Meaghan Murphy
Partner

Meaghan Murphy is a partner at Meland Budwick, P.A., where she concentrates her practice on bankruptcy and complex commercial litigation. In her bankruptcy work, Meaghan represents business debtors, trustees, creditors, and creditors’ committees in Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 cases. She has particular experience advising commercial landlords and tenants, and her deep knowledge of the interplay between commercial leasing and bankruptcy law has led to highly successful outcomes—including guiding multiple retail tenants through Chapter 11 and securing millions in negotiated relief.

Meaghan regularly prosecutes and defends adversary proceedings involving fraudulent transfers, preferences, and other core bankruptcy litigation. Her practice also includes state court insolvency proceedings, including representing assignees and creditors in assignments for the benefit of creditors (ABCs) matters.

In her broader commercial litigation practice, Meaghan handles a wide range of complex matters—from commercial foreclosures and contract disputes to business torts and post-judgment asset recovery. She has significant experience pursuing high-net-worth individuals in financial fraud and judgment enforcement cases, including obtaining post-judgment receiverships over personal and business assets.

Meaghan is deeply committed to public service. She is an active member of the Junior League of Miami and regularly provides pro bono representation to individuals facing financial hardship in Chapter 7 bankruptcy and other insolvency related matters.

AWARDS & RANKINGS

  • Lawdragon 500 Leading Global Bankruptcy & Restructuring Lawyers, 2025
  • Lawdragon, 500 X – The Next Generation, 2025
  • American Bankruptcy Institute, Class of 40 Under 40, 2024
  • Florida Legal Awards “Dealmaker of the Year,” finalist, 2024
  • Miami-Dade Bar Young Lawyers Section “40 Under 40”, 2024
  • The Best Lawyers in America, 2024-2026

PUBLICATIONS & PANELS

  • Author, “When Personal Injury Meets Bankruptcy: What Trial Lawyers Need to Know,” Daily Business Review, August 2025
  • Moderator, “Evidentiary Issues in Bankruptcy,” 35th Annual University of Miami Bankruptcy Skills Workshop, May 2025
  • Panelist, “Personal Injury Claims in Bankruptcy,” Florida Law Con 2025
  • Panelist, Bankruptcy Ethics Brown Bag Panel Discussion, Bankruptcy Bar Association and the University of Miami Center for Ethics and Public Service, May 2024
  • Panelist, “An Overview of Bankruptcy Appeals,” Florida Bar Appellate Practice Section, March 2021
  • Co-Author, “An Unlimited Reach-Back Period When IRS Is Triggering Creditor?” American Bankruptcy Institute, January 2017
  • Co-Author, “Rejection of Songwriter Publishing Agreements in Bankruptcy,” American Bankruptcy Institute, January 2019

EDUCATION

  • University of Miami School of Law, J.D. magna cum laude, 2012
    • Dean’s List
    • Order of the Coif
    • Psychology, Public Policy & Law Journal, Managing Editor (2011-2012)
  • University of Idaho, B.S., 2008

BAR ADMISSIONS

  • The Florida Bar
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
  • Florida Southern District Bankruptcy Court
  • Middle District of Florida
  • Florida Middle District Bankruptcy Court

MEMBERSHIPS

  • Bankruptcy Bar Association for the Southern District of Florida
    • First Vice President, 2025-present
    • Second Vice President, 2024-2025
    • Secretary, 2023-2024
    • Treasurer, 2022-2023
  • Member, International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation
  • Member, American Bankruptcy Institute
    • 2024 Class of 40 Under 40
  • Federal Court Practice Committee of The Florida Bar
    • Vice Chair, 2025-present
    • Member, 2022-present
  • Board of Directors, Junior League of Miami
Representative Matters

Representative Matters

Bankruptcy, Commercial Litigation

Special litigation counsel to the co-Trustees in iCap Enterprises, Inc. , involving a $250 million Ponzi scheme perpetrated from 2011 to 2023 in Washington state, with a specific focus on recovering substantial commissions and fees paid to over two dozen brokers and fundraisers and bringing claims held by both the Debtors and individual investors.

Served as counsel for senior secured lender in Chapter 11 cases filed by individuals and companies involved in an extensive fraud scheme and liabilities exceeding $50 million. Representation included prosecution and defense of multiple adversary proceedings concerning title to valuable real property. One adversary proceeding was resolved in final judgment in favor of senior secured lender on summary judgment in a published opinion.

Served as Debtor’s counsel for Orion Technologies, LLC, a technology company that specializes in single board computers used in a variety of military applications. Representation resulted in a successful sale process that brought more than one million dollars more than expected into the estate for the benefit of creditors, recharacterization of Orion’s major debts as unsecured, and confirmation of Orion’s Chapter 11 plan of reorganization.

Served as Chapter 11 counsel to A&E Adventures, LLC d/b/a GameTime, a family entertainment and dining venue with locations throughout Florida. Following creditor negotiations and litigation, including a successful, precedent-setting appeal, GameTime successfully confirmed a Chapter 11 plan of reorganization, which kept all locations open and paid all creditors in full.

Served as Chapter 11 counsel to IT’SUGAR LLC, a specialty candy retailer with approximately 100 stores and over 700 employees across 28 states. Through extensive negotiations with dozens of landlords, IT’SUGAR was able to obtain millions of dollars in pre- and post-petition rent relief, restructure vendor debt, and successfully confirm a Chapter 11 plan of reorganization.

Represented defendants in fraudulent transfer adversary proceedings involving unresolved issues of law concerning use of the Internal Revenue Service as the triggering creditor. Representation led to a favorable global settlement of multiple pending adversary proceedings.

Bankruptcy

Served as bankruptcy counsel for the Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Eiger Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company that filed Chapter 11 in Dallas, Texas with assets and liabilities in the tens of millions and resulted in a 100% distribution, plus interest, to unsecured creditors following successful sales of the Debtors’ assets.

Served as bankruptcy counsel for 55+ tort claimants, the largest single tort constituency, in the Chapter 11 cases filed by electric scooter company Bird Global, which involved assets totaling less than $100 million and liabilities exceeding $500 million.

Served as bankruptcy counsel for the Trustee of the Piper Aircraft Corporation Irrevocable Trust Agreement, the trust created by confirmation of Piper Aircraft Corporation’s chapter 11 plan in 1995 to address successor liability and future claims.

Served as counsel to the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Retailing Enterprises, LLC., which is the exclusive reseller of Invicta watches with approximately 20 retail locations nationwide. Debts are in excess of $58 million and assets are less than $18 million.

Commercial Litigation

Served as post-judgment counsel for nearly $10 million judgment creditor seeking asset recovery against a high-net-worth celebrity judgment debtor actively avoiding payment.

Served as post-judgment counsel for judgment creditor seeking asset recovery against judgment debtor with a vast web of intertwined business and family dealings that previously appeared to render the debtor judgment-proof.

Represented lender in high value personal property foreclosure proceedings against a commercial entity. Judgment was obtained and the client was able to obtain possession and title to the valuable personal property at issue.

Represented note purchaser in commercial foreclosure proceedings. Judgment was obtained and the commercial property was successfully sold at auction.

Represented defendant against a judgment creditor seeking to collect on a judgment in excess of $20 million. The matter involved highly disputed and unresolved issues concerning the applicable statute of limitations. Representation led to a very favorable settlement for the defendant.

Represented developer in breach of contract action against an investor and obtained judgment in favor of developer.

Real Estate

Assisted multiple investors in conducting due diligence review in relation to purchase of distressed loans secured by commercial properties.

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