H. Jeffrey Schwartz has joined the law firm Calfee, Halter & Griswold as partner and co-chair of Calfee’s Business Restructuring and Insolvency practice group.

Schwartz will work from Calfee’s Cleveland and new New York City offices.

With a national reputation as a bankruptcy attorney and significant knowledge gained from representing clients across the U.S. and Asia, Schwartz brings more than 30 years of experience representing debtors, secured lenders, fiduciaries and official creditors’ committees in major restructuring and reorganization matters.

Schwartz has spent the past 14 years in New York leading the bankruptcy practices for several global law firms.

“We are thrilled to have Jeff Schwartz join Calfee and, with co-chair Gus Kallergis, lead of the firm’s Business Restructuring and Insolvency group. The addition of Jeff further strengthens our highly respected team of talented commercial lawyers. Jeff brings valuable experience with national and international legal matters that will be an asset to the firm’s clients,” said Calfee’s managing partner, Brent D. Ballard.

Schwartz has directed successful engagements on behalf of debtors such as the Bayou Funds and PTC Steel Alliance as well as official creditors’ committees, including those formed in the bankruptcies of Corinthian Colleges, Digital Domain Media Group, Coda Automotive and Constar International.

In the structured finance space, Schwartz has represented MBIA in the Chapter 11 reorganization case of FGIC C as well as various private equity and hedge funds in other major Chapter 11 cases. He served as lead counsel to Jay Alix as examiner of a $450 million fraud matter in In re Phar Mor.

“The opening of Calfee’s New York office is a key strategic step in serving an expanding list of national and international clients and as we continue to bring important resources to bear in helping our clients solve increasingly complex legal challenges and optimize critical business opportunities in an uncertain economy,” said Ballard.