Thompson, Melissa M.

Ms. Knupfer is an “A-V” rated insolvency and complex bankruptcy attorney and has been recognized as a Southern California Superlawyer since 2007. She also represents foreign and domestic businesses in both bankruptcy and general business issues. She is a former Chapter 7 and 11 bankruptcy trustee in the Central District of California, and has served as a trustee in Nevada, as a Chapter 11 bankruptcy court examiner, a state court receiver, and a special master.  She currently serves as a state court receiver and is on the mediation panel for the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Ms. Knupfer is a past President of the Beverly Hills Bar Association, a past Chair of its Bankruptcy Section and a long time board and executive committee member. She has represented the BHBA at the Conference of Delegates of the California Bar Assn., at the ABA Bar Leaders’ Conference, the Nat’l Assn. of Bar Presidents, at the Metropolitan Bar Caucus, and before state legislators. She is a Life Fellow of the ABA and former Trustee of the LA County Bar Assn. She has also served as a director of the LA Bankruptcy Forum, the Levitt and Quinn non-profit Law Center, and the Foundation of  LA City College.

In addition, Ms. Knupfer has co-chaired the Education Committee of the Nat’l Assn. of Bankruptcy Trustees, chaired four annual seminars for Trustees of the Central District of California, and has chaired various panels and events for the annual California Bankruptcy Forum. She is a member of the Executive Comm. of the LA County Bar Bankruptcy Committee and she’s on the Legal Advisory Committee of the Anti-Defamation League.

She has lived and worked in Munich, Germany and in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg where she headed the Syndicated Loan and Project Finance Dept, for the Nord/LB International S.A. specializing in sovereign lending. She was later responsible for Eurocurrency loans and trade finance for Den norske Creditbank.

In addition to a BA in liberal arts from Antioch University Ms. Knupfer earned a JD from Southwestern Law School. She is admitted to practice in the U.S. District Courts for the Central, Northern, and Eastern Districts of California; the U.S. Supreme Court; and California state courts. She is published in the New York International Law Review.
Ms. Knupfer speaks German, Norwegian, Spanish, French, and Luxembourgish and loves to travel.