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Profile Areas of Practice Education Professional & Civic Affiliations Bar & Court Admissions Selected Practice Highlights Selected Recent Publications In The News

Profile

Thomas O. Ashby practices in the areas of bankruptcy, creditor rights (including rights in electronic commerce and intellectual property), commercial litigation and loan and credit procedures and documents. He regularly advances clients’ interests in debt-credit matters through litigation, establishing credit/collection forms and procedures, documenting credit transactions, negotiating credit defaults, arbitration, and/or mediation. Tom collaborates with fintech and payments in-house counsel and executives to help clients thrive proactively and during counterparty defaults and bankruptcies. Tom also has championed numerous banks and health care providers in insurance disputes and creditors and debt collectors in elimination of consumer class action threats.

Since 2019, Tom has been selected by his peers for inclusion in the Best Lawyers In America® for Banking and Finance Law. Tom has also been recognized by Great Plains Super Lawyers in the practice area of Creditor Debtor Rights. 

Areas of Practice

Education

  • University of Michigan Law School, J.D., cum laude, 1984
  • University of Iowa, B.A., Political Science, with high distinction, 1981

Professional & Civic Affiliations

  • Nebraska State Bar Association, a founding member of the Bankruptcy Section
  • Nebraska State Bar Association, Education Committee of the Bank Attorneys Section
  • Iowa State Bar Association, Commercial Law and Bankruptcy Section Council Member
  • Iowa State Bar Association, E-Commerce Section
  • Iowa Trial Lawyers Association, now known as Association of Iowans for Justice
  • South Dakota State Bar Association, Debtor-Creditor Committee
  • Greater Omaha President’s Council, Good News Jail & Prison Ministries, Chairman
  • Grace University Foundation, former Board Member
  • American Bankruptcy Institute, Member

Bar & Court Admissions

  • Iowa, 1984
  • Missouri, 2008
  • Nebraska, 1984
  • South Dakota, 2012
  • Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, 1984
  • United States District Court, District of Colorado, 2007
  • United States District Court, Central District of Illinois, 2021
  • United States District Court, Northern District of Iowa, 1984
  • United States District Court, Southern District of Iowa, 1984
  • United States District Court, Eastern District of Missouri, 2015
  • United States District Court, Western District of Missouri, 2014
  • United States District Court, District of Nebraska, 1984
  • United States District Court, District of South Dakota, 2012

Selected Practice Highlights

  • Obtaining significant payments for creditors after litigation, such as a seven-figure mortgage foreclosure in Iowa that was fully paid, including interest on attorney fees, and a seven-figure realty foreclosure in North Dakota that was fully paid, despite the bankruptcy of the realty owner
  • Teaming with other Baird Holm lawyers to prevail on summary judgment and state supreme court affirmance for a creditor accused of lender liability, despite more than 25 depositions on extensive and complicated facts
  • Prevailing on a sanctions motion for a pretrial foreclosure decree and dismissal of lender liability claims, upheld by the Iowa Court of Appeals and Iowa Supreme Court
  • Negotiating full payment arrangements for payments industry clients, including significant attorney fees, in multiple bankruptcies and ABC proceedings.
  • Supervising briefing in a Nebraska Supreme Court case that overturned a trial court’s landmark decision against a hospital client involving hospital liens and debtor exemptions
  • Working with a cross-disciplinary team to devise and edit procedures and forms for in-house collection systems at one of Iowa’s largest health systems
  • Prevailing on summary judgment for a staffing company piercing care facility entity veils, ultimately leading to full payment with default interest and attorney fees
  • Obtaining a ruling denying class certification in debtor-creditor litigation for pharmacy and veterinarian clients
  • Obtaining a seven-figure summary judgment for Iowa bank excepting its debt from bankruptcy discharge and awarding attorney fees against the debtor
  • Co-chairing the bankruptcy education track at the 2014 8th Circuit Judicial Conference
  • Negotiating full payment plans for creditors in Chapter 12 and Chapter 11 bankruptcies, sometimes involving advanced concepts such as security interests in customer lists, probate estate bequests, business opportunities, government program payments, and tracing of diverted collateral
  • Obtaining relief from bankruptcy stays for numerous creditors, such as banks, insurance companies and vendors without need for trial

