Susan
25
Years
Of Service

Susan E. Trent

Partner

Susan Trent’s practice is primarily focused in commercial and business matters and workout. She also counsels lenders, suppliers, trade creditors and secured/unsecured creditors with regard to numerous business, workout and bankruptcy issues throughout the state of Indiana. Susan represents consumer mortgage lending companies and advises them concerning loss mitigation and other workout opportunities including those in bankruptcy.

Susan assists clients with regard to compliance and other lending and financial institution regulatory and corporate governance matters. In addition, she provides general business, personal and commercial representation, estate and related planning services.

Susan graduated summa cum laude from Indiana University at Bloomington and received her J.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Susan regularly presents on a variety of legal topics for CLE programming throughout Indiana. She also regularly publishes articles in a variety of national legal publications serving as a coordinating editor for the ABI Journal. Susan is AV® rated by Martindale-Hubbell and selected for inclusion in Super Lawyers® and Best Lawyers®.

In addition, Susan's active community involvement has provided her with significant engagement with non-profit corporations including, but not limited to, business management, corporate governance, compliance, finance, HR, and other related issues.

In 2020, Susan was the only female attorney in Fort Wayne named a Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers®.

Legal Assistant: Kim Miller

  • Indiana, 1998
  • U.S. District Court Northern District, 1998
  • U.S. District Court Southern District, 1998
  • ICLEF (Indiana Continuing Legal Education Forum) Futures Council, Member
  • Phi Beta Kappa, Member
  • Indiana State Bar Association: Board of Governors
  • Allen County Bar Association: Board of Directors
  • American Bankruptcy Institute Journal: Coordinating Editor/Author
  • Leadership Fort Wayne, 2012 Graduate
  • AV Preeminent® Rating from Martindale-Hubbell®
  • Selected for inclusion in Super Lawyers®, 2016–2023
  • Selected for Inclusion in Best Lawyers®, Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law; Litigation – Bankruptcy; Mortgage Banking Foreclosure Law, 2019-2024
  • Selected for Inclusion in Best Lawyers® "Lawyer of the Year," Litigation – Bankruptcy; Mortgage Banking Foreclosure Law, 2021
  • Top Lawyer, Fort Wayne Magazine
  • Forty Under 40 Honoree, Fort Wayne Business Weekly
  • Outstanding Service Award, Allen County Bar Association, 2003–2004
  • Counsel to lenders and banking institutions, secured and unsecured, in chapter 7 liquidations, chapter 13, chapter 11 reorganizations throughout Indiana
  • Counsel to bond trustee and bondholder in chapter 11 reorganization involving conservancy district
  • Counsel to bond trustee in chapter 11 reorganization involving health care facility
  • Counsel for numerous lenders in connection with foreclosure matters, receiverships and litigation
  • Counsel for residential mortgage lenders and servicers in chapters 7, 13 and chapter 11 reorganizations
  • Counsel to trade creditors relative to preference demands and defenses and automatic stay violations
  • Counsel to creditors with regard to dischargeability actions
  • Counsel to lenders and banking institutions relative to cash collateral agreements and plan negotiation
  • Counsel to lenders and banking institutions relative to § 363 Sales, asset protection and liquidating plans/trusts
  • Counsel to lenders and banking institutions with regard to Debtor in Possession bankruptcy financing
  • Counsel to lenders and banking institutions with regard to forbearance and debt repayment agreements
  • Counsel to lenders and banking institutions with regard to court-ordered bankruptcy mediation
  • Counsel to lenders and banking institution with regard to commercial transactions governed by the UCC
  • Counsel to lenders and banking institutions in single asset real estate bankruptcies
  • Counsel to lenders and banking institutions in agricultural bankruptcy cases under Chapter 11 and Chapter 12
  • Counsel to automotive and agricultural lenders with regard to stay relief, redemption and valuation issues
  • Counsel to commercial employment lessors on issues of lease assumption and rejection and negotiation thereof
  • New Markets Tax Credit Board
  • Leadership Fort Wayne
  • Jonathan Hancock Lecture Series, Canterbury High School
  • Parkview Foundation, Board Chair
  • AWS Foundation, Board Chair, Executive Committee
  • Quest Club: Past Chair, Board of Governors
  • ARCH (Architecture & Community Heritage), Chair, Board of Directors
  • AWRC, Board of Directors
  • Edward D. and Ione Auer Foundation
  • Red Cedar Committee of AWRC
  • Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership
  • Ronald McDonald House at Parkview Regional Medical Center: Past President, Past Secretary
  • Lutheran Homes, Inc. : Past Board Member
  • East State Village Civic Improvement Association: Past Treasurer
  • Blog: "Microwaves, Crock-Pots, and Practicing Law," published March 8, 2021
  • Legal Alert: "Contempt in Bankruptcy Court Only When There is 'No Fair Ground of Doubt,'" published May 26, 2020
  • Business Women/Business People Magazine: "Ready! Set! Go! Starting a Small Business," published May 6, 2020
