Profile
Alison Elko Franklin focuses her practice on advising debtors, trustees, creditors' committees, and creditors in corporate reorganizations, municipal reform, creditors' rights litigation, and distressed transactions. She represents clients in Chapter 11 reorganizations, Chapter 9 municipal debt adjustments, Chapter 15 cross-border insolvency proceedings, and Chapter 7 liquidations.
Alison prosecutes and defends bankruptcy litigation matters, including plan and claims objections, cash collateral disputes, stay relief issues, sale issues, and avoidance actions. She counsels examiners, receivers, and creditors in fraud investigations and commercial litigation in federal and state courts, in addition to representing clients in bankruptcy appeals to district and circuit courts. Alison also represents purchasers in 363 sales, as well as various parties in problem loan workouts, forbearance agreements, and other distressed transactions.
Alison is the 2019 recipient of the David W. Pollard Achievement Award presented by the Bankruptcy Section of the Atlanta Bar Association to a member of the Atlanta bar who best exemplifies the highest standards of professionalism and ethics in the bankruptcy practice. She has been named “40 Under 40” by the Atlanta Business Chronicle, “On the Rise” by the Daily Report, “Rising Star” and “Highly Regarded” in Restructuring and Insolvency by the IFLR1000, “Legal Elite” in Bankruptcy Law by Georgia Trend, and to the “Super Lawyer Rising Star” list for Bankruptcy and Creditor/Debtor Rights by Atlanta Magazine.
Alison has served as the chair of the Atlanta Chapter of the Turnaround Management Association (TMA), the Georgia Network of the International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC), and the Bankruptcy Section of the Atlanta Bar Association. She currently serves as a member of the TMA Global Board of Trustees and a Co-Chair of the 2025 Distressed Investing Conference, as well as a director of the IWIRC International Board of Directors and the Vice Director of Spring Programs.
Alison is actively involved in numerous pro bono projects, having cofounded the Reaffirmation Project, the Low Income Creditor Assistance Project, and the Georgia State University College of Law Bankruptcy Assistance and Practice Program. She also chairs the Advisory Committee for the Modest Means Program and volunteers with several non-profit organizations.
Alison served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable C. Ray Mullins, former Chief Judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division.
Concentrations
- Restructuring and reorganization
- Bankruptcy litigation and appeals
- Cross-border insolvency matters
- Creditors' rights
- Receiverships and assignments for the benefit of creditor proceedings
- Distressed mergers and acquisitions
- Commercial litigation
Capabilities
Experience
- Acts as debtor’s counsel to large Nasdaq-listed and international health/nutritional products company and affiliates in chapter 11 bankruptcy cases.
- Acts as general outside bankruptcy counsel to a Fortune 500 multinational conglomerate company operating in the fields of industry, health care, and consumer goods.
- Acts as general outside bankruptcy counsel to a privately-held global conglomerate with approximately 55,000 employees and over $20 billion in total revenue.
- Acts as general outside bankruptcy counsel to one of the largest privately held retailers in the United States.
- Acts as general outside bankruptcy counsel to largest U.S.-only owner and operator of last-mile industrial real estate with over 3,500 properties.
- Acted as debtor’s counsel to leading provider of inpatient and outpatient substance abuse treatment services operating 26 facilities in eight states, including the confirmation of its debt-for-equity plan of reorganization and the preservation of 2,000 jobs.
- Acted as counsel to the largest general unsecured creditor in subchapter V chapter 11 case, assisted U.S. Marshals Service with the seizure of one million suspected counterfeit N95 respirator masks, and settled related litigation as part of the client’s continuing global effort to combat pandemic fraud, counterfeiting, and price gouging.
- Acted as debtor’s counsel to publicly-traded biopharmaceutical company in chapter 11 bankruptcy case, culminating in the sale of the business as a going concern.
- Acted as counsel to court-appointed liquidator of a global toy, clothing, and baby product retailer in a French insolvency proceeding with respect to U.S. legal actions.
- Acted as counsel to indenture trustee as plaintiff-appellee in appeal.
