Law / Politics
Kevyn Orr
born 1958 · bankruptcy lawyer, Detroit emergency manager
Bankruptcy lawyer appointed by Governor Rick Snyder as Detroit's emergency manager, who took the city into the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history in 2013 and out of it in December 2014.
- Born
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
age 68- Birth name
- Kevyn Duane Orr
- Also known as
- Kevyn D. Orr
- Detroit years
- 2013–2014
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Kevyn Orr, the son of a civil rights minister from Fort Lauderdale, earned his bachelor's and law degrees at the University of Michigan and built a career in bankruptcy law at a Miami firm, federal bank-resolution agencies and the Justice Department's U.S. Trustee Program, which he directed from 2000. As a partner at Jones Day he represented Chrysler in its 2009 bankruptcy. In March 2013 Governor Rick Snyder named him emergency manager of Detroit, giving him sweeping control over the city's finances under a new state law passed after voters had repealed its predecessor. On July 18, 2013, Orr filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy, with the city owing some $18 billion. Over the next seventeen months he negotiated with creditors and unions, cut pension benefits, restructured debt and joined the court-mediated 'grand bargain' that protected the Detroit Institute of Arts collection. His tenure drew fierce criticism, including over mass water shutoffs, and he left in December 2014 when the city exited bankruptcy.
Highlights
- Emergency manager of Detroit, March 2013 – December 2014
- Filed the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history (July 18, 2013)
- Director of the U.S. Trustee Program from 2000
- Represented Chrysler in its 2009 bankruptcy
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 2013–2014
The Spirit of Detroit
Detroit's seat of government, from which he ran the city's finances as emergency manager.