Douglas C. Bernstein

Douglas C. Bernstein is a Michigan banking, bankruptcy, and creditors’ rights attorney who represents financial institutions, secured lenders, and special servicers. His practice includes troubled commercial loans, commercial loan restructuring and documentation, receiverships, municipal and commercial bankruptcy, auto supplier matters, commercial litigation, and appeals. He helps clients protect their interests, evaluate risk, and pursue practical solutions in complex financial disputes.

Douglas earned a B.A. from Wayne State University in 1978 and a J.D. from Detroit College of Law in 1982. He was admitted to practice in Michigan in 1982. He is also admitted before the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. This education and courtroom background support his work on demanding banking and insolvency matters.

Douglas spent more than 20 years as in-house counsel for a leading national bank before entering private practice. He later represented charitable foundations in the Grand Bargain, the public-private financing agreement central to Detroit’s historic bankruptcy restructuring. His experience also includes representing lenders in troubled construction and development projects, seeking the appointment of receivers, representing court-appointed receivers, and pursuing the denial of debt discharges in bankruptcy proceedings. He has also assisted municipalities in addressing blighted commercial buildings and has several published appellate decisions.

Douglas C. Bernstein became a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy in 2017 and is also a Fellow of the Michigan State Bar Foundation. His recognitions include induction into the Michigan Lawyers Weekly Hall of Fame in 2023 and selection by Lawdragon among leading U.S. bankruptcy and restructuring lawyers. He has spoken on commercial loan restructuring, bankruptcy, and litigation, and has appeared in broadcast media to discuss banking and financial issues. His experience combines the perspective of former in-house counsel with extensive work in complex creditor and insolvency matters.

Law Office Affiliations

• Partner, Plunkett Cooney, PC
• Member, State Bar of Michigan

Licensed State

• Michigan

Education

• Detroit College of Law
  Juris Doctor (JD)
• Wayne State University
  Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Awards & Badges