From the confines of bankruptcy courtrooms to the halls of Congress, James E. Spiotto earned the status of municipal bankruptcy dean over his more than four-decade career.
Friends, colleagues, and industry professionals held Spiotto in high esteem as a consummate but humble voice in the municipal industry for his bankruptcy and restructuring expertise that influenced governments, investors and federal lawmakers as they rewrote municipal bankruptcy law in the 1980s.
Spiotto, who died suddenly at the age of 73 after a heart attack in 2020, joined the law firm of Chapman & Cutler LLP after a federal district court clerkship in 1974, working on defaulted corporate bond issues. He gravitated toward municipal distress, became a partner in 1980, and was described as a "tour de force" in the bankruptcy practice.
He retired in 2013, but didn't slow down, co-founding consulting subsidiary Chapman Strategic Advisors to provide educational and consulting services on distressed public entities and on Chapter 9 bankruptcy.
"While Jim was a highly active bankruptcy attorney throughout his legal career, I never heard Jim recommend that any government file Chapter 9 as a first step," said his longtime friend and partner in a separate endeavor, Richard Ciccarone, president emeritus at Merritt Research Service. "Jim was all about working with distressed parties before the situation became impossible to find alternative remedies."
Ciccarone, who nominated Spiotto to be a posthumous inductee to The Bond Buyer's Muni Hall of Fame, worked alongside his friend as partners in operating MuniNet, an online source of research on state and local government. They also served together on the Chicago Civic Federation's board of directors, helping shape the organization's fiscal recommendations, respected by local and state officials.
"Of all the things that Jim enjoyed most, he liked being an educator to the public on everything that he ever learned over his industrious career. He was a good friend, not only to me, but to so many in our industry," Ciccarone said.
Over the course of Spiotto's career his testimony was sought by state legislatures and Congress and he played an instrumental role in rewriting federal and state bankruptcy rules in 1988. He offered insights frequently during the course of Detroit's Chapter 9 and Puerto Rico's bankruptcy under the Puerto Rico Oversight Management and Economic Stability Act of 2016.
Spiotto co-authored two editions of "Municipalities in Distress?: How States and Investors Deal with Local Government Financial Emergencies." He was also a co-author of "The Law of State and Local Government Debt Financing" and authored chapters on municipal defaults and bankruptcy in "The Handbook of Municipal Bonds," among others.
All totaled, he participated in bankruptcy or workouts of more than 400 troubled debt financings in more than 35 states and in foreign countries on the municipal and corporate sides.
The National Federation of Municipal Analysts honored Spiotto in 2014 with an award for his contributions as a thought leader within the municipal bond industry and he received lifetime and service awards from the Civic Federation of Chicago and Smith's Research and Gradings.
"Jim Spiotto was a font of information and was absolutely crucial to the development of a number of Civic Federation recommendations to help governments avoid financial distress," said the federation's acting president, Sarah Wetmore. "He was a tireless advocate and would always make himself available to answer questions of any kind from our researchers or members. We miss his intelligence, quick wit and kindness!"
