Plunkett Cooney partner Douglas C. Bernstein was recently named by Lawdragon to its 2026 top 500 list of Leading Global Bankruptcy & Restructuring Lawyers.
Lawdragon is a digital media company that produces lawyer guides and content for the legal industry. To be included in its bankruptcy and restructuring lawyers guide, Lawdragon researches veteran bankruptcy and financial restructuring lawyers throughout the world as well as litigators who specialize in detangling financial failures.
Lawdragon honorees must have 10 years of experience and must be named partners in their law firm. Leadership positions within their firm’s practice, within relevant bar organizations and/or within the community are also criteria considered by Lawdragon. Additionally, membership in invitation-only bar associations relevant to the bankruptcy practice is a factor reviewed during the selection process.
A member of Plunkett Cooney’s Bloomfield Hills office, Bernstein serves as the firm’s Business Law Department Leader. He concentrates his practice in the areas of commercial litigation, loan restructuring, commercial loan documentation, bankruptcy, banking-related litigation and appeals. His clients include regional and national banks, credit unions and loan servicers as well as automotive suppliers and charitable foundations.
Prior to joining Plunkett Cooney, Bernstein worked as an in-house attorney at Michigan National Corporation for over 20 years. He subsequently joined the Standard Federal Bank Legal Department when the bank merged with Michigan National Corporation in 2001.
Bernstein earned his undergraduate degree in 1978 from Wayne State University and his law degree in 1982 from the Detroit College of Law. He has received numerous honors for his legal work, and he is a Fellow of the prestigious American College of Bankruptcy. Bernstein has also been honored by Michigan Lawyers Weekly as a Leader in the Law and Go To Lawyer for Business, and he is a 2023 inductee into the publication’s Hall of Fame.
Plunkett Cooney is one of Michigan’s leading law firms to the banking and finance industry. The firm represents numerous local, regional and national lenders in loan originations, loan workouts, acquisition of new banking powers, regulatory/legislative issues and related litigation. Plunkett Cooney attorneys also serve as counsel to businesses in the areas of bankruptcy and creditors’ rights with noteworthy participation in numerous complex and high-profile bankruptcy and creditors’ rights matters, including the city of Detroit’s historic bankruptcy.
Established in 1913, Plunkett Cooney is a leading provider of business and litigation services to clients in the private and public sectors. The firm employs attorneys in eight Michigan cities, Chicago, Illinois, Indianapolis, Indiana and Columbus, Ohio.
Plunkett Cooney has achieved the highest rating (AV) awarded by Martindale-Hubbell, a leading, international directory of law firms as well as recognition by Best Lawyers as one of the nation’s leading law firms since the honor’s inception in 2010.