- Acted as counsel to numerous interested purchasers in section 363 sales.
- Acted as special coordinating overseas counsel to one of the world’s leading manufacturers of guitars in its reorganization with respect to the liquidation of non-debtor foreign subsidiaries’ consumer electronics business.°
- Acted as counsel to the liquidating trustee (and formerly counsel to the creditors' committee) of the largest oil refinery and terminal facility in the Western Hemisphere (when in operation) with unsecured claims totaling more than $2 billion.°
- Filed a receivership on behalf of a real estate investment trust and lessor against a parent company, management affiliates, master lessees, and sublessees that operated 65 assisted living and skilled nursing facilities in six states.°
- Acted as debtor’s counsel to third-largest continuing care retirement community in California.°
- Represented the liquidating trustee and the creditors' committee of the largest plastic pallet pooling rental and leasing company in the United States.°
- Represented Fortune Global 500 company, a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation, in multijurisdictional insolvency matter.°
- Represented a municipal debtor in the first-ever Chapter 9 plan confirmed in the State of New York.°
- Represented a creditor owed $4.1 billion secured by 650 hotels in national hotel chain bankruptcy.°
- Represented the examiner appointed to investigate a proposed multibillion-dollar settlement arising out of the largest bank failure in the history of the United States.°
- Represented the creditors’ committee of a vertically-integrated, publicly-owned poultry producer in Chapter 11 case where 1,600 jobs were saved and unsecured creditors received payment in full.°
°The above representations were handled by Ms. Franklin prior to her joining Greenberg Traurig, LLP.
- Judicial Intern, Hon. C. Ray Mullins, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia, 2002
- Intern, Office of the United States Trustee for Region 21, C. David Butler, 2002
Recognition & Leadership
Individual Awards
- Listed, The Best Lawyers in America, Banking and Finance Law; Bankruptcy and Creditor/Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law; Litigation - Bankruptcy, 2025
- Listed, Lawdragon 500, “Leading U.S. Bankruptcy & Restructuring Lawyers,” 2020-2024
- Member, Recognized Team, S. News – Best Lawyers 2022 “Best Law Firms” Report, “Bankruptcy and Creditor/Debtor Rights / Insolvency Reorganization Law and Litigation –Bankruptcy,” 2022
- Member, Winning Team, Turnaround Management Association, “TMA Annual Turnaround/Transaction of the Year Award,” 2021
- Member, Winning Team, The M&A Advisor Turnaround Awards, “Restructuring of the Year ($500 MM - $1B),” for the restructuring of American Addiction Centers, 2021
- Member, Winning Team, Global M&A Network’s Turnaround Atlas Awards, “Chapter 11 Restructuring of the Year (Mid-Markets)” for work with American Addiction Centers, 2021
- Recipient, Atlanta Bar Association, “David W. Pollard Achievement Award,” 2019
- Recognized, IFLR1000,
- “Highly Regarded - Georgia” in Restructuring and Insolvency, 2021-2024
- “Rising Star - State” in Restructuring and Insolvency, 2019
- Recognized, Georgia Trend magazine, “Legal Elite” in Bankruptcy Law, 2018-2019
- Selected, Daily Report, “On the Rise,” 2016
- Selected, Atlanta Business Chronicle, “40 under 40,” 2014
- Selected, Super Lawyers magazine, Georgia Super Lawyers, “Rising Star” in Bankruptcy and Creditor/Debtor Rights, 2013
- Participant, National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges Next Generation Program, 2012
- Selected, International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation, Rising Star Semi-Finalist, 2011
- The W. Homer Drake, Jr. Georgia Bankruptcy American Inn of Court, 2014-Present
- Master, 2020-Present
- Barrister, 2014-2020
Awards Related to Board Leadership
- Atlanta Bar Association Small Section of the Year Award (awarded to the Bankruptcy Section while serving as Chair), 2015-2016
- Atlanta Bar Association Pro Bono Award (awarded to the Bankruptcy Section while serving as Chair, as well as co-founder and volunteer of several pro bono projects), 2015-2016
