Founder / Bankruptcy Attorney

Thomas Kerns McKnight

Thomas Kerns McKnight is a bankruptcy attorney and Certified Mortgage Banker (CMB) with over 37 years of experience.

Mr. McKnight is a multi-faceted expert in matters surrounding finance and debt, new venture finance, and debt forensics. He is known for his skills on contract and leasing dissolution, reversal, conversion, novation, accords, and satisfactions. He is licensed to practice in Arizona, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. McKnight is also a member of the bars of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Columbia, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for both the Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia, U.S. Bankruptcy Courts for both the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Maryland, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. He received his Bachelor of Science in Business from Miami University (1970) and his Juris Doctor from Ohio State University (1972), where he was an Articles Editor for The Ohio State Law Journal. From 1963 to 1966, he was a U.S. Marine.

Professional Experience

  • Legal: Began practice in 1973. Debt collection reversal, debt settlement, novation, accords, and satisfaction specialty. Also counsel for and assisted in the launch of over 150 public and private companies.
  • Finance: provided financial services for Smith Barney, Quest Capital, Source Capital, Royal Bank of Canada, and United Medical Bank. He is a Certified Mortgage Banker and for fifteen years was a Smith Barney-trained Registered Representative.
  • Academia: Numerous teaching positions in business at esteemed universities including: Columbia University, Georgetown University, and the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
  • Author: "Will it Fly?" (Prentice Hall, 2004). Hailed as the #1 must-read business book for 2009 by Entrepreneur Magazine and others.

Early Career

  • President, CEO, and Founder: Orion Satellite Corporation 1981-1985
  • Attorney: Gannett Co., Inc. 1977-1981
  • Attorney: The White House 1975-1977