Selected Recent Publications

In the News


Areas of Practice

Education

  • University of Michigan Law School, J.D., cum laude, 1984
  • University of Iowa, B.A., Political Science, with high distinction, 1981

Bar & Court Admissions

  • Iowa, 1984
  • Missouri, 2008
  • Nebraska, 1984
  • South Dakota, 2012
  • Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, 1984
  • United States District Court, District of Colorado, 2007
  • United States District Court, Central District of Illinois, 2021
  • United States District Court, Northern District of Iowa, 1984
  • United States District Court, Southern District of Iowa, 1984
  • United States District Court, Eastern District of Missouri, 2015
  • United States District Court, Western District of Missouri, 2014
  • United States District Court, District of Nebraska, 1984
  • United States District Court, District of South Dakota, 2012

Profile

Thomas O. Ashby practices in the areas of bankruptcy, creditor rights (including rights in electronic commerce and intellectual property), commercial litigation and loan and credit procedures and documents. He regularly advances clients’ interests in debt-credit matters through litigation, establishing credit/collection forms and procedures, documenting credit transactions, negotiating credit defaults, arbitration, and/or mediation. Tom collaborates with fintech and payments in-house counsel and executives to help clients thrive proactively and during counterparty defaults and bankruptcies. Tom also has championed numerous banks and health care providers in insurance disputes and creditors and debt collectors in elimination of consumer class action threats.

Since 2019, Tom has been selected by his peers for inclusion in the Best Lawyers In America® for Banking and Finance Law. Tom has also been recognized by Great Plains Super Lawyers in the practice area of Creditor Debtor Rights. 

Professional & Civic Affiliations

  • Nebraska State Bar Association, a founding member of the Bankruptcy Section
  • Nebraska State Bar Association, Education Committee of the Bank Attorneys Section
  • Iowa State Bar Association, Commercial Law and Bankruptcy Section Council Member
  • Iowa State Bar Association, E-Commerce Section
  • Iowa Trial Lawyers Association, now known as Association of Iowans for Justice
  • South Dakota State Bar Association, Debtor-Creditor Committee
  • Greater Omaha President’s Council, Good News Jail & Prison Ministries, Chairman
  • Grace University Foundation, former Board Member
  • American Bankruptcy Institute, Member

Selected Practice Highlights

  • Obtaining significant payments for creditors after litigation, such as a seven-figure mortgage foreclosure in Iowa that was fully paid, including interest on attorney fees, and a seven-figure realty foreclosure in North Dakota that was fully paid, despite the bankruptcy of the realty owner
  • Teaming with other Baird Holm lawyers to prevail on summary judgment and state supreme court affirmance for a creditor accused of lender liability, despite more than 25 depositions on extensive and complicated facts
  • Prevailing on a sanctions motion for a pretrial foreclosure decree and dismissal of lender liability claims, upheld by the Iowa Court of Appeals and Iowa Supreme Court
  • Negotiating full payment arrangements for payments industry clients, including significant attorney fees, in multiple bankruptcies and ABC proceedings.
  • Supervising briefing in a Nebraska Supreme Court case that overturned a trial court’s landmark decision against a hospital client involving hospital liens and debtor exemptions
  • Working with a cross-disciplinary team to devise and edit procedures and forms for in-house collection systems at one of Iowa’s largest health systems
  • Prevailing on summary judgment for a staffing company piercing care facility entity veils, ultimately leading to full payment with default interest and attorney fees
  • Obtaining a ruling denying class certification in debtor-creditor litigation for pharmacy and veterinarian clients
  • Obtaining a seven-figure summary judgment for Iowa bank excepting its debt from bankruptcy discharge and awarding attorney fees against the debtor
  • Co-chairing the bankruptcy education track at the 2014 8th Circuit Judicial Conference
  • Negotiating full payment plans for creditors in Chapter 12 and Chapter 11 bankruptcies, sometimes involving advanced concepts such as security interests in customer lists, probate estate bequests, business opportunities, government program payments, and tracing of diverted collateral
  • Obtaining relief from bankruptcy stays for numerous creditors, such as banks, insurance companies and vendors without need for trial

Selected Recent Publications


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