Marshack Hays Wood LLP is proud to announce that partner Aaron E. de Leest has joined the Orange County Bankruptcy Forum (OCBF) Board of Directors, where he will serve alongside fellow partner Laila Rais. The OCBF works to promote and enhance the value of the bankruptcy system in California, bringing together the attorneys, judges, and professionals who shape bankruptcy practice in the region.
Both attorneys bring years of bankruptcy experience to the board. As two of the Orange County bankruptcy attorneys at Marshack Hays Wood, they represent clients in Orange County’s bankruptcy court and in bankruptcy and litigation matters throughout California.
Laila Rais
Laila practices bankruptcy and business litigation, focusing on lender liability and creditors’ rights. She began her career inside the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, first as an extern for the Hon. Vincent P. Zurzolo and then as a judicial law clerk to the Hon. Thomas B. Donovan. In 2020, she became the youngest president of the Orange County Bar Association’s Commercial Law and Bankruptcy Section, and the Orange County Business Journal profiled her in its Women in Law feature that same year.
Aaron E. de Leest
Aaron, who now serves as a Director on the OCBF board, is a bankruptcy attorney and litigator with more than 20 years of experience representing debtors, creditors, and trustees. He frequently handles Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Orange County and throughout California, along with bankruptcy appeals and related litigation. A former judicial extern to the Hon. Barry Russell, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge, Aaron was selected for Super Lawyers from 2018 through 2024 and is a former chair of the bankruptcy sections of both the Los Angeles County and Beverly Hills Bar Associations.
Please join us in congratulating Aaron on his new role with the OCBF and thanking Laila for her continued service. We look forward to the leadership and perspective they will both bring to the board and to the attorneys, judges, and trustees it serves.