  • Legal Alert: "Bankruptcy and the CARES Act," published April 1, 2020
  • Norton Journal of Bankruptcy & Law Practice: "Insiders Small Business Entrepreneurism & Debt Recharacterization in Bankruptcy," Volume 28, Issue 4, published August 2019
  • American Bankruptcy Trustee Journal: "Legal Tech Tools: Social Media & Artificial Intelligence," published March 2018
  • American Bankruptcy Institute Journal: "Lien on Me – No Final Word, Debt-Recharacterization Issue on Cert Dismissed as Improvidently Granted," published November 2017
  • Hoosier Banker: "Bankruptcy Math - When $716 = $375,000 In Sanctions," published March 2017
  • American Bankruptcy Institute Journal: Claims Chat, "Stale Claim Circuit Discord at the Supreme Court," published February 2017
  • American Bankruptcy Institute: Business Reorganization Committee Newsletter, "Does the Attorney-Client Privilege and Work-Product Doctrine Protect Parties Involved in a Common Enterprise?" published April 2016
  • American Bankruptcy Institute: Unsecured Trade Creditors Committee Newsletter, "Boomerang Tube: The Delaware Bankruptcy Court Considers Fee Shifting Defense Provisions and ASARCO," published May 2016
  • Quest Club: "Edward Bernays: The Father of Consumerism," published December 2015
  • American Bankruptcy Institute Journal: "Attorneys Embracing Social Media," published May 2015
  • American Bankruptcy Institute Journal: "Best of ABI 2014: The Year in Business Bankruptcy," published December 2014
  • American Bankruptcy Institute Journal: "Crawford Surprises: Stale Debt, FDCPA and Proofs of Claim," published October 2014
  • American Bankruptcy Institute Journal: "Brookfield: An 1111(b) Issue of First Impression in Seventh Circuit," published January 2014
  • American Bankruptcy Institute Journal: "Best of ABI 2013: The Year in Business Bankruptcy," published December 2013
  • American Bankruptcy Institute Journal: "Detroit as Catalyst for Discussion on Women Lawyers in History," published November 2013
  • Legal Alert: "Chapter 9," published August 7, 2013
  • Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review: "What in the World is Defalcation?" published May 2013
  • American Bankruptcy Institute Journal: "Castleton Plaza: May an Insider Equity Investor Sidestep the Absolute-Priority Rule and LaSalle?" published May 2013
  • American Bankruptcy Institute Journal: "Plan Drafting Requirements Pursuant to § 1123(b)(3)(B) Tackled," published February 2013
  • American Bankruptcy Institute Journal: "Hall Creates Chapter 12 Booby Trap," published July 2012
  • American Bankruptcy Institute Journal: "Sale of the Family Farm and Capital Gains Tax in Chapter 12," published February 2012
  • Norton Journal of Bankruptcy & Law Practice: "Vote Incentivization Schemes in Chapter 11," published July 2011
  • American Bankruptcy Institute Journal: "Buying Votes in Chapter 11," published February 2011
  • Allen County Bar Association: Disclosure Statement, 2011–2019
  • ICLEF Seminar, French Lick, Indiana: "Advanced Individual Bankruptcy Chapter 7 & 13 - Masters Seminar," July 2022
  • ICLEF Seminar, French Lick, Indiana: "Advanced Individual Bankruptcy Chapter 7 & 13 - Masters Seminar," June 2021
  • Quest Club, "Flint Michigan Water," November 2020
  • ICLEF Webinar, Indianapolis, Indiana: “Advanced Individual Bankruptcy Chapter 7 & 13 – Masters Seminar,” June 2020
  • ACBA, Webinar, Fort Wayne, Indiana: “Recent Updates: Bankruptcy and the CARES Act,” May 2020
  • ICLEF South Bend, Indiana: “Northern District of Indiana Bankruptcy Fall Consumer Seminar Conference,” September 2019
  • ICLEF New Buffalo, Michigan: “Sigmund J. Beck Advanced Bankruptcy Roundtable,” September 2019
  • ICLEF French Lick, Indiana: “Advanced Individual Bankruptcy Chapter 7 & 13 – Masters Seminar,” August 2019
  • ICLEF Michigan City, Indiana: “Advanced Individual Bankruptcy Chapter 7 & 13 – Masters Seminar,” June 2018
  • ICLEF Michigan City, Indiana: “Advanced Individual Bankruptcy Chapter 7 & 13 – Masters Seminar,” June 2017
  • American Bankruptcy Institute – Chicago, Illinois: “Hon. Eugene R. Wedoff Seventh Circuit Bankruptcy Conference,” October 2016
  • ICLEF Merrillville, Indiana and Indianapolis, Indiana: “Ancillary Issues in Personal Injury Litigation (Bankruptcy),” September/October 2016
  • ICLEF French Lake, Indiana: “Advanced Individual Bankruptcy Chapter 7 & 13 – Masters Seminar,” June 2016
  • Quest Club, Fort Wayne, Indiana: “Edward Bernays: The Father of Consumerism,” December 2015
  • ICLEF Michigan City, Indiana: “Advanced Individual Bankruptcy Chapter 7 & 13 – Masters Seminar,” June 2015
  • Allen County Bar Association, Fort Wayne, Indiana: “Social Media: Consider Its Implications in Business and in Court,” April 2015
  • ICLEF Indianapolis, Indiana: Annual Bankruptcy Institute, December 2014
  • ICLEF Seminar, West Baden, Indiana: “Advanced Individual Bankruptcy Chapters 7, 11 & 13,” July 2014
  • South Bend, Indiana: “Lunch and Learn: A Creditor’s Perspective on Hot Topics in Bankruptcy,” January 2014
  • Northern District of Indiana Annual Fall Seminar: “Student Loan Hardship Litigation, IBR and Other Issues,” October 2013
  • Allen County Bar Association: “Bankruptcy Practice in the Fort Wayne Division: Current Issues and Practical Tips,” June 2012
  • Allen County Bar Association: 2010 Bench Bar Conference presenter, February 2010
  • Allen County Bar Association: “Recent Decisions Concerning Creditors in Bankruptcy,” February 2004