Lea Pauley Goff
Member , Louisville KY
Lea chairs the Bankruptcy & Financial Restructuring practice and serves as co-chair of the Banking Litigation practice. She practices principally from Stoll Keenon Ogden’s Louisville office, focusing on business insolvency matters and commercial litigation. Lea’s practice includes business bankruptcy and restructuring, informal liquidations, commercial foreclosures, conduit loan issues, lender liability matters, loan participation disputes, and other credit facility disputes and commercial litigation in Kentucky and around the United States. She assists creditors and debtors in industries including energy, healthcare, construction, manufacturing, automotive, retail, mining, entertainment, restaurant, equine and others.
Lea is AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell®, listed in The Best Lawyers in America®, and ranked among the nation’s “Top 250 Women in Litigation” by Benchmark Litigation.
Recent representative engagements include:
- In re Inmet Mining, LLC (2023)-Represents principal utility creditor (Kentucky)
- In re Penta State LLC et al (dba Diax Labs) (2022)-Represents principal secured creditor and plaintiff in related fraud litigation (Texas)
- In re BHCosmetics Holdings, LLC (2022)-Represents principal secured creditor (Delaware)
- In re White Stallion Energy, LLC (2021)-Represents major coal supply agreement counter-party (Delaware)
- In re Exide Holdings, Inc. (2020)-Represents supplier and preference claim defendant (Delaware)
- In re Shiloh Industries, Inc. (2020)- Represented equipment lessor and contract assumption counterparty (Delaware)
- OGGUSA, Inc., et al v. Southern Tier Hemp, LLC (In re GenCanna) (2020)-Represents defendant in business tort and contract action (Kentucky)
- In re Hartshorne Holdings, LLC (2020)—Represents principal customer of Chapter 11 coal operator in major dispute re assumption of coal supply contract (Kentucky)
- In re Americore Holdings, LLC (2020)—Represented principal secured creditor in multi-hospital Chapter 11 (Kentucky)
- In re Fairn & Swanson, LLC (2020)—Represents a major international beverage vendor to a cruise industry distributor in Chapter 7 (California)
- In re Murray Energy Holdings Co. (2019)—Represents a major utility provider (Ohio)
- In re Fusion Connect (2019)—Represents a telecommunications provider in contract assumption negotiations (New York)
- In re Innovative Mattress Solutions, LLC (2019)—Represented DIP lender and 363 sale buyer, Tempur Sealy International (Lexington, Kentucky)
- In re Blackjewel, LLC, et al. (2019)—Represented major utility provider (West Virginia)
- In re Armstrong Coal (2018)—Represented Debtor’s largest customer concerning complex supply contract assumption and rejection in Chapter 11 (St. Louis, Missouri)
- In re Sears Holding Corp. (2018)—Represents a national brand vendor and preference target (New York)
- In re Arch Coal, Inc. (2017)—Special counsel to Debtor and counsel to utility creditor in Chapter 11 (St. Louis, Missouri)
- In re CRS Reprocessing, LLC (2017-18)—Represented Chapter 11 Debtor in obtaining successful 363 sale (Louisville, Kentucky)
- In re Rosenbaum Feeder Cattle, LLC (2017-18)—Represents Chapter 11 Debtors, with plan confirmed (Virginia)
- In re CC Operations, LLC (2018)—Represents equity holder in payment processor liquidation case (Louisville, Kentucky)
- In re The Roomstores of Phoenix (2018)—Defending multinational manufacturer/distributor from bankruptcy preference claims) (Phoenix, Arizona)
- In re hhgregg, Inc. (2018)—Defended multinational manufacturer/distributor from bankruptcy preference claims (Indianapolis, Indiana)
- In re The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. (2018)—Represents national vendor (Delaware)
- In re Corinthian Colleges, Inc. (2017-18)—Defending national communications provider in bankruptcy preference action (Delaware)
- In re American Apparel, LLC (2017-18)—Defending national communications provider in bankruptcy preference action (Delaware)
- Post Confirmation Committee of Integrity Feeds, LLC v. Lakeland Animal Nutrition(2015)—Defended a multinational manufacturer against post-acquisition fraudulent conveyance claim (Tampa, Florida)
- In re Shreibman (2012)—Represented largest secured lender in $60 million individual Chapter 11 (Nashville, Tennessee)
- In re Prajna, Inc., Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Ky. (2009) (represented principal warehouse mortgage lender in a mortgage fraud case) (Louisville, Kentucky)
- In re Jockeys’ Guild, Inc., Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Ky. (2007) (represented debtor-in-possession, confirmed plan of reorganization) (Louisville, Kentucky)
Education
Vanderbilt University Law School, 1985, J.D.
University of Louisville, 1982, B.A.
Experience
Admitted In
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U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of Kentucky
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U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Indiana
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U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Western District of Kentucky
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U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
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U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Kentucky
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U.S. District Court, Southern District of Indiana
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U.S. District Court, Western District of Kentucky
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Kentucky
Professional & Community Activities
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American Bar Association
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Louisville Bar Association, Bankruptcy Section Chair, 2010
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American Bankruptcy Institute
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Kentucky Bankers Association, Bank Counsel Division
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Credit Abuse Resistance Education Program
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Stage One Family Theatre, former Board Member
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St. John Lutheran Church, Member
Accolades
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AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell®
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Chambers USA, Leading Lawyer for Business, Bankruptcy/Restructuring, 2024
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Benchmark Litigation,Top 250 Women in Litigation, Bankruptcy Litigation, 2014 – 2019
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Benchmark Litigation, Local Litigation Star, Bankruptcy; General Commercial, 2012 – 2017
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Best Lawyers® 2014, 2019, 2020, 2023, 2025 Litigation-Bankruptcy “Lawyer of the Year” in Louisville
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Best Lawyers in America®: Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law (2012 – present)
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Best Lawyers in America®: Litigation — Banking and Finance, Litigation — Bankruptcy (2013 – present)
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Kentucky Super Lawyer®, Bankruptcy: Business, 2012 – present
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Louisville Magazine Top Lawyer, Bankruptcy Law, 2012-2014, 2016
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Top 25 Women Kentucky Super Lawyers®, Business Litigation, 2012-2016, 2023 – present
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Top 50 Kentucky Super Lawyers®, Business Litigation, 2015 – 2016
Legal Practice
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Thirty years in the insolvency arena gives me the long view in solving client credit problems. I most enjoy preventing and working through business credit challenges. However, I am regularly in court and have cross-examined witnesses on an hour’s notice in first day motion hearings. Bankruptcy is important. Every society must have a system for dealing with financial failure — business or personal. A system that is too lenient emboldens the reckless and the greedy. A system that is too punitive chills entrepreneurism. It is important to get it right.
Seminars
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- Insolvency and Workout Update for Bank Counsel, UK/CLE Financial Institutions Conference, 2021
- Bankruptcy and Workout Developments for Financial Institutions Counsel, UK/CLE Financial Institutions Conference, 2019
- Lender Liability Claims: Preventing & Prevailing on Them, Presenter, 2019
- If You Don’t Get Paid, You May As Well Stay At Home, Association of Corporate Counsel, Speaker, 2019
- Bankruptcy Remote Entities – Are They Really?, American Bar Association, 2018
- Lender Liability Claims: Preventing & Prevailing On Them (multiple presentations)
- Bankruptcy Update, Kentucky Bankers Association Legal Issues for Financial Institutions Conference, annually, through 2017
- Bankruptcy Update, Louisville Bar Association Seminar, 2012
- SKO Corporate Seminar, 2009
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