Rick Gleissner

In 1998, the South Carolina Supreme Court certified Rick as a specialist in Bankruptcy and Debtor-Creditor Law. He has extensive experience representing creditors, debtors, and trustees in bankruptcy and in representing litigants in the State and Federal Courts of South Carolina. Rick seeks to bring all of the tools of an attorney to problem solving. Through negotiation, mediation, litigation, and possibly bankruptcy, Rick always attempts to accomplish the clients goals in as cost efficient and cost effective manner possible.

Bio

Rick Gleissner was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on January 29, 1956, He was admitted to the South Carolina Bar in 1990, the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in 1991. In 1998, the State of South Carolina’s Supreme Court certified him as specialist in Bankruptcy and Debtor-Creditor Law. He was re-certified as a specialist in 2003 and 2008.

Education

Rick graduated magna cum laude from the University of South Carolina in 1978, received a Masters in Public Administration in 1981, and received his Juris Doctorate cum laude in 1990. As an undergraduate, he was active in Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Eta Sigma. In graduate school, he was active in the American Society for Public Administration, the International Studies Association, American Society for Political Science, and the Society for Public Administration where he served as the President and Vice President of the Student Chapter. While getting his graduate degree he served as an administrative assistant with the Department of Government and International Studies and then the James F. Byrnes International Center under the direction of Dr. James A. Kuhlman.

In law school, Rick was active in Phi Alpha Delta and served as the organization’s treasurer. He was awarded membership in the Order of Wig and Robe and the Order of the Coif. Rick served as research editor for the South Carolina Law Review and during law school was the author of Court Permits Relief From Judgment Obtained Through Fraud Upon the Court, 41 S.C.L. Rev. 152 (1990), and Non Disclosure of Certain Negotiations Between Prosecution and Witness Held not Violative of Order Pursuant to Brady motion, Court Defines When Offender Has Murdered as “Agent of Another” 41 S.C.L. Rev. 50 (1990).

Professional Employment

After law school, Rick served as Judicial Clerk for the Honorable C. Tolbert Goolsby, Jr. of the South Carolina Court of Appeals.

In 1991, Rick was hired by the Finkel Law Firm LLC where he remained until 2007. In 2007, he was asked to be an adjunct professor at the Charleston School of Law and did not believe that he should receive a full time salary at the Finkel Law Firm LLC while he was teaching. So, he became of counsel at the Finkel Law Firm LLC in August 2007, taught at the Charleston School of Law and started the Gleissner Law Firm, L.L.C.

In May 2010, Rick stopped being of counsel at the Finkel Law Firm and has devoted all of his efforts to Gleissner Law.

Professional Associations and Activities

Rick is a member of:

  • The American Bar Association
  • The South Carolina Bar Association
  • The Richland County Bar Association
  • The Solo and Small Practitioners Section of the South Carolina Bar
  • The American Bankruptcy Institute
  • The South Carolina Bankruptcy Law Association

Rick is a frequent lecturer and author on various topics associated with Commercial Law, including:

  • In Defense of the Guarantor, November, 2010, S.C. Lawyers Magazine
  • When a Tenant or Landlord Files Bankruptcy, for Landlord Tenant Law, for Sterling Educational Services, Inc. July 27, 2010
  • Bankruptcy and its Impact on Foreclosures, Foreclosure and Bankruptcy, for Lorman Education Services, September 2007, 2008 and 2009;
  • Basics of Covering Bankruptcy Procedure for the National Center for Courts and the Media in the National Judicial College, July 2006;
  • Fundamentals of Chapter 11 Under BAPCPA with Stanley H. McGuffin, Esquire for Lorman Education Services’ Understanding the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 2005 in South Carolina, April 26, 2006.
  • Bankruptcy Litigation Under BAPCPA, for Lorman Education Services’ Understanding the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 2005 in South Carolina, April 26, 2006
  • Business Bankruptcy and Bankruptcy Litigation under the BAPCPA, for HalfMoon, L.L.C.’s Bankruptcy Practice After the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, September 29, 2005
  • Defenses to Fraudulent Transfers and Preferential Transfers in South Carolina, for the South Carolina Bankruptcy Law Association Annual Meeting, August 2005
  • HomeGold: A Case Study with Janet B. Haigler, Esquire, in Advanced Bankruptcy Practice, November 30, 2004
  • Internet Resources for Guidance in UCC Transactions and The Impact of Article 9 Changes on Bankruptcy in Current UCC Developments in South Carolina, March 2004
  • How to Structure and Manage Secured Transactions, for UCC Developments, What South Carolina Practitioners Need to Know, May 2002
  • The Impact of Article 9 Changes on Bankruptcy, for UCC Developments, What South Carolina Practitioners Need to Know, May 2002
  • Creditors Rights and Restrictions in Bankruptcy, Creditors Rights Seminar, March 2002
  • Legal Research in South Carolina for S.C. Association of Counties, Clerk of County Council Program, August 2001
  • Bankruptcy and Tax Sales from a County Perspective, for S.C. Association of Counties, February 2001
  • The Road to War; Preparing for Chapter 11 Case from the Perspective of a Debtor’s Counsel, South Carolina Bankruptcy Law Association, March 1999
  • Objections to Discharge Under Section 523, for S.C. Bankruptcy Law Association Annual Seminar, August 1998
  • Preferences and Fraudulent Conveyances, for S.C. Bankruptcy Law Association Annual Seminar, August 1997
  • Bankruptcy Litigation, South Carolina Bankruptcy Law Association Convention, August 4, 5 and 6 1995

For more information about these topics and presentations, please see the publications section.

For the Spring Semester 2007, Rick was asked to teach Commercial Law at the Charleston School of Law. This course relates to Articles 2, 3 and 4 of South Carolina’s adoption of the Uniform Commercial Code. For the Fall Semester 2007, the Charleston School of Law asked Rick to return and again teach the Commercial Law course as well as begin teaching a course on the theory of Bankruptcy. In the Spring Semester 2008, Commercial Law became a core course required by all second year students. During that semester, as an adjunct, Rick taught the entire second year class the principles of Commercial Law.