Sydney focuses her practice primarily on commercial bankruptcy matters, representing a variety of constituencies including debtors, secured and unsecured creditors, Chapter 11 trustees, liquidating trustees, creditors’ committees, asset purchasers, property owners/landlords, and other interested parties in bankruptcy cases. Her practicality, resourcefulness, problem-solving, and interpersonal skills contribute to her effective advocacy and enable her to propose thoughtful and creative solutions to her clients.

​Additionally, Sydney has a wide array of experience in both litigation and transactional matters in the areas of business and commercial law, financial services and restructuring, risk management, insolvency, and real estate. She has represented lenders, distressed debt investors, and other creditors in connection with the disposition of nonperforming loans and assets outside of bankruptcy, including prosecuting real estate, Article 9, and tax sale foreclosures.

​Sydney is an experienced business and commercial litigator for actions including prosecuting and defending Consumer Fraud Act claims, fraudulent transfer actions, judgment collection matters, breach of contract actions, lender liability claims, construction law matters, and emergent proceedings seeking temporary restraints and injunctions. She has represented numerous clients at the trial and appellate levels of state, federal, and bankruptcy courts in New Jersey and New York, including the Third Circuit Court of Appeals and New Jersey Appellate Division.

​Complementing her litigation practice, Sydney has experience representing property owners, developers, and landlords in a wide range of commercial and real estate transactions, counseling parties in connection with the acquisition, disposition, and improvement of real property, preparing non-consolidation opinion letters, and negotiating and drafting various forms of real estate and construction contracts.

​After graduating law school, Sydney served a clerkship with the Honorable Raymond T. Lyons (Ret.), United States Bankruptcy Judge, District of New Jersey.

Professional Memberships

  • International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC)
  • Turnaround Management Association (TMA)
  • New Jersey State Bar Association
  • Essex County Bar Association

Publications

  • “Down the Pipe: No Easy Out for Cannabis-Based Businesses in Distress,” New Jersey Lawyer Magazine, October 2018
  • “You Have the Right to Remain Silent, Sometimes: A Primer on the Scope of the Fifth Amendment in Bankruptcy Proceedings,” American Bankruptcy Trustee Journal, Summer 2018
  • “Appellate Division Again Warns Car Dealers: Beware of Inconsistent Legal Terms in Documents.” LinkedIn, June 2016
  • “Want to Make a Stand? You May Not Have Standing,” American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, Vol. XXXIV, No. 8, August 2015
  • “N.J. Supreme Court Fortifies Public Policy Promoting Tax Sale Certificates,” New Jersey Law Journal, October 6, 2014

Speaking Engagements

  • Panelist, “Rising Tide: Mass Tort Bankruptcies,” TMA Mid-Atlantic Regional Symposium, June 2022
  • Panelist, “Single Asset Real Estate in Bankruptcy,” Inaugural NJSBA Bankruptcy and Restructuring Forum, November 18, 2021
  • Panelist, “COVID-19 Defenses to Litigation,” 23rd Annual William H. Gindin Bankruptcy Bench Bar Conference, April 2021
  • Panel Coordinator/Co-Moderator, “Landlord Issues in Bankruptcy,” 22nd Annual William H. Gindin Bankruptcy Bench Bar Conference, April 2020
  • Panelist, “Advanced Collection Practices and Bankruptcy Implications: A Series,” N.J. State Bar Association, January 2020
  • Panelist, “Mock Confirmation Hearing – Confirming A Plan Containing Third-Party Releases,” 21st Annual William H. Gindin Bankruptcy Bench Bar Conference, April 2019
  • Panelist, “Mock Trial – Contested Cash Collateral and DIP Financing,” 20th Annual William H. Gindin Bankruptcy Bench Bar Conference, March 2018
  • Moderator, “Bankruptcy Basics for the Matrimonial Lawyer,” Essex County Bar Association CLE Extravaganza, December 2015
  • Presenter, “Hot Topic: In re Ashley River Consulting, LLC, et al., 2015 Bankr. LEXIS 3819, 2015 WL 6848113, No. 14‐13406 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. Nov. 6, 2015),” New Jersey Bankruptcy Inn of Court, New Brunswick, NJ, December 2015
  • Moderator, “From Pinstriped Suits to Robes – Newly Minted Judges Talk About Transitioning From the Bar to the Bench,” 2015 TMA Mid‐Atlantic Regional Symposium, June 2015
  • Presenter, “Bankruptcy 101−Common Issues, Risks, and Defense for Dealing with Corporate Bankruptcy,” Connell Foley LLP Continuing Legal Education Course, April 2015

Professional Activities

  • Member and Chair of Local Rules Subcommittee, Lawyers Advisory Committee of the United States Bankruptcy Court, District of New Jersey
  • Co-Chair, New Jersey Network of IWIRC (International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation)
  • Vice President of Education and Board Member, New Jersey Chapter of the Turnaround Management Association (TMA)
  • Co-Chair of TMA Annual, 2021
  • Co-Chair of TMA Mid-Atlantic Regional Symposium, 2018-2019
  • Events Chair of TMA Mid-Atlantic Regional Symposium, 2016-2017
  • TMA Annual Conference Planning Committee, 2018
  • Vice-Chair of Debtor/Creditor Committee of Essex County Bar Association
  • Volunteer Attorney, Volunteer Lawyers for Justice Consumer Law Clinic