Patricia Molteni joined the NAAG Center for Tobacco and Public Health in June 2007. She provides bankruptcy, collection, and commercial litigation expertise to the Settling States in their work to enforce the Master Settlement Agreement and related tobacco laws. When a tobacco manufacturer files for bankruptcy protection, Patricia represents the Settling States in bankruptcy court to advance their interests as both creditors and regulators. Patricia has also represented the Settling States in court cases involving in lien enforcement and forfeiture.
Before joining NAAG, Patricia worked as a trial lawyer for the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division. Before U.S. DOJ, she worked for 12 years, beginning in 1994, at the Missouri Office of the Attorney General. While there, she worked in the divisions for Governmental Affairs, Consumer Protection, and Financial Services. In 2003, Patricia was promoted to Deputy Chief Counsel for the Financial Services Division where she supervised attorneys and support staff who performed collection, bankruptcy, and other commercial litigation services on behalf of dozens of Missouri state agencies.
Starting in 2003, Patricia has been a frequent speaker at the annual NAAG seminar, “Bankruptcy from a Government Perspective”. She has spoken on numerous topics including the automatic stay, discharge of debts, priority of debts, executory contracts, contents of a disclosure statement, contents of a Chapter 11 plan, and plan confirmation.
In 1991, Patricia graduated magna cum laude from Michigan State University and its Honors College with a B.A. degree in Political Economy. She also earned membership in the Phi Beta Kappa honor society. In 1994, she received her juris doctor degree from Washington University Law School in St. Louis, Missouri. She also served as a staff editor on the Washington University Law Quarterly.