Paul J. Pascuzzi

ppascuzzi@ffwplaw.com Direct: (916) 231-6652

Paul represents creditors and debtors in virtually every type of bankruptcy case, out-of-court workout, and commercial litigation. Paul has represented chapter 11 debtors in complex corporate reorganizations and liquidations, including the Roman Catholic Bishop of Santa Rosa, Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Francisco, Roman Catholic Bishop of Sacramento, Roman Catholic Bishop of Stockton, Nations First Capital, Large Scale Biology Corp and Capital Corp of the West, a bank holding company. He has represented landlord and creditor clients in complex chapter 11 reorganizations, liquidations and sales of assets in numerous jurisdictions. Paul has worked as co-counsel with the California Attorney General's Office representing numerous California state agencies in the recent Pacific Gas & Electric case, and the Pacific Lumber Company, the first Pacific Gas & Electric Company, Worldcom, and Enron bankruptcies. He also has represented creditors and defended clients in preference actions in large cases across the country, including cases such as Rite Aid, Serta, Revlon, WeWork, Regal Cinemas Sears, and Calpine. Paul also represents receivers in various jurisdictions in California and federal courts in Nevada.

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Representative Cases

Presentations

Education

University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, J.D. with Great Distinction, Order of the Coif, Traynor Honor Society, Prentice Hall Annual Taxation Award (1990)

Iowa State University, B.A., Business Administration-Finance (1986)

Legal Memberships, Activities and Honors

Paul is a Fellow of the prestigious American College of Bankruptcy and is AV Preeminent rated by Martindale-Hubbell. Paul has been listed since 2007 in The Best Lawyers in America in the specialization of Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law and was named as Lawyer of the Year for 2014 and 2025. Paul also has been listed since 2014 in The Best Lawyers in America in the practice area Litigation - Bankruptcy and has been named 2018 and 2025 Sacramento Litigation-Bankruptcy Lawyer of the Year. Paul has been named a Super Lawyer® in the field of Bankruptcy by Law and Politics Magazine since 2005. In 2024, Paul was among the Top 10 Northern California lawyers in the Super Lawyers® Top 100 list. Paul has been ranked among the Top 100 lawyers since 2016 by Northern California Super Lawyers®, encompassing lawyers in all specialties. Paul was voted by his peers as "Best of the Bar" in 2013, 2016 and 2019 in the Sacramento Business Journal. Paul was selected by a vote of his peers to be included in Sacramento Magazine's (now Sactown Magazine) list of Top Lawyers in Sacramento in 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023, and 2024. Chambers USA has recognized Paul in its rankings of Bankruptcy/Restructuring lawyers since 2014.

Paul served as Chair of the Executive Committee of the Business Law Section of the State Bar of California from 2009-2010. He has been an advisor to the Business Law Section Executive Committee since 2011. Paul served as the Chair of the Business Law Section Long Range Strategy Committee from 2012-2018. Paul served as Chair of the Insolvency Law Committee of the Business Law Section of the State Bar of California from 2005-2006 and currently serves as an advisor. He is a former Co-Vice Chair of the State Bar Uniform Commercial Code Committee. Paul served as President of the California Bankruptcy Forum from 2009-2010 and Co-Chair for the 2005 and 2011 California Bankruptcy Forum Annual Conferences. He has served as Vice President, Secretary and Board member of the Sacramento Valley Bankruptcy Forum. He has served as member of the UCC Advisory Committee to the Secretary of State’s office and as the UCC Committee’s Liaison to the Secretary of State. From 2011-2015, Paul served as a Lawyer Representative to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference and the Eastern District Conference Planning Committee. From 2018 to 2024, Paul was Chair of the American College of Bankruptcy Meetings & Events Committee. From 1998 through 2011, Paul was a panelist at the California Continuing Education of the Bar’s "Recent Developments in Business Law" annual program in Sacramento. Paul also has taught bankruptcy and collection law as a visiting lecturer at California State University, Sacramento. Paul has been a presenter at the Sacramento County Bar Association Business Law, Intellectual Property and Bankruptcy & Commercial Law sections monthly meetings.

Paul regularly volunteers his time to Capital Pro Bono (formerly known as Voluntary Legal Services Program), Debt Collection Defense Clinic. Paul was honored with the 2022 Capital Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award. He has also volunteered as a mentor to new California lawyers as part of the California State Bar Business Law Section Mentor Program and to law students in connection with the McGeorge School of Law 1 L/Alumni Mentor Program. Paul was recently recognized by the Unites States District Court for the Eastern District of California for his outstanding pro bono service to the Eastern District of California for his service as a Resolution Advocate for the Bankruptcy Dispute Resolution Program.