Skip to Main Content
Overview

Lucas is a creditors’ rights and restructuring attorney representing clients in the agriculture, utilities, and financial services sectors in bankruptcy and receivership matters. Called upon when the stakes are high, he focuses on maximizing recoveries and advancing business interests while minimizing costs and disruption.

Clients turn to Lucas when they need pragmatic counsel to step in during troubled circumstances. He often advises creditors before a bankruptcy filing by pursuing pre-petition remedies, foreclosures, and state-court receiverships, preparing strategic courses of action and then representing clients in bankruptcy and other creditor litigations thereafter. For larger institutions with sophisticated legal departments, he handles enterprise impacting cases from their early stages through trial and resolution, particularly in Colorado, Wisconsin, and mega bankruptcy courts.

Lucas takes a top-down approach, identifying the client’s objectives from day one and shaping the litigation plan to achieve them. He looks beyond the numbers, recognizing broader business considerations, and determines the optimal approach and resources—never losing sight of what he’s fighting for. Clients value his strategic focus, proactive management, and clear, concise communication. Raised on one of Wisconsin’s largest dairy farms, Lucas developed the discipline, sound judgment, and persistence that now deliver meaningful results, case after case.

Before joining Husch Blackwell in 2026, Lucas spent more than 13 years at law firms, three years in-house as associate general counsel at a Fortune 200 telecommunications company, and several months as a special prosecutor for two district attorney’s offices. His in-house experience gives him a deep understanding of internal stakeholders and how to build consensus on complex matters, helping clients navigate decision-making efficiently. Combined with his trial experience as a prosecutor, Lucas brings exceptional courtroom agility and insight to fast-moving bankruptcy cases, confidently managing high-stakes matters from issue identification to trial.

Industry

Services

Education

  • J.D., Marquette University Law School
    • Business Law, Litigation
    • Marquette Legal Initiative for Nonprofit Corporations (M-LINC)
    • Research Assistant and Writer for Ralph Anzivino, Professor of Law
  • B.S., University of Wisconsin-Madison
    • Dual Majors: History and History of Science
    • The Badger Herald, Campus and City News Writer

Admissions

  • Colorado
  • Wisconsin
  • U.S. District Court, Western District of Wisconsin
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin
  • U.S. District Court, District of Colorado

Professional Memberships and Certifications

  • Robert J. Parins Inns of Court
    • Vice President, 2013-2014
  • American Bankruptcy Institute
  • Turnaround Management Association
  • Colorado Bar Association
  • Faculty of Federal Advocates
Experience
  • Litigating several seven-figure agricultural bankruptcies in Colorado for a first-priority secured creditor.
  • Litigated and resolved a multimillion-dollar alleged tort claim for a favorable resolution, through a 363 purchase of claims, from a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
  • Litigated and obtained a valuable garnishment judgment, expanding the Wisconsin statutory application of garnishable assets, obtaining ongoing judgment debt relief for a real estate investment client.
  • Litigated and obtained a $6.8 million judgment, $22,000 in cash, valuable releases, and five figures of value of replevined, contested inventory in a Colorado hemp receivership.
  • Resolved a contested cure dispute on behalf of a utility creditor in the SDTX bankruptcy court, obtaining $1.5 million in cash, negotiating to close three years of future business with the debtors backstopped by an additional $1 million cure upon any default.
  • Successfully defended a $1.5 million fraudulent transfer and preference lawsuit in New Jersey bankruptcy court.
  • Resolved and returned more than $50 million to clients in workouts in 2022.
  • Independently tried an objection to the plan in In re Windstream Holdings, Inc., et al., Case No. 19-22312, arguing the plan was not feasible due to the debtors' lack of reserving for cure claims with critical vendors. Ultimately resolved the cure, administrative claims, and practical considerations with an eight-figure settlement.
  • Litigated and resolved, through two distinct settlements with a national brick-and-mortar retailer and its 363 purchaser, cure and administrative claims valued at seven figures, strategically collaborating with the client's business personnel to leverage the resolution.
  • Successfully litigated and negotiated a seven-figure cure payment on behalf of a utility in a telecom bankruptcy in the SDNY.
  • Managed and litigated a multimillion-dollar creditor claim related to extensive equipment installed in a hotel/casino, obtaining contempt findings against the opposition and a writ to marshals to assist in retrieval.
  • Investigated, negotiated, and resolved pre-suit matters regarding issues such as restoration of technical space, a long-haul fiber hut erroneously sold at a property tax sale, and franchise fee disputes.
  • Represented a Colorado power supply seller in a suit against a Georgia-based purchaser. After defeating the purchaser in motion practice in Colorado, obtained a Rule 37 judgment for over $200,000, domesticated the same in Georgia with co-counsel, and garnished over half of the judgment value.
  • Represented a Wisconsin-based private creditor in a work-out with a Colorado-based real estate developer. Was responsible for initially extending the applicable note and deed of trust while overseeing the satisfaction of a subordinated carryback loan, followed by advising on and preparing a forbearance agreement after the note matured without full payment.
  • Represented a first lien secured lender in a Utah bankruptcy, obtaining super priority administrative claim status, ultimately recovering, foreclosing, and liquidating generally all located tangible collateral and intellectual property, retroactively renegotiating for added collateral, foreclosing and selling the same at trustee's sale, followed by obtaining a dismissal of one adversary proceeding claim then leveraged for a beneficial settlement.
  • Negotiated to file a comprehensive proof of claim for multiple insurer/client subrogation claims valued at seven figures that was filed in a rental car company mega bankruptcy case, leveraging the same for both a favorable assumption of an integral executory contract and exclusion of the underlying subrogation claims from the allowance/disallowance process.
Outside the Office

Lucas is a competitive marathon runner and history enthusiast, although these days he runs fewer races and reads less as he and his wife—an accomplished attorney in management at her litigation boutique—adjust to life with their first child, a daughter. With a busy household, his main extracurriculars now are being a good husband, an engaged dad, and fitting in runs and books when time allows.

Community Leadership
  • Colorado Preservation Inc.
    • Pro Bono Counsel, 2020-present
    • Board Member, 2019-2020