- Atlanta Bar Association Community Service Award (awarded to the Bankruptcy Section while serving as Chair, as well as co-founder and volunteer of several pro bono projects), 2015-2016
- Atlanta Bar Association Distinguished Service Award (awarded to the Bankruptcy Section while serving as officer, as well as co-founder and volunteer of several pro bono projects), 2014-2015
- International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation Ryan Award for Outstanding Network (awarded to the Georgia Network while serving as Co-Chair), 2012
- Atlanta Bar Association Pro Bono Award (awarded to the Reaffirmation Project while serving as cofounder and volunteer), 2008
- Member, Turnaround Management Association (TMA), Atlanta Chapter, 2008-Present
- Chair, 2019-2022
- Board Member, 2012-2022
- Sponsorship Chair, 2012-2014
- Next Generation Program, 2010-2017
- Chair, 2013
- Board Member, 2010-2014
- Founding Board Member, 2010
- Member, Turnaround Management Association (TMA), Global, 2019-Present
- Co-Chair, 2025 Distressed Investing Conference
- Member, Board of Trustees, 2019-2022; 2025-Present
- Member, Network of Women (NOW) Committee, 2023-Present
- Member, Chapter Presidents’ Council, 2019-2022
- Member, Next Generation Program Executive Committee, 2014-2016
- Member, International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC), Georgia Network, 2004-Present
- Member, Management Committee (Global), 2025
- Vice Director of Spring Programs (Global), 2025
- Director, 2014-2018
- Co-Chair, 2011-2012
- Host and Member, Planning Committee, IWIRC Leadership Summit in Atlanta, 2012
- Board Member, 2008-2018
- Member, International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC), International Board of Directors, 2013-2017
- Vice Director of Sprig Program, 2025-Present
- Vice Director of Programs, 2016-2017; Director-at-Large, 2013-2017; 2025-Present
- Regional Programming Committee Southeast Chair, 2014-2015
- Member, Bankruptcy Section of the Atlanta Bar Association, 2010-Present
- Chair, 2016-2017
- Officer, 2014-2016
- Member-at-Large, 2010-2014
- Member, Fernbank Museum of Natural History Corporate Leadership Council, 2021-Present
- Auction Co-Chair, 2023 A Timeless Affair
- Member, American Bankruptcy Institute, 2017-Present
- Member, Secured Finance Network (SFNet), formerly Commercial Finance Association, 2019-Present
- Member, Bankruptcy Section of the State Bar of Georgia, 2005-Present
- Co-Founder and Chair, Modest Means Program Advisory Committee, Atlanta Bar Association Lawyer Referral and Information Services, 2016-Present
- Co-Founder, Volunteer Advisor and Volunteer, Low Income Creditor Assistance Project, 2013-Present
- Co-Founder and Volunteer Counselor, The Reaffirmation Project, 2007-Present
- Volunteer, Adversary Proceeding Project, 2015-Present
- Member, Emory University School of Law Alumni Board, 2010-2021
- Member, Twenty-Year Reunion Committee, 2023
- Member, Fifteen-Year Reunion Committee, 2018
- Co-Chair, Ten-Year Reunion Committee, 2013
- Member, Alumni Board Review Committee, 2008-2009
- Member, Young Alumni Board, 2003-2008
- Former Member, Emory Bankruptcy Developments Journal Notes and Comments Advisory Committee
- Volunteer, Habitat for Humanity, 2010-Present
- Volunteer Presenter, Dress for Success, Professional Women’s Group, 2008-2013
- Barrister, Bleckley Inn of Court, 2009-2010
- Member, The Eleventh Circuit Historical Society, 2013-Present
- Member, The Greystone Garden Club, 2014-Present
Credentials
-
J.D., Emory University School of Law
- Recipient, Distinguished Service Award
- Articles Editor and Business Manager, Bankruptcy Developments Journal
- B.S., South Carolina Honors College, magna cum laude with honors, University of South Carolina
- Law Clerk, Hon. C. Ray Mullins, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia, 2003-2005
- Georgia
- Supreme Court of Georgia
- Supreme Court of the United States
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
- U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit