- Shareholder
- kmstanger@nyemaster.com
- 515-283-8009
- Des Moines Office
Kristina M.
Stanger
“I think differently—strategically—because of my military experience.”
Kristina Stanger hears a call to serve her clients, her country, and her community. Within every achievement, success, and honor, she sees a challenge. “It’s a call to do more,” she says.
She answers her call by assisting clients with bankruptcy, creditors rights, and commercial litigation. “Jokingly, I tell my mom I do ‘deals that go bad,’” she says. However, she is serious about helping clients with business reformation, loan restructuring, collateral and contract disputes, real estate litigation, workouts, asset protection, and dispute resolution.
“I approach life as a servant leader to achieve two ideals: freedom and justice,” Kristina says. “As legal professionals, we are representatives of this branch of government, and this is our charge: to work for the people seeking relief under our laws. Whether it is a simple contract dispute or a large Chapter 11 company reorganization where jobs are on the line, I know this is their day in court. This is their opportunity to access justice—and I am their advocate.”
Following those principles, Kristina helps secured and unsecured creditors in a variety of contexts and industries such as energy, retail, grocery, real estate, agriculture, health care, construction, transportation and manufacturing. She is not afraid to work a resolution from a business, litigation, or legislative perspective. “All tools are on the table,” she says. Kristina knows she may be in the courtroom one day and the boardroom the next.
The first college graduate from her rural DeWitt, Iowa, family, Kristina knew the law was her objective in the second grade. In the fifth grade, she washed dishes at the local Maid-Rite to earn money to participate in mock trial. Her parents supported her goal—as long as she was serving people and found a way to pay for it. “As a small town, hardworking country girl, I have a passion for serving, but I sought a chance to think strategically and solve problems,” she says. “So I became a lawyer.”
In college, a fortuitous meeting with a National Guardsman during a choir trip introduced her to the National Guard. She joined the service eight days later and served for 25 years before retiring from the Iowa Army National Guard in 2022 as a Lieutenant Colonel.
“That acapella trip to Wales was life-changing because it was the catalyst toward what I am now—not only in both careers, but also in how I approach serving clients, serving my community and what’s important to our family,” Kristina says.
As she has grown in the legal profession, Kristina looked for a comprehensive way to solve problems. She discovered the restructuring profession. “In it, I found the opportunity to use a multidiscipline and creative approach to solving problems with my clients,” she says. Finally, this has become the rewarding profession I sought out since the second grade.”
American Bankruptcy Institute
- 40 Under 40 Honoree, 2018
- 2020 Service to Veterans Award
Iowa State Judicial Nomination Commission
Elected Member, 2019–Present (six-year term)
Drake University Law School
Alumna of the Year, 2018
Iowa Organization of Women Attorneys (IOWA) and National Bar Association (Iowa Chapter)
Gertrude Rush Award, 2018
The Best Lawyers in America®
Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency Reorganization Law, 2022-2024
Litigation - Bankruptcy, 2024-2025
National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges (NCBJ)
NextGen Participant, 2016
Department of Defense Freedom Award
Nominator of recipient Nyemaster Goode, P.C., 2012
Des Moines Business Record’s Forty Under 40
Honoree, 2012
Benchmark Litigation
Future Star
Lawdragon 500 Leading U.S. Bankruptcy & Restructuring Lawyers
Honoree, 2020
Iowa State Bar Association
Outstanding Committee Chairperson of the Year, 2010–2011
Army National Guard
Nominated as Officer of the Year, MSC, 2006
Order of the Coif
National Order of Barristers
Drake Law Review
Editorial Board
Drake Moot Court
Board
American Bar Association
American Bankruptcy Institute
- Board of Directors, 2023 - present
- Veteran’s Task Force
- Strategic Planning Committee
- Midwest Advisory Board, 2024 Program Chair
American College of Bankruptcy
- Fellow
Iowa State Bar Association
- Military Affairs Committee, Former Chair
- Bankruptcy and Commercial Law Section Council, Former Chair
Polk County Bar Association
Federal Bar Association
CREW Network (Commercial Real Estate Women – Iowa)
U.S. Army, Iowa National Guard
Lieutenant Colonel, MSC, 1999–2022
Actively represents creditors in state and federal courts in Iowa and, specifically, Chapter 7, 11, 12 and 13 bankruptcies filed in the Southern and Northern United States District Courts of Iowa.
Litigation on behalf of secured creditors, official committees of unsecured creditors, and liquidation trustees:
- Cash collateral disputes
- Lien priority issues
- 363 sales
- Facilitated restructuring and liquidation plans
- Pursued and defended preference actions under 547(b)
- Claim objections
- Director and Officer liability
- Fraudulent and voidable transactions
- 523 nondischargeability actions.
State and federal courts outside of bankruptcy through:
- Receiverships
- Negotiated settlements
- Judgment executions/collections
- UCC remedies
- Traditional commercial litigation in both bench and jury trials
- Foreclosures
- Replevin
- Corporate and business torts and liability
- Breach of contract actions
- Fraudulent and voidable transfer actions
- Mechanic's liens and construction disputes.
Represented clients such as:
- Agricultural manufacturers and lessors
- Lenders (traditional, nontraditional)
- Real estate professionals (developers, landlords, contractors, agents)
- Trucking companies
- Entities in the manufacturing and energy industry
- Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in Fansteel, Inc./Wellman Dynamics Corporation (Chapter 11) and Liquidating Trustee for WDC Creditor's Trust
- Secured Lender: Associated Wholesale Grocers in Foods, Inc. (Chapter 11) (In re Dahls)
- Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in VeroBlue Farms USA, Inc. (Chapter 11) and Liquidating Trustee for VBF Creditor's Trust
- Des Moines Electrical Apprenticeship Trust
- Whirlpool
- APQS in F&W Media Chapter 11.
As an advisor:
- Serves as City Attorney for the City of Clive.
- Advises employers and employees regarding USERRA compliance and resolutions.
- Provides hours of pro bono service for military families and service members each year.
Estate Avoidance Actions: Stand in the Trustee's Shoes, or Buy Them?
ABI Journal, 2023 (co-author)
"The Haven Act: Understanding the Intricacies of the Act and its Application to Military and Non-Military Families"
ABI Consumer Bankruptcy Committee, 2020 (speaker)
COVID-19 @ Work: Straight Talk Series – Bankruptcy in the U.S. 2020
Employment Law Alliance, 2020 (speaker)
“Healthcare, Senior Living Industries and Insolvency: Overview and Hot Topics with the Experts”
Iowa State Bar Association, 2020 (speaker)
“Recent Legislation Impact on Chapter 13”
NACTT (National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees), 2020 (speaker)
“Getting Back to Business: Top Employment and Business Protection Legal Tips”
CREW Iowa (Commercial Real Estate Women), 2020 (speaker)
“Helping Those Who Have Borne the Battle: Working with Veterans, Servicemembers and Their Families on Financial Issues”
INSOLVENCY Summit 2020 (ABA Business Bankruptcy Committee and Pro Bono CLE), 2020 (speaker)
“2019-2020 Legislative Update for Trustees”
US Trustee Region 12 (Iowa/SD), 2020 (speaker)
“Remember When We Had a Hospitality Industry?”
ABI Midwest Bankruptcy, 2020 (speaker)
“Are you Prepared for a Recession or a Restructuring?”
Nyemaster Goode, P.C. Lender Seminar, 2020 (speaker)
"2019 Bankruptcy Legislation"
Multiple webinars and conferences at multiple venues (speaker and legislative advocate)
"Automatic Stay Trends and Exceptions"
American Bankruptcy Institute Central States Seminar, 2018 (speaker)
“Be a Pit Boss! Gain the Hometown Advantage, Even When you Are an Outsider”
NCBJ Las Vegas annual seminar, 2017 (co-speaker)
“Storm Clouds in the Ag Sector—Fraudulent Transfers Update”
Nyemaster Seminar, 2016 (speaker)
“2016 Amendments to the Uniform Fraudulent Conveyance Act”
Iowa State Bar Association Annual Meeting, 2016 (speaker)
“Do Not Pass Go! Do Not Collect $200: Bankruptcy Overview”
Iowa Municipal Professionals Academy annual seminar, 2016
“Turning Judgment Day into a Pay Day: Judgment Executions and the Gemini Quandary”
2013 (speaker)
2011–2020 West’s Bankruptcy Exemption Manual: Iowa Update
Co-author
ABA Consumer Protection Law Developments
Iowa Update, 2013–2022, co-author
“When Johnny Comes Marching Back to Work: Inside Tips to Ease the Military Leave Reemployment Process”
2011
“Recent Legal Developments Impacting Military Families”
2009
“Overview of Landlord and Tenant Act”
2009
“Social Media & Technology: A Tool or Legal Landmine”
2009
“Automated Traffic Enforcement Programs—Legal Highlights”
Traffic & Safety Forum, 2009
“Right to Cancel: Circumstances and Practical Remedies for Cancelled Contracts”
2008 (speaker)
Update on Punitive Damages Claims: A 50-State Survey
Pharmaceuticals Subcommittee of Products Liability Committee, ABA Section of Litigation, 2007 (co-author)
“The Lautenberg Amendment and Laws of War”
2006, 2007 (author and speaker)
“The Impact of the Service Members Civil Relief Act and Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act on the Modern Soldier”
2006, 2007 (author and speaker)
OVERVIEW
Kristina Stanger hears a call to serve her clients, her country, and her community. Within every achievement, success, and honor, she sees a challenge. “It’s a call to do more,” she says.
She answers her call by assisting clients with bankruptcy, creditors rights, and commercial litigation. “Jokingly, I tell my mom I do ‘deals that go bad,’” she says. However, she is serious about helping clients with business reformation, loan restructuring, collateral and contract disputes, real estate litigation, workouts, asset protection, and dispute resolution.
“I approach life as a servant leader to achieve two ideals: freedom and justice,” Kristina says. “As legal professionals, we are representatives of this branch of government, and this is our charge: to work for the people seeking relief under our laws. Whether it is a simple contract dispute or a large Chapter 11 company reorganization where jobs are on the line, I know this is their day in court. This is their opportunity to access justice—and I am their advocate.”
Following those principles, Kristina helps secured and unsecured creditors in a variety of contexts and industries such as energy, retail, grocery, real estate, agriculture, health care, construction, transportation and manufacturing. She is not afraid to work a resolution from a business, litigation, or legislative perspective. “All tools are on the table,” she says. Kristina knows she may be in the courtroom one day and the boardroom the next.
The first college graduate from her rural DeWitt, Iowa, family, Kristina knew the law was her objective in the second grade. In the fifth grade, she washed dishes at the local Maid-Rite to earn money to participate in mock trial. Her parents supported her goal—as long as she was serving people and found a way to pay for it. “As a small town, hardworking country girl, I have a passion for serving, but I sought a chance to think strategically and solve problems,” she says. “So I became a lawyer.”
In college, a fortuitous meeting with a National Guardsman during a choir trip introduced her to the National Guard. She joined the service eight days later and served for 25 years before retiring from the Iowa Army National Guard in 2022 as a Lieutenant Colonel.
“That acapella trip to Wales was life-changing because it was the catalyst toward what I am now—not only in both careers, but also in how I approach serving clients, serving my community and what’s important to our family,” Kristina says.
As she has grown in the legal profession, Kristina looked for a comprehensive way to solve problems. She discovered the restructuring profession. “In it, I found the opportunity to use a multidiscipline and creative approach to solving problems with my clients,” she says. Finally, this has become the rewarding profession I sought out since the second grade.”
RECOGNITION
American Bankruptcy Institute
- 40 Under 40 Honoree, 2018
- 2020 Service to Veterans Award
Iowa State Judicial Nomination Commission
Elected Member, 2019–Present (six-year term)
Drake University Law School
Alumna of the Year, 2018
Iowa Organization of Women Attorneys (IOWA) and National Bar Association (Iowa Chapter)
Gertrude Rush Award, 2018
The Best Lawyers in America®
Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency Reorganization Law, 2022-2024
Litigation - Bankruptcy, 2024-2025
National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges (NCBJ)
NextGen Participant, 2016
Department of Defense Freedom Award
Nominator of recipient Nyemaster Goode, P.C., 2012
Des Moines Business Record’s Forty Under 40
Honoree, 2012
Benchmark Litigation
Future Star
Lawdragon 500 Leading U.S. Bankruptcy & Restructuring Lawyers
Honoree, 2020
Iowa State Bar Association
Outstanding Committee Chairperson of the Year, 2010–2011
Army National Guard
Nominated as Officer of the Year, MSC, 2006
Order of the Coif
National Order of Barristers
Drake Law Review
Editorial Board
Drake Moot Court
Board
PROFESSIONAL & COMMUNITY AFFILIATIONS
American Bar Association
American Bankruptcy Institute
- Board of Directors, 2023 - present
- Veteran’s Task Force
- Strategic Planning Committee
- Midwest Advisory Board, 2024 Program Chair
American College of Bankruptcy
- Fellow
Iowa State Bar Association
- Military Affairs Committee, Former Chair
- Bankruptcy and Commercial Law Section Council, Former Chair
Polk County Bar Association
Federal Bar Association
CREW Network (Commercial Real Estate Women – Iowa)
U.S. Army, Iowa National Guard
Lieutenant Colonel, MSC, 1999–2022
REPRESENTATIVE CASES & TRANSACTIONS
Actively represents creditors in state and federal courts in Iowa and, specifically, Chapter 7, 11, 12 and 13 bankruptcies filed in the Southern and Northern United States District Courts of Iowa.
Litigation on behalf of secured creditors, official committees of unsecured creditors, and liquidation trustees:
- Cash collateral disputes
- Lien priority issues
- 363 sales
- Facilitated restructuring and liquidation plans
- Pursued and defended preference actions under 547(b)
- Claim objections
- Director and Officer liability
- Fraudulent and voidable transactions
- 523 nondischargeability actions.
