B.A.
- Admitted to practice: Texas, Louisiana, United States District Courts for the Northern, Western, Eastern and Southern Districts of Texas and Eastern, Western and Middle Districts of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Representative Cases:
- Represented Ad Hoc Equity Committee successful in getting Official Committee of Equity appointed in Energy XXI Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
- Represented Matra Petroleum USA, Inc. and affiliates in Chapter 11 as Debtor’s lead trial counsel
- Represented Arsham Metal Industries, Inc. as Chapter 11 Debtor’s trial counsel working out payout to creditors with a dismissal of the case and dismissal of subsequent appeal
- Represented purchaser in Neighbors Legacy Holdings, Inc.
- Represented petitioning creditors in involuntary bankruptcy of American Green Technology, Inc.
- Represented Store It REIT, Inc. which owned interests in public storage facilities as Chapter 11 Debtor counsel
- Represented multiple apartment complexes in jointly administered case with a sale of the units rendering a 100% payout to all creditors with distribution to equity
- Represented Petroleum Products & Services, Inc. as Debtor’s counsel in adversary dispute with Internal Revenue Service on 505 claim and in other adversary litigation
- Represented lighting manufacturing company as Debtor’s counsel with plan providing for 100% payment of general non-insider unsecureds resolving contentious break the company litigation pending in Massachusetts via the bankruptcy
- Represented IP public company as Chapter 11 Debtor counsel which was embroiled in litigation related to a merger transaction with two Bakken oil field service companies achieving a confirmed plan with a 100% payout to unsecured creditors
Publications & Presentations
- Bankruptcy for Non-Bankruptcy Attorneys, Houston Northwest Bar Association July 2020
- Live Q&A with Chief Judge Jones and Judge Isgur, Moderator, TMA Staying Connected Series, April 2020
- Mission Possible: Managing Social Media and ESI, Austin Bar Association – Bankruptcy Section, February 2020
- Navigating the Discovery Minefield, 38th Annual Jay L. Westbrook Bankruptcy Conference, November 2019
- Roadways to the Federal Bench – Outreach Presentation to STCL Women’s Law Society, August 2019
- FCPA — What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You, TMA Houston Breakfast Meeting, March 2019
- “You’ve Come a Long Way” – A Conversation with Former Texas Supreme Court Justice Ruby Sondock (First Woman to Serve During Regular Session of the Texas Supreme Court), Texas Women Lawyers Annual CLE 2018
- Problems in the Code: Official Equity Committees in Chapter 11 Cases, American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, November 2017
- Leadership by In-House Counsel: Boards, Budgets, and Business with Jennifer Rochon, General Counsel for the Girl Scouts, and Julia Simon, General Counsel for Mary Kay Inc, Moderated by Deirdre Carey Brown, Texas Women Lawyers Annual CLE, March 2017
- A Conversation with Texas Supreme Court Justice Debra Lehrmann, Texas Women Lawyers Annual CLE 2016
- Bankruptcy is Like a Heat Wave: General Tips to Prevent Getting Burned, Driven Inc. Speaker’s Series, July 2014
- Proper Responses to Discovery, Southern District of Texas Bench Bar Conference, June 2014
- The Importance of Retaining Original Signed Documents, State Capital Group Bankruptcy Blog, January 2013
- Using Technology in Your Practice, Texas Women Lawyers Annual CLE 2013
- Better Bankruptcy Practice Using No or Low Cost Technology, 8th Annual Consumer Bankruptcy Practice CLE, University of Texas School of Law, August 2012
- Student Loan Relief: Is Change on the Horizon? State Capital Group Bankruptcy Blog, April 2012
- Nuts and Bolts of Collection Law, National Business Institute, Austin, Texas, March 2012
- Non-Bankruptcy Alternatives, State Capital Group Annual Meeting, Washington D.C., October 2020
- Law and Practice Skills: Preparing Witnesses for a 341 Meeting and Motion to Extend Stay, 7th Annual University of Texas School of Law Consumer Bankruptcy Practice Seminar, August 2011
- Chapter 7 Panel, 25th Annual Farm, Ranch and Agri-Business Bankruptcy Institute, October 2009
- The Changing Landscape of Real Estate Issues in Bankruptcy, State Bar of Texas Advanced Real Estate Strategies Course, Santa Fe, New Mexico, October 2009
- Intersection of Bankruptcy Law and Personal Injury Claims, 5th Annual UT Texas Law School Consumer Bankruptcy Practice Seminar, August 2009
- On the Home Front: Recent Caselaw on Texas Homesteads, 5th Annual UT Texas Law School Consumer Bankruptcy Practice Seminar, August 2009
- Moneywise (Financing Training Course presented to public high school assemblies), State Bar of Texas Bankruptcy Section, 2007
Awards and Recognition:
- Best Lawyers in America® (2021 to present) in bankruptcy and creditor debtor rights; insolvency and reorganization law; litigation – bankruptcy (BL Rankings, LLC d/b/a Best Lawyers and Co., LLC.)
- Texas Super Lawyers by Thomson Reuters (2016 to present)
- Houstonia Top Lawyer, Houstonia magazine (2016 to present)