Experienced and sensible, that is how former Federal Bankruptcy Court Judge Gerardo Carlo-Altieri described Judge Laura Taylor Swain who was appointed to handle the judicial debt restructuring case in Puerto Rico as she brings together legal expertise with the sensitivity to humanize a complex and novel case for the future of the island.

'She is a very simple and very sensitive person. I think it's a great appointment. I think she is an excellent judge who combines the knowledge of the bankruptcy judge with the knowledge of a district judge, 'said the former judge who specialized in bankruptcy in an interview with NotiCel.

Carlo-Altieri, who personally knows the judge, applauded her appointment for her vast experience of not only cases of bankruptcy but also complex financial matters. He also explained that the judge, a graduate of Harvard Law School, combines specialties in matters related to pensions as an additional element to her impressive academic record.

He explained that he knows of her work with foundations to help people with economic problems which indicate that she could attend to the delicate fiscal situation of Puerto Rico with sensitivity to the most vulnerable sectors of the country.

'She is a person who has identified with very noble causes and I believe that that qualifies to humanize a little the case on the social tragedy that an economic crisis can bring. I'm sure she has the ability to see that balance of the currency,' he sustained.

Taylor Swain, a New York native, graduated in 1982 from the Harvard Law School. She worked as a legal officer for Judge Constance Baker Motley in the Southern District of New York and specialized in labor law cases.

In 1996, she was appointed by former President Bill Clinton as Bankruptcy Court Judge until 2000. In that year she was appointed to the New York Court where the most difficult cases in financial matters are seen. She has worked there for more than ten years.

She rose to fame in 2011 when settling an indictment on plagiarism between Missy Chase Lapine and the wife of American comedian Jerry Seinfeld. She presided over half the cases of asset broker Bernard Madoff, who was sentenced to 150 years in prison in the United States in one of the biggest financial schemes in history.

'We talked in academic associations where, I could see her in action, in panels, and I was with her in different judges' conventions. Professionally I have a lot of respect. I know her career,' the lawyer explained.

The former judge believes that the judge's ability to deal with the Puerto Rico issue should not be measured on the premise of whether she is a local jurist or whether she is from another jurisdiction. The judges, he assured, are required to resolve in strict right regardless of where they come from. In Taylor's case, he anticipated that, due to her experience and academic depth, she will seek to fully understand the case with the necessary urgency and depth.

According to Carlo-Altieri, the bankruptcy case for the Puerto Rican government under the provisions of Title III of Promesais complicated because it is a new law to be interpreted; Nevertheless, according to the jurist the designated judge has the advantage that the Congress adopted all the jurisprudence established in the Code of Federal bankruptcies, which paves the way.

'Promesa is new; But applies the concepts that have been used by other judges and other courts. In that sense it facilitates the work, 'he said.

For his part, lawyer Wilbert López Moreno anticipated that the case of restructuring of Puerto Rico will take time, not only because of the complicated and novel case. He insisted that by its nature it cannot be compared to previous cases of bankruptcy.

'To begin with, it is the first time that a territory files a restructuring chapter. People talk about Detroit, New York, Argentina or Greece. It cannot be compared! It is a new law that, although it follows some parameters of the code of bankruptcies, is not equal. It's something else,' he explained.

He anticipated that the judge will have to catch up on the bankruptcy case law that has changed monumentally since 2000, when she stopped being a bankruptcy judge to go to the District Court.

'It implies that the sections referred to in Promesa are subsequent to those changes, when the judge ceased to be a bankruptcy judge. Although a district judge can see a bankruptcy case, it is not the usual,' he said.