State and federal courts outside of bankruptcy through:
- Receiverships
- Negotiated settlements
- Judgment executions/collections
- UCC remedies
- Traditional commercial litigation in both bench and jury trials
- Foreclosures
- Replevin
- Corporate and business torts and liability
- Breach of contract actions
- Fraudulent and voidable transfer actions
- Mechanic's liens and construction disputes.
Represented clients such as:
- Agricultural manufacturers and lessors
- Lenders (traditional, nontraditional)
- Real estate professionals (developers, landlords, contractors, agents)
- Trucking companies
- Entities in the manufacturing and energy industry
- Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in Fansteel, Inc./Wellman Dynamics Corporation (Chapter 11) and Liquidating Trustee for WDC Creditor's Trust
- Secured Lender: Associated Wholesale Grocers in Foods, Inc. (Chapter 11) (In re Dahls)
- Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in VeroBlue Farms USA, Inc. (Chapter 11) and Liquidating Trustee for VBF Creditor's Trust
- Des Moines Electrical Apprenticeship Trust
- Whirlpool
- APQS in F&W Media Chapter 11.
As an advisor:
- Serves as City Attorney for the City of Clive.
- Advises employers and employees regarding USERRA compliance and resolutions.
- Provides hours of pro bono service for military families and service members each year.
SPEECHES & PUBLICATIONS
Estate Avoidance Actions: Stand in the Trustee's Shoes, or Buy Them?
ABI Journal, 2023 (co-author)
"The Haven Act: Understanding the Intricacies of the Act and its Application to Military and Non-Military Families"
ABI Consumer Bankruptcy Committee, 2020 (speaker)
COVID-19 @ Work: Straight Talk Series – Bankruptcy in the U.S. 2020
Employment Law Alliance, 2020 (speaker)
“Healthcare, Senior Living Industries and Insolvency: Overview and Hot Topics with the Experts”
Iowa State Bar Association, 2020 (speaker)
“Recent Legislation Impact on Chapter 13”
NACTT (National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees), 2020 (speaker)
“Getting Back to Business: Top Employment and Business Protection Legal Tips”
CREW Iowa (Commercial Real Estate Women), 2020 (speaker)
“Helping Those Who Have Borne the Battle: Working with Veterans, Servicemembers and Their Families on Financial Issues”
INSOLVENCY Summit 2020 (ABA Business Bankruptcy Committee and Pro Bono CLE), 2020 (speaker)
“2019-2020 Legislative Update for Trustees”
US Trustee Region 12 (Iowa/SD), 2020 (speaker)
“Remember When We Had a Hospitality Industry?”
ABI Midwest Bankruptcy, 2020 (speaker)
“Are you Prepared for a Recession or a Restructuring?”
Nyemaster Goode, P.C. Lender Seminar, 2020 (speaker)
"2019 Bankruptcy Legislation"
Multiple webinars and conferences at multiple venues (speaker and legislative advocate)
"Automatic Stay Trends and Exceptions"
American Bankruptcy Institute Central States Seminar, 2018 (speaker)
“Be a Pit Boss! Gain the Hometown Advantage, Even When you Are an Outsider”
NCBJ Las Vegas annual seminar, 2017 (co-speaker)
“Storm Clouds in the Ag Sector—Fraudulent Transfers Update”
Nyemaster Seminar, 2016 (speaker)
“2016 Amendments to the Uniform Fraudulent Conveyance Act”
Iowa State Bar Association Annual Meeting, 2016 (speaker)
“Do Not Pass Go! Do Not Collect $200: Bankruptcy Overview”
Iowa Municipal Professionals Academy annual seminar, 2016
“Turning Judgment Day into a Pay Day: Judgment Executions and the Gemini Quandary”
2013 (speaker)
2011–2020 West’s Bankruptcy Exemption Manual: Iowa Update
Co-author
ABA Consumer Protection Law Developments
Iowa Update, 2013–2022, co-author
“When Johnny Comes Marching Back to Work: Inside Tips to Ease the Military Leave Reemployment Process”
2011
“Recent Legal Developments Impacting Military Families”
2009
“Overview of Landlord and Tenant Act”
2009
“Social Media & Technology: A Tool or Legal Landmine”
2009
“Automated Traffic Enforcement Programs—Legal Highlights”
Traffic & Safety Forum, 2009
“Right to Cancel: Circumstances and Practical Remedies for Cancelled Contracts”
2008 (speaker)
Update on Punitive Damages Claims: A 50-State Survey
Pharmaceuticals Subcommittee of Products Liability Committee, ABA Section of Litigation, 2007 (co-author)
“The Lautenberg Amendment and Laws of War”
2006, 2007 (author and speaker)
“The Impact of the Service Members Civil Relief Act and Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act on the Modern Soldier”
2006, 2007 (author and speaker)