Paul R. Traub is an American attorney who specializes in business law, specifically bankruptcy, insolvency, and trial litigation. He has participated in several large retail bankruptcies, including Kmart, FAO Schwarz, KB Toys, Stage Stores, Office Max, and eToys.com. Other clients have included Halston, Joan & David, Levitz, Bombay Company, Linens 'n Things, Zales, and Whitehall Jewelers.
He is admitted to practice law before the U.S. District Court Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of New York, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, and Eastern District of Wisconsin. Traub is the founding member and managing partner, of Traub, Bonacquist, and Fox, a New York-based boutique law firm specializing in bankruptcy and business reorganization matters. In September, 2006, Marc Dreier, sole equity partner of Dreier, LLP, acquired the boutique law firm. Paul Traub became a Dreier partner and co-chair with Norman Kinel of the Bankruptcy and Business Reorganization group. On December 5, 2008, after Dreier's arrest for being involved in an alleged scheme to sell $700 million in fictitious promissory notes, Traub and the other bankruptcy lawyers resigned and restarted Traub, Bonacquist & Fox. In February, 2009, Epstein, Becker & Green, a firm specializing in government contracts, brought the seven-member Traub/Dreier bankruptcy team into their New York office. Traub represented the creditors in eToys.com bankruptcy. The dotcom company filed for chapter 11 protection toward the end of the Internet bubble on March 7, 2001. The Office for United States Trustee accused him and his New York law firm of a conflict of interest, non-disclosure, and employing non "arms length" key personnel, because of his business partnership with Barry Gold. In April, 2001, Traub founded Asset Disposition Advisors, LLC, a Delaware liquidation company, with Gold, located at his Manhattanlaw office. Traub also appointed Gold CEO of eToys.com one month after forming ADA, while Gold had been receiving paychecks from Traub's lawfirm. The Court ruled in favor of Traub: Gold's participation in ADA with Traub was not sufficient to establish a conflict of interest, although the judge said failure to disclose such relationships in future could lead to sanctions. "In the future... the failure of an officer of a debtor to disclose such relationships will subject that officer to review and possible disgorgement of compensation, if the court concludes that the relationship constitutes an actual conflict of interest."
