About Michael Jay
Michael Jay Berger trained as an English major at Duke University and finished law school at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco in 1981. He took a traditional path from a liberal arts undergraduate degree into legal studies, completing his J.D. at a time when bankruptcy law was evolving in response to economic shifts of the early 1980s.
His early legal work began immediately after law school. In 1981 he joined Rifkind & Sterling, where he handled general litigation and client matters typical of a small firm setting. Two years later he launched the Law Offices of Michael Jay Berger. That move established him as a solo practitioner and owner of a small law office handling bankruptcy and consumer matters.
Over the decades Berger developed a practice centered on insolvency and bankruptcy. He is admitted to practice in California and before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In 2006 he received certification from the State Bar of California's Legal Board of Specialization as a Certified Specialist in Bankruptcy Law, a credential he held through 2019.
Berger's professional affiliations trace a steady interest in bankruptcy practice and peer organizations. He has been a member of the Beverly Hills Bar Association's Bankruptcy Section since the early 1980s. He joined the California Bankruptcy Forum in the mid-1990s and became part of the American Bankruptcy Institute in 2000. He also holds membership in the Central District Consumer Bankruptcy Lawyers Association. The memberships listed extend through 2019, reflecting long-standing participation in local and national bankruptcy circles.
As a practitioner Berger has combined courtroom experience with counseling consumers and small businesses on debt relief options. His work over the years has included filing and prosecuting bankruptcy petitions, advising on Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 pathways, and representing clients in creditors' meetings and related proceedings. He has maintained a steady solo practice structure rather than joining a large firm, running the Law Offices of Michael Jay Berger since 1983.
Today Berger continues to practice under his firm name, handling bankruptcy and related consumer insolvency matters for individual clients and small enterprises.
